Highlights from 2020 publishing report, changes to editors and best article 2021

Abstract

Each year around July we receive a very interesting publishing report from Taylor and Francis, the publisher of JAEE. Here are some highlights from the 2020 publishing report. Our impact factor rose from 1.520 to 2.060 in 2020. We had 63,000 article downloads in total. Our top downloaded article in 2020, with 2409 downloads at the time, was ‘Overcoming Barriers in Agri-business Development: Two Education Programs for Entrepreneurs in the Swedish Agricultural Sector’ (Ulvenblad et al. 2020). The top-cited article in 2020 was ‘Impact of ICT on Agricultural Extension Services Delivery: Evidence from the Catholic Relief Services SMART Skills and Farmbook Project in Kenya’ (Tata and McNamara 2018), with six citations. Finally, the article with the most altmetric attention (social media) in 2020, with a score of 30, was ‘From Best Practice to Best Fit: A Framework for Designing and Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide’ (Birner et al. 2009). At the beginning of each year, it is our pleasure to announce the article of the year. This year our editors have selected ‘“Sharing the Space” in the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System: Multi-actor Innovation Partnerships with Farmers and Foresters in Europe’ by Andrew F. Fieldsend, Evelien Cronin, Eszter Varga, Szabolcs Biró and Elke Rogge (Fieldsend et al. 2021). This relevant and timely article used a good selection process for analysis and maximised insights. Its conclusion that any analysis of co-innovation involving users must recognise the existence of a multiplicity (projects, non-project activities, formal and informal) of multi-actor approaches was well supported by its research. The JAEE Editorial Board congratulates the authors for their excellent work in advancing educational and extension theory and practice. The article will be freely available on the JAEE website. The beginning of the year is also time to thank our editors and reviewers. We thank the many reviewers for the Journal, who tirelessly and thoroughly provide feedback on manuscripts and thus contribute to the quality of the journal and to advancing the profession. Also, we thank the Editorial Board, which comprises the editors, editorial assistant and the members of the wider Editorial Committee (our advisory body), for their essential contribution to the journal and its success. Our Editorial Board has seen some changes this year. Dr Mark Paine, formerly from Dairy NZ in New Zealand and Dr Marianne Cerf, from Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE) in France have stepped off the JAEE Editorial Committee. We thank Drs Paine and Cerf for their service and dedication to the profession and wish them all the best. Some new editors have joined in 2021. In addition to Prof. Andrea Knierim and Dr Catharine Ragasa whom we already welcomed in an earlier editorial (Klerkx 2021), we would also like to welcome our latest new editor, Dr Monica Gorman, Assistant Professor, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Ireland. Dr Gorman brings expertise in theory and research on education, adult education, agricultural education, teaching methods and innovation and entrepreneurship in education.