Systematics and Biodiversity is devoted to whole-organism biology. It is a quarterly, international, peer-reviewed, life science journal, without page charges, which is published by Taylor & Francis for The Natural History Museum, London. The criterion for publication is scientific merit. Systematics and Biodiversitydocuments the diversity of organisms in all natural phyla, through taxonomic papers that have a broad context (not single species descriptions), while also addressing topical issues relating to biological collections, and the principles of systematics. It particularly emphasises the importance and multi-disciplinary significance of systematics, with contributions which address the implications of other fields for systematics, or which advance our understanding of other fields through taxonomic knowledge, especially in relation to the nature, origins, and conservation of biodiversity, at all taxonomic levels.
The journal does not publish single species descriptions, monographs or applied research nor alpha species descriptions. Taxonomic manuscripts must include modern methods such as cladistics or phylogenetic analysis.

Each issue contains a main section devoted to formal peer-reviewed original research papers, and a shorter, more informal 'Perspective' section. As well as taxonomic discovery, description, revision and recording, the research section carries studies of adaptation, anatomy, biodiversity patterns in time and space (including response to environmental and human factors, and to global change), biogeography, coevolution, conservation biology, development, evolutionary biology, functional morphology, growth and form, molecular science, phylogenetics, cladistics, speciation, and systematic ecology. State-of-knowledge reviews and papers on the theory and practice of systematics are also welcome. There are no restrictions on the geographical location of authors, their material and study areas, or on the institutional locations of their studied collections. The 'Perspective' section covers a similar range of subjects to the main section, but gives scope for debate and comment as well as reviews of books.