Peer Review Policies

All manuscripts submitted for publication in California Agriculture must undergo anonymous peer review before they can be accepted. We forward each submission to the appropriate Associate Editor, who makes an initial determination of its (1) scientific soundness and (2) suitability for California Agriculture's audience (see next section). The Associate Editor then nominates at least three qualified reviewers. If the first two reviews are affirmative, the article is accepted. If one is negative, we send the manuscript to a third reviewer. The final decision on the disposition of the manuscript is made by the Associate Editor in consultation with the Executive Editor and Managing Editor.

California Agriculture's rejection rate has averaged 34% over the last three years. Very few manuscripts get through peer review "clean." In two recent years, Associate Editors sent back 11% and 26% for revision prior to peer review. As a rule, reviewers also require some revision before acceptance. All accepted manuscripts are extensively edited by the California Agriculture staff prior to publication to ensure readability for an audience of lay readers and multidisciplinary academics.