Submission of Manuscript

All papers must be submitted via AJAD's online submission system. If the submission is successful, there will be an automatic reply from AJAD sent to the email address of the corresponding author. After an initial evaluation, papers of high interest will be sent out for external peer review. While AJAD aims to notify authors of acceptance, rejection, or need for revision within four months of submission, the high volume of submissions and demands on referees may not always permit attaining this target evaluation and peer review timeline. Nevertheless, AJAD aims to have manuscripts reviewed within six months.

Articles submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished, and not being considered for publication elsewhere. In cases of related previous publications, a cover letter is required in the submission, explicitly stating the bibliographic details of the paper, including the weblink. Articles that are identical to previously published or being considered for publication in other journals will not be considered in AJAD.

No publication fee requirement. AJAD does not require payment from authors to publish their papers in the journal. All submissions undergo the same rigorous process of evaluation and peer review.

Scope of Publication

AJAD publishes papers primarily covering Southeast, South, and East Asia only tackling the following scope of agriculture and development:

AJAD Style Guide

Submission Format

Articles must be in English (American) with the content arranged as follows:

• Title of the article (maximum of 15 words)
• Author's complete name, affiliation, and address (omit social titles)
• Abstract (maximum of 300 words)
• Keywords and JEL classification (if applicable)
• Main text
• References (use the Chicago Manual of Style [CMOS 16th edition] author-date format)
• Tables
• Figures

The length of each article must not exceed 8,000 words. References are not included in the word count but should be limited to literature cited only to maximize discussion in the main text. Total pages for tables and figures (at maximum two tables and/or figures per page) should not exceed half the length of the main text. The manuscript must be submitted as an MS Word file, typed double-space on A4 paper setting.

Language

The journal uses gender-neutral language, and American rather than British spelling. For words that have several acceptable spellings and/or formats, AJAD prefers format in the Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged).

Foreign words (i.e., not in English) must be italicized, including proper nouns, e.g., title of program, publication, or event.

Numbers from zero to nine should be spelled out except when followed by a unit of measure (e.g., three; 3 kg); Arabic numerals should be used for all other numbers (e.g., 14). Dates should be written as follows: 14 April 2012.

Tables, Figures, Measurements

Each table and figure (accompanied by the original tabulated data) must be on a separate sheet of paper, numbered in order, and placed at the end of the article. To facilitate layout and typesetting, the editable files of the tables and figures will be required when a paper is accepted for publication.

Text for tables should not be smaller than 9 points. Scanned or digital photos should be of high resolution (minimum of 300 dpi).

All measurements should be expressed using International System of Units (SI). National units (e.g., cavan, rai, chupa) should be avoided; in cases where these can't be avoided, the equivalent values in SI units must be shown.

Similarly, the US Dollar equivalent should be given when other monetary units are used.

Bibliographic Citation

AJAD generally adopts the author-date format of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 16th Edition in formatting reference entries and in-text citations (with minor styling modifications).

• Basic structure of a reference list (CMOS 15.6)

  In a reference list entry, the year of publication is the second element, following the author's name. The elements are separated by periods, and the first-listed author's name, according to which the entry is alphabetized in the reference list, is usually inverted (last name first). Titles are capitalized headline style unless they are in a foreign language; titles of larger works such as books and journals are italicized; and titles of smaller works such as journal articles are presented in roman and enclosed in quotation marks. Noun forms such as editor, translator, volume, and edition are abbreviated, but verb forms such as edited by and translated by are spelled out.

  Example (with AJAD style modifications):

  Albiston, C.R. 2005. "Bargaining in the Shadow of Social Institutions: Competing Discourses and Social Change in the Workplace Mobilization of Civil Rights." Law and Society Review 39 (1): 11-47.

• Basic structure of an in-text citation (CMOS 15.7)

  AJAD uses the author-date system for in-text citation. In the author-date system, a citation in the text usually appears in parentheses and includes only the first two elements in a reference list—the author and the year of publication (hence the name of the system), with no intervening punctuation. In addition, a page number or other locator may be added, following a comma. Terms such as editor or translator, abbreviated in a reference list, are not included in a text citation.

  Example:

  As legal observers point out, much dispute resolution transpires outside the courtroom but in the "shadow of law" (Mnookin and Kornhauser 1979)….Here we empirically demonstrate that workers' and regulatory agents' understanding of discrimination and legality emerge not only in the shadow of the law but also, as Albiston (2005) suggests, in the "shadow of organizations."

In addition, references in a language other than English may be listed as is, and indicated in what language in parenthesis at the end of the reference entry in a list. A translation of the entry may be included in parenthesis at the end of the entry.

AJAD adheres to ethical practices in publication and aspires that each paper in every volume and issue it publishes is of high quality and integrity. The AJAD publication ethics has evolved from its firsthand experiences since its first publication in 2004, guided by the Editorial Board, which is composed of known international experts and leaders in their own fields, who are also prolific published authors themselves.

AJAD readily responds to issues brought to fore by authors, reviewers, and editors, including malpractices in the publication process. The response to each concern primarily follows the established guidelines and ethical standards of AJAD, covering the gamut of the publication process of submission, evaluation, peer review, production editing, and final evaluation. For extraordinary cases that are not explicitly and exhaustively presented in AJAD protocols, these will be dealt with mainly through the guidance of the Editorial Board; the community practices and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) may also be referred to.

Originality

Authors seeking to publish in AJAD must submit their papers online at ajad.searca.org; submissions received through email will be asked to be resubmitted through the submission portal.

As AJAD places paramount importance to originality of articles that it publishes, articles that are found to be previously published in whole or in part, shall be scrutinized based on originality. The following matrix defines permissible and non-permissible submissions based on originality:

Double-Blind Review

Papers that pass the initial screening and evaluation are assigned for review by the Editor to Associate Editors and/or members of the Advisory Board, whose expertise correspond to the scope of the paper. The Editor may also request Advisory Board members to refer AJAD to other renowned experts within their network, whom they deem capable and available to review.

In cases where authors suggest reviewers, AJAD undertakes to identify the qualifications of the suggested experts, including their track record in scholarly publication, and if the discourse to review is within their areas of expertise. All invitations to review shall emanate from the address of the Editor.

During the peer review process, AJAD ensures that the identity of authors and reviewers are in complete anonymity from each other to ascertain impartiality. Manuscripts are reviewed for their clarity of purpose and relevance, timeliness, and overall opinion of its worthiness for publication. To facilitate prompt peer review without prejudice to quality, AJAD serves as a conduit of communicating reviewer comments and author revisions as they come, and most notably when either or both parties fail to submit working papers within set deadlines.

A paper that responds to review comments satisfactorily, and is accordingly revised, is normally endorsed for publication by its reviews. AJAD immediately informs the authors about the endorsement after review. If the endorsed paper becomes part of a lineup for an upcoming volume and issue, the authors are informed about it and the paper undergoes language and style editing, following the Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition and the AJAD style and format.

Prominent authors. In cases when AJAD stands to gain by publishing a paper of high quality authored by a person of equally high stature, the Editor and Associate Editors may evaluate the merits of the paper and unanimously waive subjecting the paper to the usual review process. Correspondingly, it will be distinguished in the volume as a guest contribution article.

AJAD adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, specifically on those pertaining to double-blind review for journal manuscripts.

Non-Endorsement of Paper

For papers that do not pass the initial evaluation/screening and are not recommended for peer review, AJAD will notify their respective authors with the reason/s for rejection through email. The basic criteria in the screening and initial evaluation of papers are—geographical scope, type of research, originality, and quality of discourse. Nonetheless, rejection of the submission does not preclude authors from submitting another paper to AJAD.

Undergoing the peer review process does not guarantee the eventual acceptance of a paper for publication in AJAD. If reviewers do not endorse the paper at any time during the peer review process, the Editor will evaluate the revised manuscript and decide if the paper is worth another round of review with a new set of experts. If the initial non-endorsement stands, AJAD informs authors on the result, citing the reasons for the final decision not to publish.

Papers that have been endorsed after peer review but are later found to be previously published in another journal in print or online, previously archived or disseminated, or plagiarized, will be under moratorium for publication. The author will be informed about it and will be asked to provide an explanation about the matter, from which AJAD will resolve case-by-case.

Withdrawal of Paper

Auto withdrawal will apply when authors who are informed of their deadlines for two consecutive notifications do not reply to review comments and/or submit a revised manuscript. A third and last notification will inform the author that the paper is automatically withdrawn from the AJAD review process.

On the other hand, authors who wish to withdraw their paper from AJAD should email their intent right away. AJAD will then remove the paper from its pending list.

Copyright

Articles published in the journal may be quoted without permission in other scholarly writing and in popular writing, as long as credit is given to the source. Cited content of the journal may be credited as a source (e.g., for tables and figures), in-text citation when applicable, and complete bibliographic citation, where it is appropriately located in the material. However, no article may be published in its entirety without written permission from the publisher, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

Handling of Complaints and Appeals

The issues brought forward by authors, as well as reviewers, and other individuals or entities directly related to publishing in AJAD are dealt with seriously, and individually responded to. In cases where the AJAD Secretariat deem the case to be beyond the coverage of its existing guidelines, it may be elevated to the Editorial Board for consensus of response.