Zootaxa is a peer-reviewed international journal for rapid publication of high quality papers on any aspect of systematic zoology, with a preference for large taxonomic works such as monographs and revisions. Zootaxa considers papers on all animal taxa, both living and fossil, and especially encourages descriptions of new taxa. All types of taxonomic papers are considered, including theories and methods of systematics and phylogeny, taxonomic monographs, revisions and reviews, catalogues/checklists, biographies and bibliographies, identification guides, analysis of characters, phylogenetic relationships and zoogeographical patterns of distribution, descriptions of taxa, and nomenclature. Open access publishing option is strongly encouraged for authors with research grants and other funds. For those without grants/funds, all accepted manuscripts will be published but access is secured for subscribers only.