Animal Welfare is the official journal of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) – a not-for-profit society dedicated to promoting Science in the Service of Animal Welfare. The Journal supports a key component of UFAW’s mission – to disseminate evidence-based animal welfare information which leads to improvements in animal welfare or a better understanding of animal welfare problems. Authors can be assured that the fundamental aim of our journal is to ensure that high quality animal welfare science is published and disseminated as widely as possible. This is further supported by our publishing partner, Cambridge University Press, which is also a not-for-profit publisher. In 2023, the journal transitioned to a fully open access publishing model ensuring that the research we publish is available to anyone who needs to access it. We also strive to make publishing research in Animal Welfare as accessible as possible, with waivers of article processing charges (APCs) for authors from low-to-middle income countries and those without recourse to funding for APCs.

The journal is, as the name indicates, dedicated solely to publishing animal welfare research and is supported by an editorial board – led by Editors-in Chief Dr. Huw Golledge and Dr. Birte Nielsen of UFAW – comprised of a diverse group of international animal welfare experts. Furthermore, our editorial office is also staffed by animal welfare experts: Managing Editor Dr Steve Weddell and Editorial Assistant Dr. Claire Richardson are veterinary surgeons with extensive animal welfare knowledge. This ensures that – at all stages of the publication process – manuscripts will be handled by subject-matter experts who understand the science authors are trying to communicate. We strive to obtain rigorous but fair peer review followed by an expert post-acceptance process to ensure that the final manuscript is published rapidly and to the highest editorial standards.