3.
No financial commitment will be
required. However, if financial needs
arise the C-5 Division of CSSA and ITS will be encouraged to voluntarily
consider means of promoting financial support.
The E-Turf Review Policy Board along with the Editor-In-Chief will seek
volunteers/ nominations for the editorial positions. If requested, the E-Turf Review Policy Board
will consider means to reimburse editors for reasonable telephone, fax, and
mail expenses. No salaries or travel
expenses will be reimbursed for editors or the E-Turf Review Policy Board. Communication will in most instances be by
electronic means or conference call.
The MSU
TIC will determine the feasibility of supporting web-site development,
site upkeep, and possibly means of author(s) assistance (e.g. free literature
searches, study space at the MSU Library, etc.). The MSU TIC has stated that their intention
is to develop this as a no cost effort for the ITS and CSSA.
E-Turf Review Policy Board
It is proposed that the Executive Committees of C-5 and ITS appoint two
members each from their respective Executive Committees (or as designated by
their respective Board of Directors) to serve as an E-Turf Review Policy
Board. In addition to these 4 members
will be a member from the MSU Library TIC.
Board Members will elect the Chair of the E-Turf Review Policy Board for
a 2-year term. A person can serve as a
Board Member and/ or Chair more than one term. Length of office for Board
members will be determined by their respective appointing organizations, but it
is proposed that a 4 year period of appointment be used. No time limit is placed on term of service
except those of the appointing organization.
Responsibilities of the E-Turf Review Policy Committee are:
1.
Determine policy related to The
Electronic Journal For Turfgrass Science including:
(a) Appropriate
purpose/ scope
(b) Criteria
for review articles in terms of format and content of both the scientific
review and practicum portions.
(c) Submission
procedures
(d) Review
process
(e) Other
policy if necessary for efficient operation.
2.
Develop the text and materials to be
posted on the e-turf review web site that explains policies, structure,
purpose, author instructions, etc.
3.
Appoint an Editor-In-Chief.
4.
In conjunction with the
Editor-In-Chief, appoint openings in the Associate Editor positions from
name(s) suggested by the Editor-In-Chief.
5.
Bring forth to the CSSA Division C-5
Executive Committee, ITS Executive Committee, and MSU Library TIC any relevant
issues that may arise and proposals to address these issues (if required),
especially any financial issues. The
E-Turf Review Policy Committee cannot commit to financial agreements without
prior approval of C-5 Executive Committee, ITS Board, and MSU Library TIC.
6.
Provide an annual written report of
policy decisions and e-turf review activities to the Chair of the C-5 Division,
President of ITS, and MSU Turf Library Director.
7.
Solicit and encourage Turf Science
review submissions from various authors in conjunction with the
Editor-In-Chief.
Responsibilities 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 will be done in
consultation with the Editor-In-Chief as a non-voting member of the E-Turf
Review Policy Board.
Editor-In-Chief
It is suggested that the Editor-In-Chief have had editorial
experience. The term of office will
normally be of 4-year duration subject to annual review by the E-Turf Review
Policy Committee. Reappointment beyond a
4-year period is allowed.
Responsibilities
include:
1.
Serve as a non-voting member of the
E-Turf Review Policy Board.
2.
Recommend to the E-Turf Review
Policy Board candidates for Associate Editors, including Associate Editors for
new or different discipline divisions.
3.
Receive submitted manuscript (or
electronic submissions) from authors and assign a tracking number.
4.
Assign the submission to an
appropriate Associate Editor and forward the submission to the Associate
Editor.
5.
Reply back to the corresponding
author with:
(a) Reference
number for the manuscript.
(b) Name/
address of the Associate Editor that the first draft has been assigned.
6.
Keep current information on the
E-Turf Review web-site related to:
(a) Instruction
to Authors; Reviewer Instructions; and Comment Sheet
(b) Detailed
explanation of the nature and criteria for an acceptable review submission.
(c) Information
on submission and review processes
(d) List
of current Associate Editors and disciplines.
Development of the above materials will be done in conjunction with the
E-Turf Review Policy Board but the Editor-In-Chief is responsible for keeping
posted material current.
7.
Foster appropriate site links to
turfgrass science and turfgrass industry/ associations on an international
basis in compliance with the policies and procedures of the host institution
housing and facilitating the electronic journal (i.e. MSU TIC).
8.
The Editor-In-Chief makes the final
decision on appeals by authors of rejected submissions and informs the
corresponding author and appropriate Associate Editors. The Editor-In-Chief will make a ruling on
the appeal based on a review of the manuscript
(by themselves or others they select); and the original reviews and comments. In cases where the Associate Editor has made
a decision contrary to the majority of the original reviewers, the
Editor-In-Chief must decide solely on the merits of the submission. The Editor-In-Chief will provide the E-Turf
Review Policy Board a summary of appeal actions taken in the year in their
annual report to the board.
9.
The Editor-In-Chief and the E-Turf
Review Policy Board should be proactive in soliciting submissions by a)
encouraging volunteer submissions, and b) inviting specific submissions from an
author.
Associate Editors
It is proposed that Associate Editors represent at least 3 or 4
countries if possible and will serve a 4-year term. Associate Editors may serve more than one
term. Initially a staggered assignment
would be use, so that one-half of the Associate Editors will be appointed to a
2-year term and one-half to a 4-year term.
This will facilitate continuity in future appointments. Associate Editors should be selected to
represent common disciplines within Turfgrass Science. The discipline areas can be adjusted as
needed but current proposed discipline divisions are:
$
Turf Management/ Establishment
$
Stress Physiology/ Physiology
$
Genetics and Breeding (includes
Biotechnological aspects applied to grass development)
$
Soil Fertility/ Chemistry/ Plant
Nutrition
$
Weed Science
$
Insects/ Nematode
$
Diseases (Plant Pathology)/ Soil
Microbiology
$
Pesticide Fate/ Environment
Responsibilities
of the Associate Editors are:
1.
Receiving of the first draft of
manuscript from the Editor-In-Chief.
2.
Notifying the corresponding author
of the receipt of a manuscript.
3.
Arranging for peer review of the
manuscript by two scientists with experience in the particular discipline. Reviewers will be sent:
(a) A
copy of Reviewer Instructions, and
(b) A
Comment Sheet for reviewers to return to the Associate Editor along with
the reviewed manuscript to list their specific comments and
recommendations. These reviewers will
only be asked to consider scientific merit, practicum merit, and conformity
to the content criteria for turf review submissions. They will not be asked to review style/
format questions.
4.
Conducting a peer review of each
manuscript with emphasis on style/ format and
scientific/ practicum aspects.
5.
Deciding on the status of the
submitted manuscript based on the Associate Editor=s review and the other
reviewers (at least one other review beyond the Associate Editor is the
minimum). Associate Editors will make
the decision to:
(a) Accept with no revision or minor revisions
(b) Consider for acceptance after revision, depending on appropriate
revisions and review by the Associate Editor
(c) Unacceptable, major revisions necessary and review by the Associate
Editor and another reviewer if the Associate Editor chooses before consideration
for publication, or
(d) Unacceptable. The Editor-In-Chief
should receive a copy of any letters of rejection of papers.
6.
Associate Editors may over-ride the
recommendations of a reviewer if they consider the review as inappropriate
based on the specific requirements of the e-turf review journal. The final decision resides with the Associate
Editor. In such cases the
Editor-In-Chief may be consulted if requested by the Associate Editor.
7.
Upon receipt of a 2nd
draft of the manuscript, the Associate Editor will review this draft for
acceptance (with no revisions or minor); acceptance (with major revision); or
unacceptable. Attention should be given
to the author=s consideration of comments/ suggestions from the first review
process.
8.
When a manuscript is acceptable for
publication the Associate Editor should submit a final electronic copy (disk)
to the MSU TIC along with notification of acceptance/ submission to the author
and Editor-In-Chief.
Author(s) Responsibilities
1.
Conform to the intent and style of “
Electronic Journal For Turfgrass Science”
in terms of scientific and practicum aspects.
2.
Submit the article on disk to the
Editor-In-Chief.
3.
Authors will have the opportunity to
review the web version posted by MSU TIC prior to public posting.
4.
Authors may appeal a rejection to
the Editor –In-Chief
5.
Authors are encouraged to update accepted/ posted articles. Two types
of updates are encouraged.
$
Annual or Biannual.
Minor changes such as addition of new references, new web-links (see
policy on Instructions to Authors), and minor text changes. The Editor-In-Chief and Associate Editor in
the discipline area prior to being added to the web site will review these.
$
Required 5-Year Update.
To remain listed as a current
review, a more intensive update will be required. In this instance, the Editor-in-Chief and
appropriate Associate Editor will review the document and recommend action to
the EJTS Policy Board. Without a 5-year
update, the review will be listed under past
reviews.
Practicum Section
Articles will be required to have a Practicum
Section. This section will be subject to
review in a similar manner as that done for the scientific/technical portion of
the article. However, rather than a
traditional peer review process the Practicum Section will be reviewed by practitioners
(e.g.. certified golf course superintendents, certified sports turf managers,
sod producers, etc.), extension educators, industry representatives, USGA
agronomists, and/or individuals with similar experience and backgrounds. The persons will be selected from volunteers
who have expressed an interest in serving as reviewers, and whose background
and experience can be useful in attesting to the Practicum’s applicability to
the end user. The Associate Editor will
assign practicum reviewers. E-turf
review journal articles will not be published without a suitable, refereed
practicum section. Author(s) will be
given guidelines for preparation of the Practicum Section. Reviewers will be asked to review the
practicum based on its adherence to the review article information and the
usefulness of the information to the practitioner.
Design Concept -- Online Housing & Structure
The “e-turf review” journal will be housed at the Michigan
State University Turfgrass Information Center at East Lansing, MI.
The Turfgrass
Information Center (TIC) of the MSU Libraries would be responsible for:
1. Host the journal, within a discrete
"framework" for the effort (i.e. an independent microsite),
consistent with MSU University computing resources use procedure & policy,
and applicable copyright law and interpretations, including:
A. Maintenance of the journal content archive, with
public access to final content, using at least a guide-screen presentation
(perhaps sequential/author/subject to start), including:
a. Current Reviews
b. Current Practicums
c. Past Reviews (>5 yrs. unrevised)
d. Past Practicums
B. The editorial content of the
journal), including (as HTML):
a. Editorial policy and board
b. Author instructions
c. Terms and conditions of use;
copyright statement, and privacy statement
d. Other editorial content deemed appropriate by
the journal Policy Board
2.
Support literature searches for associate editors and reviewers.
3.
Provide authors with final pre-posted version of content for review.
4.
Load and maintain content links associated with supplemental graphics,
datasets, literature cited, and other forms of linked content.
5. Support searching of content in traditional
bibliographic as well as full-text means, from within the Turfgrass Information
File (TGIF).
6.
Promote content indexing/harvesting by other appropriate engines and
databases.
7.
Acting as publisher of record; handle registration (e.g. ISSN) and
bureaucratic needs.
8.
Recommend /handle document-structuring needs (e.g. Metatagging).
9.
Add search enginette for content once past critical mass.
10.
Provide citation validation, to the maximum extent possible.
11. Recommend and test innovative content,
presentation, and structural components of the electronic journal format.
Suggested content
loading parameters:
1.
Content presented as HTML, with pdf available to print.
2. Tables, figures, maps, etc. presented as
.jpeg thumbnails with larger versions available.
Requirements for
loading content (aside from editorial needs):
1.
Permission release to distribute content online, add appropriate hyperlinks,
and load into TGIF for full-text retrieval.
Possible future
roles for TIC could include:
1. Manage access permissions for construction
process, depending on construction process/framework defined, if such
eventually comes into play.
2.
Host "Letters" stream
linked to reviews content, if deemed desirable.
Other activities
of TIC would directly support this effort,
including:
1. Providing physical workspace for scholars to
write within the Center, with supporting access to the electronic and print
resources of the discipline.
2.
Identifying and acquiring scholarly resources in support of the
discipline.
3.
Developing indexing structures in support of effective retrieval of
materials.
4.
Exploring supporting dataset creation, maintenance, and access when
appropriate.
5.
Raising awareness of content availability and use.
General
Recommendations:
1. As an ongoing effort, consider the relationship
of this effort to broader scholarly reporting process issues now evolving, (for
example, pre-print servers). For an
introduction to such issues, see Nature's e-review site at:
http://www.nature.com/nature/debates/e-access/
3.
For a guide to recent electronic journal websites, see:
http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/nj2/
4.
Solidify full actual title immediately (is there a subtitle or not?)
5. Start simple and build from
there -- don't get too hung up on immediately implementing sophisticated state-of-the-art
electronic markup and transmission structures.
It can and will migrate in the future.
Other
uncertainties:
1. The
Technical Editor will announce new article availability on Turf listservs and
the C-5 Division Web Site.
