Guideline of JIA Editorial Board
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1. Introduction to JIA
1.1 Description
Journal of Integrative Agriculture (JIA), formerly Agricultural Sciences in China (ASC), founded in 2002, is sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), cosponsored by the Chinese Association of Agricultural Science Societies (CAASS), and has been published by Elsevier B.V. since 2006. JIA is a peer-reviewed and multi-disciplinary international journal and is published monthly in English. The impact factor in 2023 released by JCR is 4.8.
CAAS President WU Kong-ming (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering) is the Chairman of JIA. Prof. CHEN Hua-lan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the Editor-in-Chief of JIA. The JIA Editorial Board consists of 294 well-respected scholars of agricultural science fields, both in China home and abroad.
1.2 Awards and Foundation
JIA has been awarded many national-level honors and prizes in China, such as being named the Outstanding Science & Technology Journals of China in 2008, the Highest International Impact Academic Journals of China for 10 years (from 2012). JIA was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) during 2013–2014 and has been funded by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) since 2016. Currently, JIA is a leading academic journal in agricultural sciences in China.
1.3 Mission
JIA promotes research and the exchange of novel scientific discoveries and ideas for the advancement of agricultural sciences. The journal emphasizes interdisciplinary and systematic approaches for addressing crop science, plant protection, horticulture, animal & veterinary science, agro-ecosystem & environmental science, food science, and agricultural economics and management.
1.4 Goals
Five-year goals: To be a high-impact scientific journal in agricultural fields globally
· Impact factor: around 2.0
· Ranking in first 25% (Q1) in the JCR subject category of Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
· Overseas author rate: over 50%
· Overseas reviewer rate: 50%
1.5 Aims & Scope
JIA seeks to publish papers that are influential and will significantly advance scientific understanding in agriculture fields worldwide. JIA publishes manuscripts in five categories focusing on the core subjects listed below.
Categories:
1) The Commentary section is a platform to exchange viewpoints, to offer praise and criticism among scientists in the agricultural science community. Authors may submit comments regarding the content published previously in JIA, or may bring up other issues that may be of interest and relevant to JIA. Commentaries will appear at the beginning of the issue and have no abstract or keywords.
2) Reviews describe new developments and highlight future directions of specialized or interdisciplinary significance in the agriculture sciences. They should be focused on providing insights and summary/context on the published findings and/or on introducing new concepts or viewpoints to address important unresolved questions by presenting the research background, approach, and outlook of the field. Most Reviews are solicited by the editors, but unsolicited submissions may also be considered.
3) Research Articles present important new research results through reproducible experimental design, using genetic, biochemical, cell, and molecular biological methods, statistical analyses, and other scientific methods.
4) Short Communications are concise but independent reports representing a significant contribution to agriculture sciences. These are intended for publishing preliminary results that are of exceptional interest that are particularly topical and relevant. It should be limited to 2000 words, and shall include no more than two figures or tables.
5) Letters discuss materials published in JIA previously or address issues of general interest, or concisely report a scientific finding; letters should be limited to around 1000 words.
Core subjects:
Crop Science
--Crop genetics, breeding, germplasm resources
--Crop cultivation, physiology, biochemistry
Plant Protection
--Plant pathology
--Agricultural insect
--Pesticide and weed science
Horticulture
--Horticultural crop genetics (major vegetable and fruit crops), breeding, germplasm resources
--Horticultural crop (major vegetable and fruit crops) cultivation, physiology, biochemistry
Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine
--Animal genetics and breeding, nutrition and metabolism, reproduction, forage science
--Basic veterinary, preventive veterinary, clinical veterinary
Agro-Ecosystem & Environment
--Soil & fertilization
--Soil microorganism
--Irrigation
--Agricultural remote sensing
Food Science (focusing on grain, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, livestock and poultry)
--Raw material quality evaluation
--Postharvest physiology of fruits and vegetables
--By-products deep processing and comprehensive utilization
--Functional factors and nutritional health
--Quality safety and inspection
Agricultural Economics and Management
-- Agricultural economics
-- Food economics
-- Environmental economics
-- Agricultural policy
-- Farm management
1.6 Indexing
JIA has been indexed by SCI, Abstract Journal (AJ), Zoological Record (ZR), Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA), CABI, Scopus, DOAJ, Agricola and the main periodical databases in China.
2. Structure of the JIA Editorial Board
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Editor-in-Chief (EIC)
Associate EIC
Executive EIC
Vice Executive EIC
Section Editor (SE)
Members of Editorial Board (MEB)
3. Description for the positions of the Board
3.1 Chairman
· Lead the journal towards its goal of becoming a top agricultural science journal
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and internationally, to ensure the ongoing improvement of the journal
· Play an important role in ensuring fiscal solvency/financial support for JIA
· Represent JIA in official contexts and situations
3.2 Vice Chairman
· Lead the journal towards its goal of becoming a top agricultural science journal
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and international, to ensure the ongoing improvement of the journal
· Play an important role in ensuring fiscal solvency/financial support for JIA
· Represent JIA in official contexts situations
3.3 Editor-in-Chief (EIC)
· Lead the journal towards its goal of becoming a top agricultural science journal
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and internationally, to ensure the ongoing improvement of the journal
· Play an important role in ensuring fiscal solvency/financial support for JIA
· Make final decisions regarding important issues for the journal’s development
· Chair the Editorial Board meetings
· Invite manuscripts and call for other members of the Editorial Board to solicit manuscripts
· Make the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the manuscripts, or authorize the Executive EIC and SE to make the decision
3.4 Associate EIC
Take the following responsibilities via authorization of the EIC:
· Manage the Editorial Board
· Organize Editorial Board meetings to discuss issues related to the development of the journal
· Assume an important role in defining the journal’s scope, policies, and ongoing developmental goals
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and internationally, to ensure the advancement of the goals of the science community for the development of JIA
· Chair the Editorial Board meetings and club activities
3.5 Executive EIC
Take the following responsibilities via authorization of the EIC:
· Organize and construct the Editorial Board
· Organize Editorial Board meetings to discuss issues related to the development of the journal
· Assume an important role in defining the journal’s scope, policies, and ongoing developmental goals
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and internationally, to ensure the advancement of JIA
· Chair the Editorial Board meetings and club activities
· Invite the submission of leading manuscripts, from both home and abroad
· Publicize JIA and organize activities in the agricultural community globally
· Review and/or make final decisions on reviewed manuscripts
3.6 Vice Executive EIC
Take the following responsibilities via authorization of the Executive EIC:
· Organize and construct the Editorial Board
· Organize Editorial Board meetings to discuss issues related to the development of the journal
· Assume an important role in defining the journal’s scope, policies and ongoing developing goals
· Liaise with professional societies, both nationally and internationally, to ensure the advancement of JIA
· Publicize JIA and organize activities in the agricultural community globally
· Review and/or make final decisions on reviewed manuscripts
3.7 Section Editor (SE)
·Responsible for the sustainable development of the research section
·Make final decisions about all of the submitted manuscripts
·Assume an active role in defining the section’s scope, policies, and ongoing developmental goals
·Organize meetings to discuss the academic issues related to the section development
·Liaise with professional societies both national and international to ensure the advancement in the research section
·Play an active role in soliciting manuscripts for the section and try to contribute one paper as the first author
·Decide subjects for special issues based on field of the section, and take an active part in operating the special issue
·Publicize JIA and organize activities in agricultural community globally
3.8 Members of Editorial Board (MEB)
·Take an active part in generating proposals for promoting the journal JIA; contributing feedback for the articles published in JIA
· Participate in the meetings organized by the Editorial Board and the Editorial Office to discuss the issues related to the development of the journal
·Take responsibilities for the reviewing of manuscripts
· Try to contribute one paper, as the first author, or recommend the publication of one high-quality paper to JIA every year
·Take an active part in organizing special issues
·Publicize JIA and organize activities in the agricultural community globally
3.9 Privileges and Benefits
· To have the honor of representing JIA in official situations
· To publish a paper as the first author via a “green channel”
· To publish invited-reviews as the first author via a “green channel” with special rewards
· To organize and publish special issue/focus via a “green channel”
· To suggest new Editorial Board members and reviewers
· To receive the journal, in both hard and electronic copies, for free
3.10 Tenure
The term of office for all Board members is 5 years. The candidates of the Board will be nominated depending on their contribution to the journal and their achievements with distinction in their scientific fields.
4. Manuscript Process
4.1 ScholarOne Manuscript System
JIA uses the ScholarOne System, which is a web-based manuscript submission and tracking system created by Thomson Reuters. Authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial staff can effectively upload manuscripts, and access and communicate via the online system without risks of delay or breach of confidentiality. Our ScholarOne System is designed to maximize flexibility and to meet all the requirements for the most efficient manuscript handling for JIA.
4.2 Manuscript Decision-making Workflow
The first step: A formatting and quality check is carried out by the Managing Editor (ME) for each submitted manuscript. If a manuscript is in severe disorder, e.g., does not meet the journal scope, does not contain any novel research, lacks essential data, or in any other way stands out as unacceptable, it will be rejected immediately; such manuscript s will not enter the manuscript processing chain.
The second step: Depending on the subject, acceptable manuscripts from the first step are passed onto the SE. SE will make an initial evaluation of the scientific content and make a preliminary decision whether the manuscript should enter the peer-review process. Then, the SE assigns at least two active peer reviewers to work with the manuscript.
The third step: The peer reviewers give comments on the designated manuscripts and pass the decision to the ME.
The forth step: The ME evaluates the reviews made by the peer reviewers and makes a decision as to whether or not to accept the manuscript, and forwards the decision to the SE.
The fifth step: The SE gives the comments and hands in the manuscripts to EIC for the final decision.
4.3 Rules for Evaluating the Manuscripts
JIA requires a minimum of two peer reviews for each manuscript, but the SE is free to employ more if necessary. Interdisciplinary studies may sometimes require several experts in order for the work to be evaluated fully. JIA requires double-blind reviews. The confidentiality of the peer review process must be maintained at all times.
A professional, objective, and thorough review process will benefit scientific communication, improve the professionalism of the scientific community, and enhance the quality of our published research. Furthermore, in terms of the professional standing of the journal, it is essential to provide constructive feedback to the authors of all the manuscripts, including rejected ones. An additional benefit of thusly fostering community will be that authors will select JIA to publish high impact papers, which will help us to increase the impact factor of the journal. JIA’s rules for evaluating manuscripts are as follows:
· To maintain the integrity of the peer review process to ensure that the manuscript receives a thorough, quality review, even if it is being declined, in accordance with the high scientific standards of the journal
· Communicate with authors only in the capacity as defined by the reviewer role in this guideline
· Communicate with authors in a respectful and professional manner, and understand that criticism of a manuscript should not extend to personal criticism of the author(s)
· Discard reviews that are obviously abusive and either obtain another review or request that the reviewer re-write their evaluation
· Review each manuscript with impartiality, without regard to gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, institutional affiliation, or other similar bias
· Evaluate manuscripts on the basis of scientific merit, with the understanding that there may be many acceptable ways to prove a hypothesis. Respect the independence of authors and their creativity
· Treat the manuscript in review as a confidential document, and neither disclose its contents outside the context of the review process, nor use its contents in the reviewer’s own work
4.4 Conflict of Interests
JIA has created a “conflicts of interest” policy for editors and reviewers. In order to ensure that fair editorial decisions are made, any person who has a conflict of interest should not be in a position to review manuscripts (it is usually obvious when the title and authors of the manuscript are known).
There is a conflict of interest if:
· You and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are close family friends or direct relatives
· You and any of the authors involved in the manuscript are the colleagues of the same organization
· You are working on a highly-related research topic to the content of the manuscript, or you and the authors are competing to answer a similar research question, which may allow you to learn ideas and methods, previously unpublished from the manuscript
· You and any of the authors have a student-supervisor relationship within the past five years (including for post-doctoral scholars)
5. The Editorial Office
The editorial office is largely responsible for everything that appears in our publication and for executive issues. Under the leadership of the Director of the editorial office, the managing editors and other staff take charge of the operation of JIA.
Editorial Office of Journal of Integrative Agriculture (JIA)
No. 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R.China
Tel: +86-10-82105098, 82106280, 82106279 Fax: +86-10-82106247
http://www.ChinaAgriSci.com
