Staff Policy

Appointment and Management of AGREKON editorial staff

Editorial structure and manner of appointment

Agrekon’s editorial staff comprises one editor in chief, three associate editors and the editorial assistance, which can be based at different organisations. 

The editor in chief is appointed by the Management Committee (MC) of AEASA for a four year term.

The rules and procedures for the appointment and revision of the position of editor in chief are determined by the MC.

The procedure to be followed is written nomination and application to the Management Committee. In addition the Management Committee can invite candidates to apply. The current editorial staff is also eligible for re-appointment.

The candidates that can be considered for editor in chief could be from the following groups: the existing editorial staff, nominations and applications that are requested in writing, and additional candidates that are approached by the MC.

The criteria for consideration of the candidates are:

overall knowledge of the field as indicated by the CV;

declaration of editorial philosophy;

proof of administrative support from organisation involved; and  in order to prevent a conflict of interests,

a member of the editorial staff may not hold any portfolio in the Executive Committee (EC)of AEASA

The MC is responsible for giving six months notice for the application and nominations for the position of editor in chief. The MC does the final selection and appointment.

The editor in chief appoints the associate editors in consultation with the MC. The motivation for associate editors is to distribute the editorial burden between organisations and individuals; to involve expertise from larger and smaller organisations; and to ensure continuity and consistency in the editorial staff. The editor in chief serves on the MC and EC of AEASA and must supply a written report to the Annual General Meeting about AEASA’s journal annually. 

Purpose and function of Agrekon editorial staff 

 The main aim is to offer an independent forum to announce scientific findings; to maintain quality for the purposes of accreditation, and to ensure scientific integrity.

Subjects submitted to Agrekon must be related to the economics of agriculture, natural resources and the environment or rural and community development. (Please refer to the inner page of Agrekon.)

The overall functions of the editorial staff are:

continuous improvement of the journal’s relevance;to ensure financial sustainability;

to promote marketing within South Africa and outside its borders;

implementation of quality control and management of journal format; technical production, proof-reading, feedback to authors and the printing of issues;

development and maintenance of electronic information of the journal on the AEASA home page;

maintenance of data bases on:
(i) referees and evaluation forms;
(ii) the administrative processes measured in terms of: days taken for first, second and third round management of manuscripts;
number of manuscripts received, number processed (accepted or rejected) as well as number in the process of refereed; and
– number of days a manuscript takes to be evaluated by an referee before the decision is communicated to the authors.

Reporting to the Annual General Meeting

Recommendation of the best published article in Agrekon according to the rules

Ensure that contributed papers selected for publication conform with journal requirements

The overall editorial functions mentioned above must be distributed among the four editors after consultation by the editorial staff.

Specific editorial functions

The editorial process regarding the appointment of referees and the evaluation of the manuscripts is the joint responsibility of the editor in chief and the associate editors.

The division of manscripts between the editors must be as equally as possible so that a greater number of articles can be dealt with in the shortest possible time.

The manuscripts are received by the office of the editor in chief and recorded in a data base. The editor in chief allocates a manuscript to himself or any of his associate editors for allocation to referees. When manuscripts and referees are allocated it must be ensured that an editor/referee does not evaluate articles by authors from the same organisation.

After referees have been appointed, the whole evaluation process is managed by the editor involved until a decision is taken regarding the acceptance/rejection of the manuscript. This decision is communicated to the office of the editor in chief.
Proofreading by the author before final printing. After acceptance of a manuscript the articles are compiled for a specific issue of Agrekon by the editor in chief, and sent to the office responsible for proof-reading, page layout and the printing process. The editor responsible for this function (see above) is also responsible for final completion.

A deadline for manuscripts is set for each issue of Agrekon.

Panel of referees

 The panel of referees must comprise knowledgeable persons in the specific field as a whole or demarcated focus areas. As a guideline, at least five referees are required for the general and demarcated fields, which means that a panel of at least 50 must be accessible. This panel must preferably be composed of persons from different organisations within and outside South Africa.

All referees must be supplied with a structured evaluation form for completion and records must be maintained by the editor involved.