Advancements in Agricultural Development Volume 5, Issue 1, 2024 agdevresearch.org 1. T. Grady Roberts, University of Florida, 220 Rolfs Hall, PO Box 110540, Gainesville, FL 32611 groberts@ufl.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7618-78502. 2. Amy Harder, Associate Dean for Extension, 1378 Storrs Rd., Unit 4134, W.B. Young Building, Room 233, Storrs, CT 06269, amy.harder@uconn.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7042-20283. 3. James R. Lindner, Auburn University, 5058 Haley Center, Auburn, AL 36849, jrl0039@auburn.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-38464. 1 2024 State of the Journal Report T. G. Roberts1, Editor-in-Chief; A. Harder2, Senior Editor; J. Lindner3, Senior Editor Article History Received: January 3, 2024 Accepted: January 3, 2024 Published: January 4, 2024 Keywords annual report Abstract This is the annual state of the journal report for Advancements in Agricultural Development. This report: (a) highlights key accomplishments from 2023, (b) discusses changes beginning in 2024, (c) shares journal statistics from 2023, (d) presents goals for 2024, and (e) lists reviewers for the year. 2023 (Volume 4) was a banner year for Advancements in Agricultural Development (AAD), with several milestones reached. First, we published our 100th article in August. Second, AAD was accepted for inclusion in AGRICOLA, the National Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (https://www.nal.usda.gov/agricola). Third, AAD was also selected for inclusion in the Cabells directory (https://cabells.com/), which will allow for generating journal analytics for citations and mentions. We also introduced a new style sheet for published articles, adding the submitted, accepted, and published dates for transparency. mailto:groberts@ufl.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7618-78502 mailto:amy.harder@uconn.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7042-20283 mailto:jrl0039@auburn.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-38464 https://www.nal.usda.gov/agricola https://cabells.com/ Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463 2 Introduction 2023 (Volume 4) was a banner year for Advancements in Agricultural Development (AAD), with several milestones reached. First, we published our 100th article in August. Second, AAD was accepted for inclusion in AGRICOLA, the National Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (https://www.nal.usda.gov/agricola). Third, AAD was also selected for inclusion in the Cabells directory (https://cabells.com/), which will allow for generating journal analytics for citations and mentions. We also introduced a new style sheet for published articles, adding the submitted, accepted, and published dates for transparency. 2023 also marked some changes in our AAD staff. First, Dr. Robert Strong has left his position as a Senior Editor to focus his efforts on other scholarly pursuits. We wish to thank Dr. Strong for his contributions to AAD. Second, we welcomed Dr. Michael Martin from Iowa State University as an Editor. Dr. Martin is working with our other editors to manage the review process for submitted articles. We also welcomed Ms. Jessie Nichols from Auburn University as an editorial assistant. The success of AAD is directly attributed to the editorial team and reviewers, all of whom are volunteers. We especially wish to thank our reviewers from 2023, who are listed at the end of this report. Symposium In October, AAD partnered with the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom to host a Symposium on Advancing Methods of Agricultural Development Research and Practice. Over the two-day event, invited authors presented 10 papers outlining innovative approaches to both research and practice. Attendees represented 13 universities/research institutes from five countries. The papers presented will appear in a forthcoming special issue of AAD. Discussions are underway to plan the next AAD symposium in 2025. Changes Coming in 2024 AAD is always looking to refine its policies and practices to better meet the needs of researchers and readers. To that end, we are making several changes that will go into effect in 2024. 1. We are now requiring authors to include one or more UN Sustainable Development Goals in their keywords to better connect research published in AAD with the broader development community. 2. We have adopted the following policy in recognition of the potential impacts of Artificial Intelligence and will reevaluate as necessary as conditions change. AAD only allows authors to use generative AI technologies to improve the writing quality and readability of submitted manuscripts. By submitting, you are acknowledging compliance with this policy. AAD does not allow editors or reviewers to use AI technologies in the review of an article. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463 https://www.nal.usda.gov/agricola https://cabells.com/ Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463 3 3. We have adopted a data age policy given AAD’s focus on rapid dissemination of research to inform practice. Authors must also indicate when data were collected. Given AAD's focus on research which informs practice, we typically do not accept research with data over three years old. 4. We have changed our publication fee to $395 USD to account for increases in operating expenses. Journal Statistics for 2023 Acceptance Rate Accept on Initial Submission: 1.7% Accept after Revisions: 44.8% Overall Acceptance Rate: 46.5% Editorial Timeliness Days to Initial Editorial Decision: 25 Days from Accept to Publication: 18 Journal Usage in 2023 (based on 109 published articles) Abstract Views: 29,098 File Downloads: 16,238 Total Interactions: 45,336 Most Viewed Article in 2023 Easterly III, R. G., Humphrey, K., & Roberts, T. G. (2021). The Impacts of COVID-19 on school-based agricultural education teachers in the U.S. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 2(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v2i1.79 Most Downloaded Article in 2023 Narine, L., & Harder, A. (2021). Comparing the Borich model with the Ranked Discrepancy Model for competency assessment: A novel approach. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 2(3), 96–111. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v2i3.169 Most Cited Article from all Years (based on total Crossref Citations) Lindner, J., Clemons, C., Thoron, A., & Lindner, N. (2020). Remote instruction and distance education: A response to COVID-19. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 1(2), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v1i2.39 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v2i1.79 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v2i3.169 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v1i2.39 Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463 4 Looking Ahead to 2024 We are continually looking for ways to improve the experience of researchers and readers. Looking ahead to 2024, we will: 1. Submit AAD for inclusion in Web of Science. 2. Submit AAD for inclusion in Scopus. 3. Test social media and digital media approaches to help disseminate published articles to larger and broader audiences. Reviewers in 2023 Again, we wish to thank and acknowledge the valuable contributions of the reviewers listed below. They play a critical role in the research process. If you are not currently a reviewer for AAD and wish to become one, please contact the Editor-in-Chief. Sidiqat Aderinoye-Abdulwahab (University of Ilorin, Nigeria) Amanda Ali (Utah State University, USA) Lauri Baker (University of Florida, USA) Debra Barry (University of Florida, USA) Amy Boren Alpizar (Texas Tech University, USA) Christopher Boyer (University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA) James Bunch (University of Florida, USA) Sarah Bush (University of Florida, USA) Sarah Cardey (University of Reading, United Kingdom) Ataharul Chowdhury (University of Guelph, Canada) Chris Clemons (Auburn University, USA) Lauren Cline (Oklahoma State University, USA) Blake Colclasure (University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA) Bradley Coleman (Oklahoma State University, USA) Nathan Conner (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA) John Diaz (University of Florida, USA) Joseph Donaldson (North Carolina State University, USA) Allison Dunn (Texas A&M University, USA) R. G. (Tre) Easterly (University of Florida, USA) Craig Edwards (Oklahoma State University, USA) Jeremy Elliott-Engel (University of Hawaii-Manoa, USA) Nick Fuhrman (University of Georgia, USA) Raphael Gikunda (Chuka University, Kenya) Monica Gorman (University College Dublin, Ireland) Jamie Greig (University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA) Katherine Hartmann (Iowa State University, USA) Carla Jagger (University of Florida, USA) Jay Jayaratne (North Carolina State University, USA) Marianne Judd-Murray (Utah State University, USA) Kathleen Kelsey (University of Florida, USA) James Kinsella (University College Dublin, Ireland) Rafael Landaverde (Texas A&M University, USA) Sarah LaRose (Purdue University, USA) David Lawver (Texas Tech University, USA) James Lindner (Auburn University, USA) Michael Martin (Iowa State University, USA) Jason McKibben (Auburn University, USA) Aaron McKim (Michigan State University, USA) Sarahi Morales (Zamorano University, Honduras) Stephen Mukembo (University of Missouri, USA) Lendel Narine (Utah State University, USA) Summer Odom (Texas A&M University, USA) Rosa Raudales (University of Connecticut, USA) Matt Raven (Michigan State University, USA) Nicole Ray (Fresno State University, USA) Richie Roberts (Louisiana State University, USA) Mary Rodriguez (The Ohio State University, USA) Matthew Sowcik (University of Florida, USA) Nicole Stedman (University of Florida, USA) Christopher Stripling (The University of Tennessee, USA) Jennifer Strong (Texas A&M University, USA) Andrew Thoron (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, USA) © 2024 by authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i1.463