ARPAS Journal Name to Change in 2019, ARPAS Members’ Responsibility
The new name of the ARPAS journal will be the Journal of Applied Animal Science (JAAS) beginning January 2019. This change was approved by the Governing Council at the annual meeting in June, following survey input from the ARPAS membership. The new name catalyzes several other changes to the ARPAS journal that will appear early next year including a new cover; a new definition of the applied scope, focus, and value proposition of the journal; a new table of contents (scientific content: food science; forages and feeds; genetics; health and well-being; integrated systems – production and management; nutrition; physiology; sustainability; and, welfare and behavior) and a new editorial board structure to align with the table of contents; and, new description of responsibilities and instructions for authors and reviewers for submission and review of manuscripts. A new feature will be “Experts from the Field,” where ARPAS members will be commissioned to provide publishable comments about the particular relevance and potential impact to the animal sciences and production systems of some published journal articles.
Calling Out ARPAS Members: Your Responsibility for the Journal. A key need going forward is for every ARPAS member to collaborate with the Editorial Team to bring new high-quality information and knowledge to the journal for publication. Encourage your associates (non-academic as well as academic) to submit articles and topics (with prospective authors) for consideration by the Editorial Team or write articles yourself. Every ARPAS member can participate in capturing new information and knowledge in the applied animal sciences by publishing in the journal and doggedly urging others to do so as well. This activity is an investment in yourself as well as animal agriculture.
Encourage individuals in your network to submit to the ARPAS journal and send an email to Dr. David Beede (cowtrout@gmail.com) with contacts you have made (names and contact information) so that follow-up can be done with prospective authors.
Impact Factor. Obtaining an “impact factor” and being indexed in PubMed are key targets for increasing the number and quality of articles in the ARPAS journal. However, earning an impact factor is a “chick-or-egg” phenomenon—obtaining the impact factor is not achieved without a history of publication and citations of high-quality articles; yet, attracting and publishing more high-quality articles is difficult without an impact factor. Currently, 12 invited review articles are in the review pipeline potentially to help enhance the prospect of obtaining an impact factor. However, many more high-quality articles, sought and procured by ARPAS members, are needed! That’s your challenge! It must be a relentless and continuous process.
New Elsevier Senior Publisher Rebekah Collins. We are pleased to have a new Elsevier publisher, Rebekah Collins. She works from the New York office of Elsevier. The Editorial Team met with her at the annual meeting, and we look forward to working with her to expand and strengthen the promotion, global footprint, and quality of the ARPAS journal.
—Dave Beede, Editor-in-Chief, PAS/JAAS