''Ibis'' (formerly ''The Ibis''), subtitled ''the International Journal of Avian Science'', is the

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...

. It was established in 1859. Topics covered include

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, conservation, behaviour,

palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

, and

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of birds. The

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

is Dominic J. McCafferty (

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

). The journal is published by

Wiley-Blackwell Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

in print and online. It is available free on the internet for institutions in the developing world through the OARE scheme (Online Access to Research in the Environment).

History

In 1858 the

(BOU) was formed. It was the first organization, devoted solely to the study of birds. One year later members of the BOU founded a (Quarterly) "Magazine of General Ornithology," entitled ''The Ibis''. In the preface of the first issue of ''The Ibis'' the editor, Philip Lutley Sclater, recalls that in a meeting in the autumn of 1857 a group of ornithologists who would soon establish the

, there was a "strong feeling that it would be advisable to establish a Magazine devoted solely to Ornithology." A year later, in what was called "the annual assemblage" of November 1858, it was determined, after due consideration, "by those present that a Quarterly Magazine of General Ornithology should be established, that a limited subscription should be entered into to provide a fund for that purpose, and that the subscribers should form an 'Ornithological Union'.

Series and editors

* Series 1 was published from 1859 to 1864, in six volumes and 24 issues. The first editor was Philip Lutley Sclater (1829–1913).Se
p. i

xvi
for the general index of series 1 on author and title, in

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. * Series 2 was published from 1865 to 1870, again in six volumes and 24 issues. The editor was

Alfred Newton Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...

(1829–1907).Se
p. i

xxii
for the general index of series 2. * Series 3: 1871–1876 (six volumes, 24 issues). Editor:

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English natural history, naturalist, Ornithology, ornithologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuC ...

(1835–1898).Se
p. i

xiv
for the general index of series 3.Se
complete index
of series 1, 2 and 3, with index of genera and species (422 pages), and nine pages index of plates. * Series 4: 1877–1882 (six volumes, 24 issues). Editors: Osbert Salvin and Philip Lutley Sclater.Se
p. i

xxiv
for the general index of series 4. * Series 5: 1883–1888 (six volumes). Editors: P.L. Sclater and Howard Saunders. * Series 6: 1889–1894 (six volumes). Editor: P.L. Sclater. * Series 7: 1895–1900 (six volumes). Editors: P.L. Sclater and Howard Saunders. * Series 8: 1901–1906 (six volumes). Editors: P.L. Sclater and Arthur Humble Evans. * Series 9: 1907–1912 (six volumes). Editors: P.L. Sclater and Arthur Humble Evans. * Series 10: 1913–1918 (six volumes). Editor: William Lutley Sclater, the son of P.L. Sclater. * Series 11: 1919–1924 (six volumes). Editor: W.L. Sclater. * Series 12: 1925–1930 (six volumes). * Series 13: 1931–1936 (six volumes). Editor: Claud Buchanan Ticehurst. * Series 14: 1937–1942 (six volumes). * From 1943 onward the volumes are numbered 85 etc.

Geographical ornithology

In the first eighty years of its existence, a very large part of the contents of ''The Ibis'' was devoted to what is called "geographical ornithology", "the study of the birds of the different countries of the world" in the words of P.L. Sclater.P.L. Sclater, cited in Sclater had given the start to this important trend in scientific ornithology in his 1858 article in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, entitled "On the Geographic Distribution of the Members of the Class Aves". In this period British ornithology reflected the development of Britain as an empire.: "No doubt the preoccupation with widely extended geographical ornithology was fostered by the immensity of the areas over which British rule or influence stretched during the nineteenth century and for some time afterwards." and see

References

Sources

* * *

External links

*
''The Ibis''
in

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...

(1859-1922)
''Ibis''
in onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Out of copyright volumes
of ''The Ibis'' at

''Ibis''
in

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...