Wondering what wildlifers are reading?

Recently, we took a look at what TWS journal papers were being covered in the media this year. Today, let’s check out your peers are reading.

Here are the top 10, most viewed full-text papers from TWS journals in 2024:

1. It’s time to manage mountain lions in Texas. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2022
2. Climate change effects on deer and moose in the Midwest. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2019
3. Utility-scale solar impacts to volant wildlife. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2022
4. Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an emerging disease threat to wild birds in North America. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2022
5. Is lead-free .22 long rifle ammunition worth a shot? Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2022
6. Conservation easements: A tool for preserving wildlife habitat on private lands. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2023
7. Berries and bullets: influence of food and mortality risk on grizzly bears in British Columbia. Wildlife Monographs, 2023
8. Methods to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts involving common mesopredators: a meta-analysis. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2023
9. Evolving wildlife management cultures of governance through Indigenous Knowledges and perspectives. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2024
10. Singing silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans). Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2023

Only one paper made both top 10 lists—singing silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2023. This might seem unusual, but it’s not entirely unexpected. The objectives and timeframes of media and scientists are quite distinct. As scientists, our primary aim is to advance knowledge through rigorous and objective research. Such an approach does not always align with the rapid pace of news cycles or the need for attention-grabbing headlines. As a result, one would expect to see some difference between how the media and scientists use our journal content.

However, that difference isn’t necessarily a good thing. While we’re excited to see the use of our journals expand by both the media and the scientific community, we also want to make sure that the most important topics to wildlife professionals are communicated effectively to the public. Organizations like TWS play a role in helping bridge communication between scientists and the public by ensuring that the most relevant and accurate information is communicated in a compelling and engaging manner.

As we kick off 2025, you will continue to see TWS work to expand media coverage of science published in TWS journals, but you will also see several new communication initiatives being led by TWS staff. Embedded within TWS’ new strategic plan is a focus on expanding our web presence to ensure greater dissemination of scientific information to the general public. This will include developing a more engaging website, expanding the use of social media, exploring the use of video content and trying out new methods of communication for TWS, like podcasts, in an effort to reach a broader audience.

Whether through external media or through our own award-winning communications team, TWS is making sure that the science of wildlife professionals makes it to your peers, the general public and beyond. Thank you to all of the authors and readers of this year’s top 10 list!

Are you publishing your science in a Society-owned journal? For many nonprofit, professional societies like TWS, publications are crucial to the mission and operations of the organization. By publishing in a Society-owned journal you are not only contributing to the advancement of science but also supporting the organizations that help advocate for science, provide resources to professionals, uphold professional ethics, build stronger communities, and recruit the next generation of professionals.