Kaplan se graduó con un Doctorado en Filosofía en la Universidad de Monash. Publicó su primer libro con Clive Kessler, Hannah Arendt: Thinking, Judging, Freedom en 1989,^[3]​ seguido de Contemporary Western European Feminism en 1990.^[4]​ En 2005 presentó una segunda tesis, titulada Comportamiento vocal de las urracas australianas (Gymnorhina tibicen). En 2011, Kaplan recibió un doctorado honoris causa en Ciencias de la Universidad de Nueva Inglaterra.^[5]​ En 2015, se le confirió miembro honorario de la Sociedad Estadounidense de Ornitología.^[6]​ Al año siguiente, la Universidad de Nueva Inglaterra le otorgó el estatus de profesora emérita.^[7]​ También recibió el Premio Whitley en Zoología del Comportamiento por su libro Bird Minds en 2017.^[8]​Ha concedido entrevistas para ABC Radio. ^[9]​

En marzo de 2021, Kaplan fue elegida miembro de la Royal Society of New South Wales.^[10]​ Fue nombrada Miembro Honorario de la Orden de Australia en los Honores del Día de Australia de 2024 por su "importante servicio a la educación científica a través de la investigación sobre el comportamiento animal". ^[11]​

En la década de 1990, comenzó a criar y rehabilitar aves nativas, algo que continúa haciendo en su tiempo libre.^[12]​

Kaplan ha publicado más de 250 artículos de investigación y 23 libros en total; Desde 2000 se centra predominantemente en el comportamiento vocal, la comunicación y la cognición de los animales, específicamente en aves y primates.

• Kaplan, G. (2019) Bird Bonds. Sex, mate-choice and cognition in Australian native birds. Macmillan Australia, Sydney. ISBN 9781760554200 368 pp https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760554200/gkaplan/
• Kaplan, Gisela (2019) Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird. 2nd edition, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. ISBN 9781486307241 pbk. 280 pp
• Kaplan, Gisela (2007, 2018) Tawny Frogmouth. 2nd ed., CSIRO, Melbourne. ISBN 9781486308163 pbk.168 pp
• Kaplan Gisela (2015) Bird Minds. Cognition and behaviour of Australian native species. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. ISBN 9781486300181 286 pp
• Kaplan, Gisela (2004, 2005, 2008) Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird. Natural History Series, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney & CSIRO 1st ed., Melbourne. ISBN 0-643 09068 1 pbk.142 pp
• Kaplan, G (2005) The Vocal Behaviour of Australian Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen): A Study of Vocal Development, Song Learning, Communication and Mimicry in the Australian Magpie.^[13]​ PhD thesis, School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane.
• Rogers, Lesley J. and Kaplan, Gisela eds. (2004) Comparative Vertebrate Cognition: Are Primates Superior to Non-primates? Kluwer Primatology Series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospect. Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow. ISBN 0-306-47727-0 Hbk, 386 pp
• Kaplan, G (2003) Famous Australian Birds. Allen & Unwin, Melbourne. ISBN 1 86508 835 8 Hbk 48 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (2001) Birds. Their Habits and Skills, Allen & Unwin, Sydney. ISBN 1 86508 376 3, 272 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, L.J. (2000) The Orang-utans. Their Evolution, Behavior, and Future. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, Mass. ISBN 0 7382 0290 8 (re-edited from 1999), 191 pp
• Rogers, L.J. and Kaplan, G (2000) Songs, Roars and Rituals. Communication in birds, mammals and other animals. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (completely rev. version of 1998 pub. Not Only Roars and Rituals). ISBN 0674000587, 207 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (1994) Orang-Utans in Borneo, University of New England Press. ISBN 1-875821-13-9, 196 pp

• Rogers, L.J. and Kaplan, G. (2024) Advances in understanding cognition in animals. Ch.4 in L.Levitt, D. B. Rosengard, J.Rubin (eds.) Animals as Crime Victims: Multidisciplinary implications of moving beyond the property paradigm. (pp.53-66) Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802209884.00012
• Palmer, G.C., Kaplan, G,. Teixeira, D., Stojanovic, D., Peters,A., Douglas, T.K. (2022) “Perching birds and parrots”, pp. 584-592 (Ch 33) in Wildlife Research in Australia (Eds B Smith, HP Waudby, C Alberthsen & JO Hampton). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
• Kaplan, G. (2021) You can make friends with magpies. Here is how. In: A. Hansen (Ed.) No, you’re not entitled to your opinion. And 49 other essays that got the world talking. Thames & Hudson Australia., Port Melbourne.
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan G (2019) Does functional lateralization in birds have any implications for their welfare? Special Issue: Brain Functional Lateralization in Animals. (Ed. A. Quaranta). Symmetry, 11, 1043; doi:10.3390/sym11081043
• Kaplan, G (2018). Passerine Cognition. (10,000-word entry): In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
• Kaplan, G (2016) Don Quixote's Windmills. Ch. 14 in Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. (eds. M. Tønnessen, K. Armstrong-Oma and S. Rattasepp) pp. 284–305. Lexington Books (imprint of Rowman & Littlefield). New York, London.
• Kaplan, G (2008). The Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen): An alternative model for the study of songbird neurobiology. In P. Zeigler and P. Marler (eds). The Neuroscience of Birdsong. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,UK, ISBN 9780521869157 pp. 153–170.
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (2005). An Eye for a Predator: Lateralization in birds, with particular reference to the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). Behavioral and Morphological Asymmetries in Vertebrates, eds. Yegor Malashichev and Wallace Deckel. Landes Bioscience, Georgetown,TX. ISBN 1-58706-105-8 (online)
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (2004) Charles Darwin and animal behavior. In M. Bekoff and Jane Goodall (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 3 vols, Greenwood Publishing, Westport, CT, ISBN 0-313-32745-9, vol.2, pp. 471–479 (introductory essay to vol.2).
• Kaplan, G (2004) Magpie Mimicry. In M. Bekoff and Jane Goodall (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 3 vols., Greenwood Publishing, Westport, CT, ISBN 0-313-32745-9, vol.2, pp. 772–774
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (2004) All animals are not equal: the interface between scientific knowledge and the legislation for animal rights. In: CR Sunstein and M Nussbaum (eds.) Animal Rights: Law and Policy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-515217-4, pp. 175–204.
• Kaplan, Gisela (2004). «Meaningful Communication in Primates, Birds, and Other Animals». Comparative Vertebrate Cognition. pp. 189-223. ISBN 978-1-4613-4717-0. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8913-0_6.  In Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (eds) Comparative Vertebrate Cognition: Are Primates Superior to Nonprimates? Kluwer Primatology Series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospect. Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, New York.
• Kaplan, G (1998). Economic Development and Ecotourism in Malaysia. The Shaping of Malaysia. Eds. A Kaur & I Metcalfe, St. Martin's Press. London, New York. ISBN 1349270792, ISBN 9781349270798
• Kaplan, Gisela (1999). «Environment and Ecotourism». The Shaping of Malaysia. pp. 173-195. ISBN 978-1-349-27081-1. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-27079-8_8.  In: Kaur A., Metcalfe I. (eds) The Shaping of Malaysia. Studies in the Economies of East and South-East Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London
• Kaplan, G.; Rogers, L. (1995). «Of Human Fear and Indifference». The Neglected Ape. pp. 3-12. ISBN 978-1-4899-1093-6. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1091-2_1.  In RD Nader, B Galdikas, L Sheehan & N Rosen (eds.) The Neglected Ape. Plenum Press, New York

• "Urracas parlantes, bocas de rana leonadas afligidas y galahs astutas": Gisela Kaplan en conversación con Sarah Kanowski