ASABE Guidelines for Manuscript Reviews

The peer review process for refereed publications is dependent on the quality of the manuscript reviews provided by the reviewers.Reviewers are selected based on their professional stature and familiarity with the nature of the manuscript.Reviewers are encouraged to accept this responsibility with the highest degree of professionalism.The review serves three purposes:

·    It assists the Division Editor in deciding the merit for publishing the manuscript,

·    It provides the authors with constructive suggestions for improving the manuscript, and

·    It ensures the profession that only the highest quality information and knowledge is being advanced.

Critical Evaluation:The review should evaluate the manuscript based on what was done.The review must communicate the evaluation clearly and thoroughly.The review recommendation should be one of the following:

·    Publish as is;

·    Publish with minor changes, no re-review necessary;

·    Publish after substantial revision and additional review; or

·    Not suitable for publication in any of the ASABE journals, even with substantial revision.

Promptness: The review should be completed within four weeks of agreeing to review the manuscript.If additional time is needed, the reviewer should contact the Associate Editor to discuss other arrangements.

Constructiveness: The review should constructively comment on the manuscript indicating how apparent flaws can be corrected and mechanisms for enhancing the meritorious portions of the work.

Fairness and Impartiality: The review should express an open-minded and impartial view without personal bias or prejudice.

Diplomacy: Review comments should be free of inflammatory or derogatory language.

Completeness: The review should address the whole manuscript including the title, the abstract, the introduction and literature review, the objectives of the work, the appropriateness of the methods, the discussion of results, the conclusions (based on the results), the significance of the work according to the criteria for the journal under consideration, the clarity of writing style, adherence to the ASABE Style Guide (http://www.asabe.org/pubs/authguide.html), appropriate and correct use of units (including significant numerical values), appropriate use of tables, graphs, and figures, clarity of graphical materials (sizes, line thickness, style, etc.), and the appropriate use of statistical analysis (as appropriate to the methods).

Review aids: The following review questions may be useful.

·    Is the title appropriate?

·    Is the abstract complete and concise?

·    Are the objectives well stated?

·    Do the conclusions answer objectives? Are they warranted?

·    Are the references present, germane, complete?

·    Clarity of expression and continuity sufficient?

·    Is the writing concise? Are irrelevant aspects eliminated?

·    Is the presentation complete?

·    Is the scientific/engineering approach used?

·    Are the latest techniques used?

·    Are findings useable by other engineers/users/researchers?

·    Is the work timely?

·    Does it have fundamental value?

·    Is the approach original or innovative?

·    Will findings directly or indirectly benefit society in general and agriculture specifically?

·    Does the subject of the discussion introduce factors that might adversely affect safety? If so, are precautions or future work are planned or recommended to eliminate these adverse effects?

 

Criteria for Selecting Manuscripts for ASABE Refereed Publications

Transactions of the ASABE

To be published in Transactions of the ASABE the manuscript must meet all of the following requirements:

1.The material represents original, important contributions to research or design literature of interest to the Society.

2.It clearly represents the design or development of technology, or research into problems of direct interest to the profession.

3.The manuscript must clearly state the scope and purpose.The information must be objective and well organized, and the conclusions must be adequately supported.

Along with the requirements stated above, the manuscript should also contain at least one of the following elements:

·    Original data, analysis or design, or synthesis of existing information.

·    Research information for the improvement of design, construction, or manufacturing practice.

·    Significant and convincing evidence that confirms and strengthens the findings of others, and revises ideas or challenges acceptedtheory.

·    A critical review of research or design information of comprehensive and well-defined scope.

Units of measure are to be expressed in SI (International Systems of Units) (ASAE EP 285.7 ASABE Standards, 54th Ed.).You may include customary (English) units in parenthesis for special applications.

 

Applied Engineering In Agriculture

To be published in Applied Engineering In Agriculture the manuscript must meet all of the following requirements:

1.The material represents original, useful contributions to engineering for agriculture and/or mechanization applications literature.It must have current, lasting, or apparent future value to agriculture.

2.It must emphasize the application of engineering for agriculture and/or mechanization knowledge and skill.

3.The information must be presented in an objective, well-organized manner which allows for easy adaptation and use by others.The scope, purpose, and summary must be clearly stated.

Along with the requirements stated above, the manuscript should also contain at least one of the following elements:

·    Results of practical experiences, tests, or trials presented in a manner and style that they allow easy adaptation by others.

·    Results of reviews or studies of installations or applications, and substantially new or significant information not readily available in other refereed publications.

·    A description of successful methods or techniques of technology transfer.

·    A critical review of new technology or educational methods of comprehensive and well-defined scope.

Units of measure are to be expressed in SI (International Systems of Units) (ASAE EP 285.7 ASABE Standards, 54th Ed.); dual units (English) in the text, graphs, and figures are strongly encouraged for clarity and maximum usefulness for the reader.

 

Technical Notes (both Transactions and Applied)

Technical notes meet the criteria of the journal, but the amount of information in the manuscript does not warrant a full-length article Technical notes generally fill no more than two published pages (including tables, illustrations, and references).

The manuscript must present at least one of the following elements:

1.New apparatus, instrumentation, experimental techniques, or computer program developments.

2.Observations and preliminary results of topics with great current interest.

3.Results that confirm or refute previously published work.

4.A compilation of useful data.

 

Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health

To be published in the Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, the manuscript should meet all of the following requirements:

1. The material represents original, useful contributions to the agricultural safety and health literature.

2. The scope, purpose, and summary or conclusions must be stated in an objective, well-organized manner.

3. The article must emphasize aspects of safety and health relating to agriculture, or relate agricultural safety and health to other public, health or occupational fields, issues, or concerns.

4. The information must be organized in a way that allows easy adaptation and use by others. The scope, purpose, and summary must be clearly stated.

The manuscript should also contain at least one of the following elements:

·    Original research data and analyses.

·    Results of practical experiences, tests, or trials.

·    Critical review, synthesis, or evaluation of existing information.

·    Scientifically based discussion or proposal for advancing agricultural safety and health.

Units of measure should be expressed in SI (International System of Units) if the subject matter requires their use. ASAE EP285.7 (ASABE Standards, 54th Ed.) lists terms, symbols, and methods for conversion from customary units.

 

Biological Engineering - To Be developed

 

Additional Considerations

Manuscripts must be consistent with the purpose of ASABE as set forth in its Constitution and shall not contain purely speculative matter. However, scientific evidence can be used to challenge current ideas or propose new ones that will encourage progress and discussion. Published material shall be free from evident commercialism or advancement of any private interest, and shall neither obscure proper names required for an understanding of the subject matter, nor contain material that can be used to imply Society endorsement of a product, service, etc. Published material shall be free from personalities either complimentary or derogatory.