Peer Review

All articles submitted to the Journal undergo double-blind peer-review. The reviewers have no access to the identity of the authors, and the authors do not know who the reviewers are. Members of the editorial team/board/guest editors are permitted to submit their own papers to the journal. In a situation where an author or authors are associated with the journal, they will be removed from all editorial tasks for that paper and another member of the team will be assigned responsibility for overseeing peer review. A competing interest must also be declared within the submission.

Each article on submission is reviewed for relevance to the scope of the Journal by the Editor-In-Chief. Article are screened for plagiarism using the Turnitin programme with a maximum of 25% limit on similarity, for it to go into the review process. Articles that do not meet the basic criteria are rejected at this stage and authors promptly informed. Articles that meet basic requirements are initially reviewed by at least two reviewers. The recommendation of the reviewers informs the decision of the editorial board to accept on the conditions that the concerns raised by the reviewers are addressed (the article is back to the authors to address the reviewers’ concerns) or to reject. Where there is a notable disagreement between the reports of the two initial reviewers, a third reviewer may be consulted. JAE aims to have a first decision to the authors by 4-6 weeks after submission.

Guide to Reviewers

Your invitation to serve as a reviewer in the peer review process is based on trust. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, treat all manuscripts and materials confidentially and must not communicate directly with authors.

In order to ensure this, follow this step before you start the review process:
-    Click Review on the Microsoft
-    Click the dropdown under Track Changes
-    Click “Change user name”
-    Then Change your user name to “Reviewer”
JAE aims is to have a first decision to the authors by 4-6 weeks after submission.

Articles are initially reviewed by at least two Reviewers.

Reviewers should read the JAE Guide to Authors and  pay attention to the following:

  • manuscript is written in clear and concise English;
  • the title is specific and reflecting the content of the manuscript;
  • the Abstract is brief and describing the purpose, method, major findings, conclusion and recommendations of the work;
  • Tables are appropriate and clearly presented. Should anyone be simplified or condensed? Should any be omitted;
  • Figures are justified and clear with fonts proportionate to the size of the figure. Do the figures describe the data accurately;
  • Trade Names, Abbreviations, and  Symbols are properly used where indicated;
  • the methods are appropriate and presented in sufficient detail to allow the results to be repeated;
  • data adequate to support the conclusions;
  • are all the objectives covered in the presented results;
  • are all the results provided for in the objective;
  • are all conclusions based on results? Does the conclusion explain how the research has moved the body of scientific knowledge forward?

JAE expects reviewers to provide on time, a thorough and comprehensive report. Provide useful comments for authors and a clear recommendation to the Editor. Reviewers are at liberty to use the JAE review platform on JAE website (https://www.journal.aesonnigeria.org or send a report following the criteria by email to the Editor-in-Chief: agricultural.extension.nigeria@gmail.com   or editorinchief@aesonnigeria.org

For more information: Reviewer’s information

Please Download AESON Reviewer's Report Form Download Fill and Upload, Click to download

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

JAE is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

JAE supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC BY-NC-ND license. Under this license users are permitted to: Copy and distribute the article (non-commercially); you can’t change or alter the article in anyway; Users are not allowed to data mine the article. 

Licensing and Copyright

The Journal of Agricultural Extension adopts and uses the CC BY-NC-ND license. Under this license author retains copyright and users are permitted to copy and distribute the article (non-commercially). Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License, that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, or on their website) prior to and during the submission process.

Publication Scheduling

The Journal publishes four issues in a year (January, April, July and October).

General

Publishing in the Journal of Agricultural Extension, (JAE) involves the author, the journal editor, the reviewer, the Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria and other key stakeholders and service providers. Each actor plays an important role in meeting the expected ethical standards at all stages from submission to publication of an article.  

The Journal of Agricultural Extension is committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. The Journal follows closely the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) that set standards and provide guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements.  The Journal subscribes to COPE’s Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors.  Below is a summary of the Journals key expectations of editors, peer-reviewers, authors, and the Society.

Ethical Expectations

Editors’ responsibilities

  • To act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.
  • To handle submissions for sponsored supplements or special issues in the same way as other submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
  • To adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical or conflict nature, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Society where appropriate. To give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.

 Reviewers’ responsibilities

  • To contribute to the decision-making process, and to assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively, in a timely manner
  • To maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.
  • To alert the editor to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review. 
  • To be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and to alert the editor to these, if necessary withdrawing their services for that manuscript.

Authors’ responsibilities

  • To maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and to supply or provide access to these data, on reasonable request. Where appropriate and where allowed by employer, funding body and others who might have an interest, to deposit data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.
  • To confirm/assert that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, to acknowledge and cite those sources. Additionally, to provide the editor with a copy of any submitted manuscript that might contain overlapping or closely related content. 
  • To confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
  • Submission of an article to the Journal of Agricultural Extension is taken as a declaration and implies that the publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out.
  •  The Journal holds authors responsible for keeping to the highest ethics in publishing, particularly with fabrication, falsification and plagiarism.
  • Authors should screen their articles for similarity and plagiarism indicating the programme used and the score.
  • To declare any potential conflicts of interest (e.g where the author has a competing interest (real or apparent) that could be considered or viewed as exerting an undue influence on his or her duties at any stage during the publication process).
  • To notify promptly the journal editor if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the editor to publish an erratum, addendum, corrigendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary. 

Publisher or Society’s responsibilities

  • The Agricultural Extension Society shall ensure that good practice is maintained to the standards outlined under ethical responsibilities above.
  • The Agricultural Extension Society assures subscription to the principles outlined under ethical responsibilities above.

Procedures For Dealing with Unethical Behaviour

 Identification of unethical behaviour

  • Misconduct and unethical behaviour may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.
  • Misconduct and unethical behaviour may include, but need not be limited to, examples as outlined above. 
  • Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations shall be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.

Investigation

  • An initial decision should be taken by the editor, who shall consult with or seek advice from the publisher, if appropriate.
  • Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.

 Minor breaches

  • Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author shall be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.

Serious breaches

      • Serious misconduct might require that the employers of the accused be notified. The editor, in consultation with the Society, shall make the decision whether or not to involve the employers, either by examining the available evidence themselves or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.  

Outcomes (in increasing order of severity; may be applied separately or in conjunction)

  • Informing or educating the author or reviewer where there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
  • A more strongly worded letter to the author or reviewer covering the misconduct and as a warning to future behaviour.
  • Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
  • Publication of an editorial detailing the misconduct.
  • A formal letter to the head of the author’s or reviewer’s department or funding agency.
  • Formal retraction or withdrawal of a publication from the journal, in conjunction with informing the head of the author or reviewer’s department, Abstracting & Indexing services and the readership of the publication.
  • Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from an individual for a defined period.
  • Reporting the case and outcome to a professional organization or higher authority for further investigation and action.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is unacknowledged copying or an attempt to misattribute original authorship, whether of ideas, text or results. Plagiarism can include, theft or misappropriation of intellectual property and the substantial unattributed textual copying of another's work. Plagiarism can be said to have clearly occurred when large chunks of text have been cut-and-pasted without appropriate and unambiguous attribution. Such manuscripts would not be considered for publication in a Journal of Agricultural Extension. Apart from wholesale verbatim reuse of text, due care must be taken to ensure appropriate attribution and citation when paraphrasing and summarising the work of others. Reuse of parts of text from an author's previous research publication is a form of self-plagiarism so, due caution must be exercised. When reusing text, whether from the author's own publication or that of others, appropriate attribution and citation is necessary to avoid creating a misleading perception of unique contribution for the reader.

Duplicate (or redundant) publication occurs when an authors reuse substantial parts of their own published work without providing the appropriate references. This can range from publishing an identical paper in multiple journals, to only adding a small amount of new data to a previously published paper.

JAE editors assess all such cases on their individual merits through the review process. When plagiarism becomes evident post-publication, JAE may correct, withdraw the original publication, or place the information on the community platform, depending on the degree of plagiarism, context within the published article and its impact on the overall integrity of the published study.

Repository Policy

JAE encourages authors to freely deposit versions [submitted version, accepted version (author accepted manuscript), published version (version of record)] of their work in an institutional or other repository of their choice.

Archiving

This Journal utilizes the CLOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the Journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The Journal is also hosted and achieved on the website of the African Journal Online (AJOL)

Hosting and Abstracting

The Journal is online on the Journal of Agricultural Extension website (https://journal.aesonnigeria.org) and is hosted online by the African Journal-on-line at https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jae. it is presently abstracted by EBSCO host Electronic Journals Service (EJS), Google Scholar, Journal Seek, Scientific Commons, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the CAB Abstracts, Global Health Databases and Scopus.

Executive of the Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria (2021-2024)

  1. Idrisa, Yusuf Lawan (Prof). [President]

Department of Agricultural Extension Services,
University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria
Email: yuzaat696@gmail.com 
Phone: +2348030605207
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7832-1136

  1. Meludu, Nkiru Theresa (Prof). [Vice-President]

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension,
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. 
Email: nkiru_m@yahoo.comnt.meludu@unizik.edu.ng  
Phone: +2348023250457, 
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2105-6903

  1. Elisha-Nissi, David [General Secretary]

Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI)
P.M.B.1343, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
Email: nissydave@gmail.com
Phone: 07066721307

  1. Dr Yakubu, D. Haruna. [Treasurer]

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
Email; dhyakubu3@gmail.com
Phone: 08036794572

  1. Olajide, Bamidele Rasak (Dr). [Publicity Secretary]

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
University of Ibadan
E-mail: r.olajide@gmail.com
Phone: +2348034077794
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8822-2235

  1. Nwobodo, Cynthia Ebere (Dr).[ Assistant General Secretary]

Department of Agricultural Extension
University of Nigeria Nsukka
Email: cynthia.nwobodo@unn.edu.ng
Phone: +234-8039462574 
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5664-6498

  1. Akinbile, Luqman Abiodun (Prof). [Ex-Officio  Member (Immediate Past President)]

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Emails: lakinbile@yahoo.com  /  la.akinbile@mail.ui.edu.ng
Phone: +2348023250454
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9630-038X

  1. Professor Michael Chukwuneke Madukwe. [Editor-in-Chief}

Editor-in-Chief
Department of Agricultural Extension
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Emails: michael.madukwe@unn.edu.ng /            madukwemichael@yahoo.com
Phone: +2348037006968
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0988-3551


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2408-6851
print ISSN: 1119-944X