Ichnos的首要目標是促進卓越的魚類學研究。主要研究重點集中在示蹤生物的生態學和生態學意義上;生物基質相互關系;以及生物過程在環境重建、沉積物動力學、層序或事件地層學、生物地球化學和沉積成巖作用中的作用。每一項貢獻都建立在堅實的分類學基礎之上，盡管只涉及分類學和命名法的論文可能沒有涉及魚類學概念和解釋方面的論文那么重要。生物學家和地質學家的貢獻同樣受到歡迎。

The foremost aim of Ichnos is to promote excellence in ichnologic research. Primary emphases center upon the ethologic and ecologic significance of tracemaking organisms; organism-substrate interrelationships; and the role of biogenic processes in environmental reconstruction, sediment dynamics, sequence or event stratigraphy, biogeochemistry, and sedimentary diagenesis. Each contribution rests upon a firm taxonomic foundation, although papers dealing solely with systematics and nomenclature may have less priority than those dealing with conceptual and interpretive aspects of ichnology. Contributions from biologists and geologists are equally welcome.