Cultural issues at the French journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development"

Eric LICHTFOUSEEditor-in-ChiefINRA, France"

Conference of the European Association of Science Editors, Pisa, Italy, 2009

When I started my job as Editor in 2003..."

... Agronomy was considered by my fellows as the journal for submission of papers that have been rejected elsewhere !"

2003 IMPACT FACTOR 0.566

RANK - AGRONOMY 29/53

REJECTION RATE 44%

PUBLICATION DELAY 11 Months

ARTICLES IN ENGLISH 93%

ARTICLE FLOW Paper/post

Articles written in French"

A strong history of publishing in French"

Articles in French (%)

0

25

50

75

100

1990 1995 2000 2005

Published articles 2008"

PUBLISHED ARTICLES 2008France " 15Italy " 12 Spain" 7USA " 5Pakistan" 3Belgium" 2India " 2Mexico" 2 UK" 2Algeria " 1Australia" 1Austria" 1Bulgaria" 1Cameroun" 1Canada " 1 China" 1Germany " 1 Kenya" 1Iran " 1Morocco " 1Syria" 1"

North 47% South 53%

21 countries: high diversity"

Journal website usageNumber of visits"

France " 17000USA " 6600India " 5500Algeria " 4100Tunisia " 3600Italy " 2700Iran " 2600Morocco " 2500Canada " 2300Germany " 2300(over 9 months/2008)"

North 55% South 45%"

Agriculture is a topic interesting both rich and poor countries"

Journal website usageTime spent on website"

USA " 1’32Canada" 1’35India " 1’57Morocco " 2’05 Italy " 2’08 Germany " 2’09 France" 2’16Tunisia " 2’13Algeria " 2’19 Iran " 2’51"

High differences 1’32 - 2’51Difficult to interpret

Faster internet connections?"

Writing differences"

Southern authors" Northern authors"Long sentences" Short sentences"

Orphan sentences" Well-structured paragraphs"

Repeating not allowed" Repeating allowed"

Romance, flowery prose, unfocussed text" Straight to the point"

Too many results - quantity" 1-3 relevant results - quality"

Unexplained results" All results discussed"

Managing differences"

Southern authors" Northern authors"Easy to convince, flexible, but..."need strong orders"

Hard to convince (they know) but..."follow advice once convinced"

Do not follow instructions" Apply instructions to the letter"

Impatient (email...)" Patient (to some extend...)"

Example: asking revisions"

Southern authors" Northern authors"

Your article is acceptable but not accepted. Please apply.... Please note that the rejection rate at this stage is 50%..."

Your article is accepted. Please apply corrections from the reviewers... Please provide final version in Word..."

Communication should be adapted"

After 5 years of editorial work..."

2003 2008

IMPACT FACTOR 0.566 1.649

RANK - AGRONOMY 29/53 13/49

REJECTION RATE 44% 73%

PUBLICATION DELAY 11 Months 3.8 Months

ARTICLES IN ENGLISH 93% 100%

ARTICLE FLOW Paper/post Electronic

Impact factor

0

1

2

1985 1995 2005

We improved and kept a high diversity of authors origin

(53% South/2008)"

Conclusion"

Smart Editors should be familiar with various cultures: south, north, US, European, Asian...

Editors should adapt their communication to authors origin.

Should we design specific instructions for specific cultures?"

New book (in French) - Writing science"

Springer 2009Will be translated in English ~ 2010"

Thank you!"

Singing Fish, MiroSpain"

Brandenburg GateBerlin"

South" North"

Diversity of thought implies diversity of communication"