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Top Story Improvements Recommended for Phytopathology, but Committee Finds Journal in Good Health
Randy Rowe The APS Council recently received recommendations from an ad hoc committee on the journal Phytopathology. The committee charge was to examine the editorial policies of Phytopathology and evaluate the advisability of broadening or shifting the editorial focus, whether relevant research in plant pathology is being published there, and what author-perceived barriers to publication exist. This article is a summary of the full committee report to the society’s Council.  The number of papers published annually in Phytopathology is half what it
was 30 years ago but has been stable the last 10 years. Total pages published
annually have remained constant because of longer articles. Phytopathology
is considered the premier journal for research in plant-pathogen population
biology. Most common topics include population biology, epidemiology,
virology, genetics of disease resistance, and biological control, with host-parasite interaction work
accounting for about 15%. Very few submissions are turned away because of subject matter, and
editors encourage submissions dealing with host-parasite interactions. The ISI impact factor (IF) was
about 1.0 in the 1980s, over 2.0 in the 1990s, and now ranges from 2.2 to 2.4, considerably above
that of other similarly focused journals. The most difficult issue has been to change the “culture” of
Phytopathology, with regard to both reviewers and editors being
too “picky” about content and organization of manuscripts and
not listening well to complaints from authors. A major question that faced the committee was whether there is
still a place for a broad-based, general plant-pathology journal
today, given that research with plants and pathogens has moved
in so many different directions and an increasing number of
specialized journals compete for papers based on this work. To
gain perspective and obtain feedback, the committee conducted
a survey of APS members and some nonmembers in May 2005.
The 1,156 survey respondents included 654 who had published
in Phytopathology, 336 who had published in journals other
than Phytopathology, and 166 who had never published.Survey results showed that Phytopathology remains a well-respected journal and is not perceived to be “in trouble.” Some confusion exists about the role of Phytopathology compared with MPMI and Plant Disease. Subject-matter coverage was not of major concern, but a few suggestions were made to slightly broaden the scope. There is desire for Phytopathology to become more international, including having more reviewers and editors from outside the United States. Some authors have concerns causing them to avoid publishing in Phytopathology. Most significant were costs to authors, slowness of review process, and the perception that some reviewers are not well qualified and/or the review process is sometimes unfair, unhelpful, or overly critical.
Download the remainder in the PDF Abstract Submissions Now Open!
Don’t miss your chance to present research at
the 2006 APS/CPS/MSA Joint Meeting, July
29–August 2, 2006, in Québec, Canada. Visit
http://meeting.apsnet.org and click on the “Call
For Papers” tab for more information and to
submit your abstract. Deadline for submissions
is March 30, 2006. Special Reduced Hotel Rates for Québec
Take advantage of reduced rate hotel rooms at
both headquarter hotels—the Hilton Québec and
the Delta Québec—by booking early. Register
for the meeting online and save $25. Registration
will open in early March. Visit http://meeting.apsnet.org
and click on the “Registration &
Hotel” tab for more information. Student Travel Award Applications Due April 3
The APS Foundation Student Travel Awards
application process is now open at www.apsnet.
org/foundation/travel/. APS student members
giving oral or poster presentations at the 2006
Joint Meeting of APS/CPS/MSA are eligible.
Applications must be submitted by noon (CST),
on Monday, April 3, 2006. Contact Graduate
Student Committee Chair Angela Records
(arecords@ag.tamu.edu) with questions.
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