EDITING JOURNAL ARTICLES SURVEY
|
Publishing
SIG
EDITING JOURNAL ARTICLES SURVEY |
Below is the summary of responses from PubSIG members to the following question Meg Ashman posed on October 14, 2003:
"When an Extension agent or specialist in your Extension Service
writes a journal article, is the manuscript edited by an Extension publications
editor before it is submitted to the journal?"
I heard from 22 people in 20 states. (I actually received responses from several people within minutes of having posed the question!)
The overwhelming answer to the question is "no."
- In some cases, editing journal articles is not a service provided by the Extension editor/s.
- In other cases, the Extension editor may look over the article if the Extension specialist or agent requests.
- In still other cases, Extension specialists or agents are supposed to--or urged to--submit their manuscript to the Extension editor before they submit it to a journal, but they rarely do.
Thanks for your input! (Specific responses follow.)
--Meg Ashman
ALABAMA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SYSTEM (Carol Whatley):
Not unless the specialist asks one of our editors to look the article
over. Some specialists do ask, and some don't.
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (Robert Casler):
In Arizona, we do not edit an Extension agent's or specialist's journal
article.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (Jim Coats):
No, we don't edit articles before submission. We only edit materials
that will be published through our office.
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY (Sally Bedingfield):
That is the way our system is supposed to work. However, no one enforces
this and many of the Extension agents just do their own thing without any
help from us. It is very frustrating because many times we don't know what
they are doing.
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA (Dale Evans):
It has been many years since our office edited journal submissions
for college faculty. We just don't have the staff. Our one editor's primary
job is to ensure that the college's publications are at an acceptable level.
We assume that faculty can write to the standards of the journals they
submit articles to, and that those journals have editors who will make
sure those standards are met. Any problems with manuscripts or final articles
are the responsibility of the authors and the journals, respectively. Faculty
ought to be trained (or educated, if that's the word) to communicate effectively
with their peers. When it comes to Extension publications that serve the
college's clients (i.e., the public), it's another matter, and that's where
we provide assistance in making faculty writing readable and understandable
and grammatically correct.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO (Diane Noel):
No, we do not edit journal articles by anyone, not extension, not experiment
station.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAGNE (Molly Bentsen):
This is not routinely done in Illinois.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY (Gloria Holcombe):
We normally have a technical editor position within our publications
unit. We are reviewing resumes for that position and hope to interview
in late October. The position is funded through the Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station and became part of the Department of Communications
when the AES Editorial Office merged with Extension Communications in 1992.
All manuscripts for AES publications must be edited. All other manuscripts are submitted for numbering and the author has the choice of having the manuscript edited. All manuscripts that receive a number are included in the annual AES Director's Report. Approximately 500 numbers are assigned each fiscal year.
Many of the station publications have authors with extension appointments. A few years ago, a numbering category was added for extension authors for some manuscripts that fit the technical category but didn't have authors with AES appointments.
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY (Linda Kiesel):
We do not edit journal articles before they are sent to journals. We
believe that the specialist is likely to be more familiar with a journal's
style and audience than Extension editors.
If the specialist turns the article into an Extension piece, we then edit it for an Extension audience.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY (Jane Honeycutt):
We urge them to do so, but they don't always let an editor see it.
Occasionally they will send it after the fact, at which time I do edit
it and return it to them.
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY (Mary Wallace):
If our Extension specialists write articles for journals, they do not
come through our editors. On the research side, scientists do not come
through the publication editors before submitting their articles. They
work with the editor of the particular journal.
UNVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA (George Laur):
In Missouri, Ext Pub editors do not review journal articles.
UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION (Holly Young):
With me, not all the time. It depends on the specialist; but for the
most part, I usually get to take a look at it. It's rare that it doesn't
happen, but it does!
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY (Evie Engel):
We do NOT edit journal manuscripts before they are submitted to the
journal.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY (Laura Hoelscher, Jane Brown):
Hoelscher: This does not happen as a matter of course at Purdue. Very occasionally, a specialist will ask one of us editors in the Ag Comm Publishing Unit to look at an article, and I, for one, try and find the time, although I do not give it priority. This is a boot-leg exercise on my part. It isn't part of my job. Our educators are not on a P & T track, so, to my knowledge, requests from that quarter don't come our way.
Brown: We don't take in journal articles for either research or extension specialists.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY (Mary Brashier):
No/Yes. If the project has any Ag Experiment Station funding (the Extension
specialist has a split appointment), the ms comes through us (after peer
review).
TEXAS A & M (Judy Winn, Diane Bowen):
Winn: Years ago the editors used to do some editing of journal articles. It wasn't a requirement that authors have us go over their manuscripts before submitting them, but most specialists knew we offered that service when asked. And a few did ask from time to time. However, we've not done it in a long time. I think it's a matter of specialists not knowing we can help in that way. For quite a while we were so understaffed that we had to cut back on the kinds of work we did. Plus, editing journal articles was always worked around other projects--not given priority.
Bowen: Texas Cooperative Extension editors do not provide this service to specialists or agents.
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY (Dennis Hinkamp):
Only if they make a special request, but it is not required.
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY (Joyce Bower):
We edit them if requested.
Return to PubSIG homepage
Return to ACE homepage