Behavior Genetics (journal)


Behavior Genetics is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. It covers "research in the inheritance of behavior" and is the official journal of the Behavior [Genetics Association]. The journal was established in 1971 with Steven G. Vandenberg as its founding editor-in-chief. He was succeeded by Jan Bruell. Each year, the editorial board chooses a particularly meritorious paper in the previous year's volume of the journal for the Editors' Choice Award, acknowledged by "$1000 and a good bottle of wine" as well as a citation made in the journal. This award was created in the honor of David Fulker, a past president of the Behavior Genetics Association and former editor-in-chief. From 2001–2025, John K. Hewitt was editor-in-chief. He was succeeded by Valerie Knopik. The abstracts of the annual meetings are printed in the journal.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in Biological Abstracts/BIOSIS Previews, CAB Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Current Contents/Social & Behavioral Sciences and Life Sciences, Embase, PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus, Social [Sciences Citation Index], and The Zoological Record. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2023 impact factor of 2.6.