As we prepare the first issue for Volume 158 to be published in 2020, it is time to reflect on some of the changes that have occurred in 2019 for The Journal of Agricultural Science. Dr Paul Bilsborrow has stepped down as Senior Editor for Crops and Soils. Paul first served as Editor for the journal from 2009 to 2012 and then was appointed as Senior Editor in 2012, serving the journal for a total of nearly 10 years. We really appreciate Paul's commitment to maintain and improve the quality of The Journal of Agricultural Science as one of the premier journals in the multidisciplinary field of agriculture. Under the joint leadership of Paul and Prof. Julian Wiseman (Senior Editor for Animal papers), the impact factor of the journal increased from 1.186 to 1.33 and the journal now ranks 19 out of a total of 56 journals based on the latest 2018 Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics. Dr Gerrit Hoogenboom, Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Preeminent Scholar in the Institute of Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Florida, has been appointed as the new Senior Editor for Crops and Soils papers effective 1 October 2019; he has been an editor with the journal since 2009. Julian remains as the Senior Editor for Animal papers. Also, the title of Senior Editor has been changed to Editor-in-Chief to emphasize the importance of this position with the journal.
Several editors retired from the Editorial Board in 2019: Dr Shiwei Guo, NanJing Agricultural University, PR China, who served as an editor from January 2014 to December 2018; Dr Terry Rose, Southern Cross University, Australia, who served as an editor from January 2016 to March 2019 Dr Ajay Kohli, IRRI, the Philippines, who served as an editor from January 2013 to December 2019; Dr Owen Fenton, Teagasc, Ireland, who served as an editor from January 2014 to December 2019; Dr Glenn Marion, Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, UK, who served as an editor from January 2014 to December 2019, and Dr Chris Reynolds, University of Reading, UK, who served as editor from January 2006 to December 2019. We have also welcomed new members to the Editorial Board in 2019: Dr Wenxue Wei, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PR China; Dr Adibe Allah, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Dr Sokratis Stergadis, University of Reading, UK. The role of editor for an academic journal is a challenging one, as in many cases it is very difficult to identify suitable reviewers and to have reviews returned in a timely manner. The tireless work and commitment of all former and current Editorial Board members are duly recognized and we wish those who have stood down from the Board well for the future.
We also appreciate the effort provided by the many reviewers listed in the supplementary material (available from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-agricultural-science). Without independent reviews, it is impossible to maintain a high-quality peer-reviewed journal such as The Journal of Agricultural Science. We now strive to have each paper reviewed by at least two external reviewers, in addition to initial and final reviews conducted by the Editor and Editor-in-Chief.
In early 2020, Mr Dan Edwards resigned as the Publisher for Applied Life Sciences for Cambridge University Press. Dan played a critical role both internally and externally in the promotion of the journal and we are indebted to him for his calm leadership, support and assistance. As with the departing Editors, we wish him well for the future. Mr Chris McEntee will serve as the new Publishing Editor for STM Journals, including The Journal of Agricultural Science.
In other matters, the landscape of publishing is changing as never before. Academic publishers must take heed of the current push towards open access publishing and we are no exception. Cambridge University Press, as a not-for-profit organization, is committed to supporting this change in a variety of ways: as a ‘hybrid’ journal, The Journal of Agricultural Science offers either Green Open Access publication or, upon payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC), Gold Open Access. However, several ʻRead and Publish' deals have been negotiated to provide discounts and make Gold Open Access more affordable for a broader range of authors. We expect these deals to increase in size and number over the next few years and will be an important part of realizing ‘accessible’ open access. The Cambridge University Press philosophy is ʻOur vision is to unlock the potential of high-quality research and build an open future'.
Finally, a word of caution with respect to selecting the right journal for your publication. Please be aware of journals that have a similar name to the journal where you are planning to submit your paper. Specifically, in the case of The Journal of Agricultural Science, there is a similarly named journal called ‘Journal of Agricultural Science’ which is published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education (CCSE). The Journal of Agricultural Science has been publishing animal, crop, and soil papers for more than a century, with the first issue published in 1905. While we respect your decision as an author to choose which journal to publish in, we are keen to ensure our dedicated community of past and prospective authors is aware of how to submit their manuscripts to the correct place. The Journal of Agricultural Science is published by Cambridge University Press, the official publishing branch of the University of Cambridge and the world's oldest publishing house. This can be seen clearly in the ‘cambridge.org’ website address of the journal's homepage on Cambridge Core (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-agricultural-science) and by the Cambridge University Press logo located in the top left corner of this website, as well as in the banner at the top of the page in our online submission and peer review website, Manuscript Central Scholar One (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jagricsci). We hope that you will value this clarification and submit papers for consideration to The Journal of Agricultural Science through these websites. Further details about the Journal can be found on the Cambridge Core website mentioned above, while details on Gold open access and Read and Publish deals can be found at https://www.openaccess.cam.ac.uk/publishing-open-access/open-access-agreements
