Advancements in Agricultural Development Volume 6, Issue 1, 2025 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, University of Connecticut, 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 Innovating the Science of Agricultural Development: 2025 State of the Journal Report T. G. Roberts1, Editor-in-Chief; A. Harder2, Senior Editor; J. R. Lindner3, Senior Editor Article History Received: January 7, 2025 Accepted: January 7, 2025 Published: January 8, 2025 Keywords annual report Introduction This is the annual state of the journal report for Advancements in Agricultural Development. 2024 was another great year for AAD. First, we formed a new partnership to elevate the digital presence of research published in AAD. Second, we published our first special issue. Third, we refined several policies to provide greater clarity for our authors. We are fortunate that Dr. Jamie Loizzo from the University of Florida has joined our team as an Editor. Dr. Loizzo is leading our digital dissemination efforts. We also partnered with Streaming Science (https://streamingscience.com/) to help get our research shared with people who can directly apply it. Dr. Loizzo also leads our efforts to test novel approaches like video abstracts and AI-enhanced social media. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to check out the innovations that Dr. Loizzo is trying. Abstract This is the annual State of the Journal report for Advancements in Agricultural Development. 2024 was another great year for AAD. First, we formed a new partnership to elevate the digital presence of research published in AAD. Second, we published our first special issue. Third, we refined several policies to provide greater clarity for our authors. In this report, we also provide the journal statistics for 2024 and list all our reviewers for 2024. 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://streamingscience.com/ Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v6i1.577 2 We also published our first special issue, Advancing Methods of Agricultural Development Research and Practice (https://agdevresearch.org/index.php/aad/issue/view/31), which resulted from the symposium we hosted with the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading in the UK in October of 2023. We have another additional special issue planned. Dr. Tom Gill from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is leading the special issue: The Role of Agricultural Development Research in Achieving SDG Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and Goal 15 (Life on Land). Our goal is to publish this special issue in June 2025. Plans are also underway to host another symposium in October 2025 in partnership with University College Dublin, focusing on Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies in Agricultural Development Research and Practice. AAD also continually monitors our policies and adjusts to meet changing conditions. Recent changes include: • We have adjusted our policy on artificial intelligence technologies. The updated policy is: AAD recognizes that artificial intelligence technologies are rapidly evolving. If authors use AI tools, they are still ultimately responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of submitted work. The specific AI tools used should be described in the methods section or in the acknowledgments section as appropriate. By submitting, you are acknowledging compliance with this policy. AAD does not allow editors or reviewers to use AI technologies to review an article. • We also now ask that authors indicate if a submitted article has previously been presented at a conference or published in a thesis or dissertation. Additionally, we require that authors indicate if a submitted article is a part of a larger study. We are also continually working to make research published in AAD widely available and accessible. In 2024, we were accepted for listing in CAB abstracts (https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/product/ca) and EBSCO (https://www.ebsco.com/). We are also under review for consideration in Scopus (https://www.scopus.com) and the Web of Science (https://mjl.clarivate.com/home). AAD also met the threshold for generating journal metrics on Google Scholar (see statistics below). AAD is also launching a new job board (https://agdevresearch.org/index.php/aad/jobs) to provide a platform for employers to post academic, government, NGO, and industry jobs that focus on education, extension, human capacity building, diffusion of innovations, leadership, and communication in the context of food, agriculture, and natural resources. We look forward to connecting employers with prospective employees. Our team at AAD is critical to providing the highest quality experiences for our authors and readers. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Jamie Loizzo joined us as an editor. Additionally, Kwabena Bayity from Auburn University joined us as an editorial assistant. We also wish to acknowledge the contributions of Caitlin Lunzmann (University of Florida) and Jessie Nichols (Auburn University), who served as editorial assistants and have now transitioned on to other efforts. The success of AAD is directly attributed to the editorial team and reviewers, all of whom are volunteers. We also wish to thank our Editorial Board members, who have provided excellent https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v6i1.577 https://agdevresearch.org/index.php/aad/issue/view/31 https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/product/ca https://www.ebsco.com/ https://www.scopus.com/ https://mjl.clarivate.com/home https://agdevresearch.org/index.php/aad/jobs Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v6i1.577 3 advice on managing the journal. We especially want to thank our reviewers from 2024, who are listed at the end of this report. Journal Statistics 2022 2023 2024 Journal Usage Article Views 20,515 29,098 49,197 Article Downloads 11,378 16,238 29,492 Total 31,893 45,336 78,659 Editorial Processes Total Submissions Received 44 58 58 Overall Acceptance Rate 37% 46.5% 33% Accepted on Initial Submission 4.5% 1.7% 4.4% Accepted after Revisions 32.5% 44.8% 28.6% Days to First Editorial Decision 29 25 39 Days to Accept 139 87 130 Days to Reject 76 46 101 Days from Accept to Publication 38 18 15 Google Scholar Metrics h5 index 10 h5 median 13 Most Viewed Article in 2024 Ruth, T. K., Colclasure, B., Conner, N., Holmes, A., & Durham Brooks, T. (2022). Hemp on the horizon: Understanding the influences on industrial hemp purchases. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 3(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v3i3.189 Most Downloaded Article in 2024 Lindner, J. R., & Lindner, N. (2024). Interpreting Likert type, summated, unidimensional, and attitudinal scales: I neither agree nor disagree, Likert or not. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 5(2), 152–163. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i2.351 Most Cited Article from all Years (based on total Crossref Citations) Narine, L., & Meier, C. (2020). Responding in a time of crisis: Assessing extension efforts during COVID-19. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 1(2), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v1i2.35 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v6i1.577 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v3i3.189 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v5i2.351 https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v1i2.35 Roberts et al. Advancements in Agricultural Development https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v6i1.577 4 Reviewers in 2024 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. David Ader, University of Tennessee Amanda Ali, Utah State University Lauri Baker, University of Florida Debra Barry, University of Florida Amanda Bowling, Ohio State University Gary Briers, Texas A&M University James Bunch, University of Florida Megan Cantrell, University of Florida Audie Cherry, Clemson University Kellie Claflin, Ohio State University Chris Clemons, Auburn University Blake Colclasure, University of Tennessee Bradley Coleman, Oklahoma State University Nathan Conner, University of Nebraska John Diaz, University of Florida Kim Dooley, Texas A&M University Christopher Eck, Oklahoma State University Craig Edwards, Oklahoma State University Jillian Ford, Auburn University. USA Tyler Granberry, University of Tennessee Becky Haddad, University of Nebraska Jay Jayaratne, North Carolina State University Marianne Judd-Murray, Utah State University Kathleen Kelsey, University of Florida Vikram Koundinya, Univ. of California, Davis Christine Krebs, University of Florida Pablo Lamino, University of Florida Rafael Landaverde, Texas A&M University Amy Leman, University of Illinois Adam Marx, North Dakota State University Aaron McKim, Michigan State University Stephen Mukembo, University of Missouri Brian Myers, University of Florida Lendel Narine, Utah State University Jason Peake, University of Georgia Kristopher Rankin, New Mexico State University Taylor Ruth, University of Tennessee Scott Scheer, Ohio State University Steven Siegelin, Montana State University Scott Smalley, Iowa State University Sarah Sprayberry, University of Kentucky Christopher Stripling, University of Tennessee Trent Wells, Murray State University, Kentucky © 2025 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.v6i1.577