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a Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
b 677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711
c USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory, 2150 Pammel Dr., Ames, IA 50011
d USDA-ARS, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710
* Corresponding author (calvin.pearson{at}colostate.edu).
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ABSTRACT |
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 TOPNOTES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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NOTES |
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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1 Manuscript Tracker is an online, wed-based system for electronically submitting and reviewing manuscripts. Manuscript Tracker is used by authors, reviewers, and editors. 
2 HighWire Press (http://highwire.stanford.edu/), a division of the Stanford University Libraries, hosts more than 1000 scientific journals. Agronomy Journal is available at http://agron.scijournals.org/.
Received for publication November 8, 2006.
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INTRODUCTION |
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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The Volume 100 redesign included consideration of the following: journal cover redesign (layout and format orientation, color choices and combinations, fonts and sizes), article title page layout, updated font combinations and sizes, ragged right versus full justification, two-color, two versus three columns, footers, headers, page number placement, sidebars, pull quotes, increased use of photographs, shading, and shadows.
The first four volumes (1908–1912) of Agronomy Journal were titled the Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy and Volumes 5 through 40 (1913 through 1948) were titled the Journal of the American Society of Agronomy. Following a vote by the membership, the name was changed to Agronomy Journal in January 1949. At the same time, the format was changed from 6 by 9 inches to a trimmed size of 8.5 by 11 inches (ASA, 1948b). Agronomy Journal has retained its current name since 1949.
During the 100 yr of Agronomy Journal, there have been ongoing changes to the journal, including six major design changes. These previous design changes first appeared in Volume 5 (1912), Volume 39 (1947), Volume 41 (1949), Volume 75 (1983), Volume 91 (1999), and Volume 100 (2008).
With the journal reaching such a significant milestone we are presented with a unique opportunity to celebrate, reflect, and anticipate the future. Many people, both in and out of agriculture, too numerous and too varied to mention, have been influenced in some way by the science contained in the 100 volumes of Agronomy Journal.
In pondering 100 yr of Agronomy Journal, various questions come to mind. While these questions may have no definitive answers they are nonetheless questions worthy of reflection. Our intent with these questions is to encourage the reader to contemplate the contributions, challenges, and value of this publication during the past 100 yr and on into the future. The questions are not presented in any particular order and many more questions could be added to this short list.
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HISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY JOURNAL |
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL IN RECENT YEARS |
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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1982–1983
Dwayne R. Buxton, currently the oldest living former Editor of Agronomy Journal, served in this position for 2 yr while at the same time serving as Editor-in-Chief of ASA. It was during his tenure that the two positions were separated (ASA, 1983a). During Dr. Buxton's relatively short time as Editor several significant changes occurred. The Editor's position was moved from a paid position at Headquarters to a nonpaid scientist working at a location away from Headquarters. This occurred in 1983, when his two appointments were separated (ASA, 1984a). Subsequently, Dr. Gary A. Peterson was appointed as Editor of the journal and Dr. Buxton continued to serve as Editor-in-Chief for four more years.
The SI system (Système International d'Unités) of reporting units was introduced but not without encountering some resistance and controversy from peer scientists (ASA, 1982). The handbook of instructions for authors was revised in 1982 and subsequently published (ASA, 1983a, 1984b, 1985) along with a handbook to help editors (ASA, 1986, 1987) to be more effective in handling manuscripts and working with authors.
1984–1989
Before 1984, all manuscript submissions were sent to Headquarters, which was appropriate when Dr. Stelly was the Editor. However, that system created a problem for a volunteer Editor because he did not see manuscripts submitted to the journal, and only received copies of correspondence concerning the release of manuscripts to authors. Therefore, a new system was created in 1984, whereby manuscripts were submitted directly to the Editor and he assigned them to Technical Editors (ASA, 1985).
During this era of journal history, the Editorial Board was very concerned about the amount of time required for review and revision of manuscripts. In the 1984–1985 time period, the process took 7 to 9 mo for accepted manuscripts to move through the review process. An additional 4 to 5 mo were required before manuscripts were actually published, and thus, the total time from submission to publication averaged 11 to 14 mo. The Editorial Board focused their efforts on decreasing the amount of time between submission and the first communication back to the author because they believed that was the most crucial step. As a result, the time for this critical step averaged 9 to 10 wk, which was considered quite good, given that there was considerable mailing time involved. The Editorial Board also observed that delays in getting a manuscript to publication were frequently the result of authors not responding promptly after receiving their reviews. At the Editorial Board meeting held in 1988 in Anaheim, CA, the Editorial Board adopted the 3-mo rule in which authors were allowed 90 d to complete a revision (ASA, 1989b). Shortening the time for authors to complete a revision from 6 to 3 mo was instituted to encourage authors to respond in a timely manner to editorial comments.
In response to a membership initiative, Agronomy Journal began to solicit review articles during this era. The Editor requested potential titles, subject matter areas, and authors from the membership, and 12 suggestions were received in the first round of solicitation. The invited review papers were subject to the standard review process. The goal was to publish two or three review papers during 1988 and at least two or three additional papers per year on into the future.
During this time period, Agronomy Journal developed a policy regarding the publication of models, and they were first published in a journal section called Agroclimatology and Agronomic Modeling. Software Scene, a place to publish new software, was also added and the first three of such papers appeared in the March-April issue of 1989.
After much discussion the Editorial Board agreed to divide the table of contents into categories to assist readers in finding papers specific to their interests. The initial five categories agreed on were: Crops, Soils, Agroclimatology and Modeling, Notes, and Software Scene. These categories first appeared in the January–February issue of 1990 (ASA, 1990). Later it was proposed that Agroclimatology and Modeling be split into two parts to help attract more modeling papers.
Interestingly, in fall 1987, the question was raised about the possibility of electronic manuscript submission. Guidelines already existed for submitting a manuscript on disk once it had been reviewed and approved for publication, but Managing Editor Bill Luellen reported that submission, review, and editing of papers online was still a few years down the road (ASA, 1988).
1990–1995
Concern over the quality of the reviews and potential bias in the reviews because of name recognition of authors prompted a change in the review process. The journal reviewers, as a standard practice, were anonymous to authors, and comments were often received about the unprofessional nature of the comments. One of the roles of Associate Editors and Technical Editors was to remove any biased and unprofessional comments from reviewer comments. As an experiment, the review process changed to a completely double-blind review in which the author's names and institutions were removed from the manuscript (ASA, 1992). After 3 yr, a survey was conducted about the review process and it was determined that the double-blind review process imparted increased confidence about the quality of the reviews such that this procedure became standard operating procedure.
During the 1990s there was ongoing discussion about the appropriate statistical tools to be used in agronomic research. This affected statistical analyses used in research papers and finally culminated in a more inclusive use of statistical approaches rather than a single method for mean separation. One of the major changes made was to modify the Instructions to Authors to accept all appropriate statistical methods for agronomic studies. This change increased the papers that addressed spatial aspects in field studies. One of the goals of this change was to foster more research papers describing innovative approaches for research and field-scale studies.
1996–2001
In 1996, 6 yr before the advent of Manuscript Tracker,1 we initiated electronic manuscript submission and review. Technical Editor Robert Lascano conducted the trial run and found that it took 1 to 5 d to identify reviewers and forward the electronic files, 55 d before the first review comments were electronically returned to the authors, and 87 d for the authors to electronically submit their revision. This initial electronic manuscript was accepted. We formally initiated electronic submissions in 1998 (ASA, 1998b); we received eight such submissions that year.
The membership requirement for publication was dropped in 1997. For 1998, we added the Forum section to allow authors to address a thought-provoking concept or idea to generate discussion among our readership. We also changed the Notes section to Notes and Unique Phenomena so that authors could present results for unusual occurrences such as crop response or other observations following hail damage (ASA, 1998b).
Several changes were implemented in 1999 through 2001. At the 1999 annual meetings in Salt Lake City, UT, the Editorial Board voted to start recognizing excellent reviewers (ASA, 2000; Barbarick, 2000). The award was titled the Editors' Citation for Excellence in Manuscript Review to recognize outstanding reviewers on an annual basis from various subject areas within the journal. A formal symposium-paper policy was approved at the 2000 Editorial Board meeting in Minneapolis, MN (ASA, 2001). The policy spelled out the procedure for publishing manuscripts in Agronomy Journal that were the result of symposia if they were found to have suitable subject matter (Barbarick, 2001). We debuted a new full-color cover, starting with the 1999 volume year (ASA, 1999). We began accepting production agriculture papers when the Journal of Production Agriculture was slated for termination in 2000 (ASA, 1999, 2000; Barbarick, 2000). With submission and eventual acceptance of production agriculture papers, we highlighted these articles in the table of contents from 2001 through 2006. In 2001, we published our first full color figure (Barbarick, 2001). Agronomy Journal was first posted online by Springer-Verlag with Volume 90 (1998) and then in 2000 with HighWire Press, Palo Alto, CA.2
2002–2007
On 13 Mar. 2002 we began using Manuscript Tracker for submitting, registering, reviewing, and tracking manuscripts submitted to Agronomy Journal (ASA, 2003). From this date forward all manuscripts submitted to the journal were logged into the Manuscript Tracker system. If manuscripts were submitted as paper copies, the Editor created a record in Manuscript Tracker and paper copies were handled as in previous times. Starting 1 Jan. 2004, the Editorial Board no longer accepted paper submissions (Pearson, 2004). Only electronic files of manuscripts were allowed after that date. At the time, the thought of eliminating the use of paper copies seemed a bit unrealistic; we were so used to dealing with paper. We have now been handling electronic files for several years and this has become very routine and normal. We questioned how readily some authors would adapt to using only electronic files, particularly scientists in developing countries who may not have adequate computer technology. This has not been a significant problem for most authors. They have adapted quite well to the Manuscript Tracker system.
Also during 2002, we initiated the preparation of news releases of selected papers from each issue of Agronomy Journal (Pearson, 2003). We contacted the authors of these selected articles and worked with them to prepare a news release of their paper. News releases were distributed through a distribution service of the American Association of the Advancement of Science to more than 4000 international science media. Articles from Agronomy Journal were also publicized on the web page of the Societies and in CSA News and the News Flash (semimonthly email sent out to members). Promoting the research published in Agronomy Journal continues to evolve and expand with the hope that the impact and contribution of the science found in Agronomy Journal will increase (ASA, 2005, 2006).
More formal Associate Editor appointments were instituted during 2002. This included a letter of appointment and certificate of appointment, both signed by the Editor. The certificates of appointment were suitable for framing and it was hoped that new Associate Editors would display them.
The use of electronic media continued to be more encompassing for publishing Agronomy Journal. On January 2003, PDF galley proofs (e-proofs) were sent to authors via the Internet (ASA, 2003). With the use of the Internet and Manuscript Tracker for submitting, registering, assigning, and tracking manuscript and the use of PDF galley proofs, a sizeable savings in postage costs has been realized.
Beginning in 2004, the traditional page charges were replaced with a publication fee. Some of the history of how page charges were assessed can be found in ASA (1979b, 1981, 1998a). The publication fee was on a per-manuscript basis, (ASA, 2004a, 2004b; Pearson, 2005).
With the March–April 2004 issue of Agronomy Journal, authors began to select their own table of contents headings. As is the practice today, the authors are provided a list of headings and they choose the heading from the list that best describes the content of their manuscript. The procedure gives authors increased input into the publishing of their articles (Pearson, 2004).
After much work, largely through the efforts of Charles Roth from Purdue University, a seven-CD set of the back issues (Vol. 1–93, 1908–2001) of Agronomy Journal became available for purchase during 2004 (Pearson, 2005). Digitizing the journal was part of a larger effort to make CD sets for all Society journals. The seven-CD set for Agronomy Journal also included the Journal of Production Agriculture and the Journal of Natural Resource and Life Sciences Education (ASA, 2004b). Thus, all volumes of Agronomy Journal are now available in a digital medium.
Starting with the May-June 2005 issue, we began using a concept known as "continuous publication" (ASA, 2005, 2006; Pearson, 2005, 2006). Manuscripts are posted online each month with fully citable reference information. Continuous publication is an economical method for faster publishing of research papers, rather than waiting 2 mo before a paper issue of Agronomy Journal is received in the mail.
During the meetings in Salt Lake City in November 2005 the Editorial Board approved the addition of an Acquisitions Associate Editor (ASA, 2006; Pearson, 2006). Wesley Rosenthal from Texas A&M University at the Blackland Research Center was appointed on 22 Feb. 2006 as our first Acquisitions Associate Editor. The Acquisitions Associate Editor is responsible, in cooperation with the Editor and the Editorial Board, for soliciting content for Agronomy Journal, with a primary focus on obtaining review articles.
During the past 23 yr, the length of articles published in the journal increased from an average of 4.6 pages in 1984 to 8.4 pages in 2006 (Fig. 6 ). Fuccillo (1983) noted that the average length of articles in Volume 50 (1957) was 3.7 pages. Thus, during the past 50 yr (from 1957 to 2006) the average length of articles has more than doubled and over the past 23 yr (from 1984 to 2006), the average article length has increased 83%. Pages charges for Agronomy Journal and most of the other society journals underwent considerable change in 1979 (ASA, 1979a, 1979b) and again in 1981 (ASA, 1981). In 1979, page charges were $30 per page for 4 journal pages or less. For articles over 4 pages, a $120 production charge was levied for each page and assessed in half page increments. In 1981, page charges were increased to $40 per page for 4 journal pages or less. For articles over 4 pages, the production charge was increased to $150 a page. It was part of the editorial culture to encourage papers to be short with the idea that they would be more readable. This was somewhat of a deterrent against long articles and encouraged authors to prepare concise papers during this time period. In 1998, a new page charge structure went into effect and there were no charges for the first 6 printed pages with a production charge of $165 per printed page beyond 6 pages of a manuscript (ASA, 1998a).
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Data for international papers submitted and published in Agronomy Journal have only been collected in recent years (Table 2 ). International papers are valued in the journal and are needed for the contribution they make to the agronomic and natural resource sciences and to the viability of our publication. As an Editorial Board we continue to encourage the submission of high quality international papers and we seek to help international authors and others to prepare manuscripts that are suitable for publication in Agronomy Journal.
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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? |
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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Of continuing importance will be for us to be faster at completing reviews, revisions, and publishing articles in Agronomy Journal. We also need to think globally and inclusive in all related aspects of our scientific publishing.
Agronomy Journal also is important as a record of the business, functions, and accomplishments of the American Society of Agronomy and its members. This will continue to be important in the future as it has been in the past.
We would be well served as an Editorial Board to function in a more customer-oriented approach. This does not mean we put less emphasis on our scientific values, but in performing our editorial duties we are, in fact, performing service to our customers (the authors, subscribers, and readers) and we should perform all those duties and services in the best possible manner.
The journal will not survive and thrive without qualified reviewers and editors. People should seek to acquire skill sets for reviewing and editing and then volunteer to be reviewers and editors. As Laude et al. (1962) and Gary A. Peterson (ASA, 1997) have both noted that our journals are key to our societies. Thus, our publications are critical to the continuation of our societies.
Agronomy Journal is now 100 yr old. Its success, its longevity, its scientific value—can be attributed to the dedication of many people who have contributed as authors, reviewers, editors, and others. We are honored to have played a small part in the 100-yr history of Agronomy Journal. Other authors, reviewers, and editors will follow us. We fully expect the future of Agronomy Journal will be even more exciting, rewarding, challenging, and valued as the past 100 yr. We eagerly look forward to the next 100 yr of Agronomy Journal.
All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
1 Manuscript Tracker is an online, wed-based system for electronically submitting and reviewing manuscripts. Manuscript Tracker is used by authors, reviewers, and editors.
2 HighWire Press (http://highwire.stanford.edu/), a division of the Stanford University Libraries, hosts more than 1000 scientific journals. Agronomy Journal is available at http://agron.scijournals.org/.
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TOPNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHISTORICAL DATA FOR AGRONOMY...CHANGES IN AGRONOMY JOURNAL...WHERE DO WE GO...REFERENCES |
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