About this Journal

International Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development ISSN 2756-3642 publishes cutting-edge research that advances understanding and analysis of contemporary  extension education, rural societies, economies, cultures and lifestyles, rural policy, rural environment and so on. The journal is an interdisciplinary platform and welcomes articles from diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, which engage with and contribute to the rural social science literature, as broadly defined by the disciplines of rural geography, rural sociology, agricultural and rural economics, planning and cognate subjects.

The coverage of the journal is global in scope and solicits articles based on empirical research in any part of the world that is of relevance and interest to international readers. The primary audiences of the journal are social science researchers, teachers and students interested in contemporary rural issues, processes and experiences.

International Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development also publishes both academic and non-academic research articles. Multidisciplinary in nature, the primary purpose of the journal is to share knowledge on all aspects that contribute to sustainable rural development all over the world.

The following are the aims of the journal:

• It aims to share lessons and experiences on working with rural communities to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods.
• It also intends to publish conceptual papers and empirical research that tests, extends, or builds agricultural extension theory and contributes to the practice of extension worldwide.
• The journal is dedicated to the cause of advancing understanding of extension systems through empirical investigations, theoretical analyses, and practical experiences.
• To provide authoritative reference that deals with extension systems in both emerging and developed economies. The content extends from the role of extension to organizational models and extension methodologies (use and impact of different methods and media, from the most traditional to innovative ICTs).
• Articles about linkages with education, applied research and knowledge creation are also welcome, to analyze how extension cooperates with agricultural policy, education, applied research, producers and other agents of the agri-food chains.
• Taking into account the growing difficulties generated by climate change, articles are invited about how extension is adapting its message and methods to deal with the effects of climate change, as well as with food security issues. Contributions are also invited about extension for non food contents: extension for the diversification of rural incomes, environment, agro-tourism, etc.
• Extension activities for special groups are invited: women, elderly, youth, ethnic minorities, as well as extension for rehabilitation after conflicts and natural disasters.
• Articles may also cover aspects related to the education of extension agents, their continuing education, job satisfaction, career prospects and eventually turn over. The management of advisory systems / agencies is another relevant issue: planning, monitoring and evaluation, with or without participatory methods.
• Articles may be research based, when primary data are used, with appropriate methods and adequate statistical analysis, or they may be literature based, when only pre-existing documents, also unpublished articles and books are used by the authors to elaborate their opinion.

Subject areas include, but are not limited to the following fields:

• Agricultural development
• Rural development
• Biotechnology
• Education and Extension
• Employment
• Health and nutrition
• Land and Water Resources
• Land reform
• Micro-finance
• Policy and development
• Social welfare and rural development

The journal creates opportunities for professionals and students to publish intellectual, creative work, nurtures emerging scholars and new authors for success; encourages professional development; and advances the theory and practice of agricultural extension and rural development.

IJAERD is a rigorous, peer-reviewed journal that brings the scholarship engagement to educators and practitioners around the world.

Open Access 

• All articles published by this journal are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers.  
• All works published by this journal are under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). 
• Authors of articles published in this journal are the copyright holders of their articles and have granted to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate articles.

Peer-review policy

Peer-review is the system used by ‎ International Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Qualified researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity and significance to help editors determine whether the manuscript should be published or not. 

International Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development operates a double-blind peer-review system, where the reviewers of the paper won't get to know the identity of the author(s), and the author(s) won't get to know the identity of the reviewer. The advantage of double-blind peer review is that it eliminates bias.

Manuscripts submitted to this journal will generally be reviewed by two or more experts who will be required to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates already published work, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently clear for publication. The Editors will reach a decision based on these reports and, where necessary, they will consult with members of the Editorial Board. 

Plagiarism

The editors of ISJ take a very serious stance against any evidence of plagiarism including self-plagiarism in manuscripts submitted to them. Every reasonable effort will be made to investigate any allegations of plagiarism brought to their attention, as well as instances that come up during the peer review process. 

Publication Ethics

International Scholars Journals (ISJ) is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and abides by its Code of Conduct and aims to adhere to its Best Practice Guidelines.

All journals published by ISJ are committed to publishing only innovative and original material i.e., material that has neither been published elsewhere, nor is it under consideration for publication by another publisher.

ISJ Self-Archiving Policy

Authors of articles published in any of our journals are permitted to self-archive the submitted (preprint) and accepted (peer-reviewed) version of the article at any time. There is no embargo period. At ISJ, we strongly believe that self-archiving makes research to be widely “visible, accessible, harvestable, searchable, and useable,” thus increasing its reach and impact, and possibly the number of citations it receives.

The submitted version may be placed on:

The author's personal website

The author's company/institutional repository or archive

Not for profit subject-based preprint servers or repositories

Benefits of publishing in this journal

At ISJ, we continue to work hard to support our authors who trust us with their works. Here are just some of the benefits we provide:

• Open Access: Our research is freely available to all, from the time of publication. Readers do not need a subscription or to register before they can access our articles.
• ‎High visibility: ISJ allows maximum visibility of articles published in the journal as they are available to the widest possible scientific outreach, including to the general public.
• Rapid publication: The timeframe between acceptance and publication is about 3 weeks. All ISJ journals offer a fast publication schedule.
• Rigorous peer-review: ISJ is operated by a team of experienced professional editors. We work closely with academic editors and reviewers to provide authors with an efficient, fair, and constructive reviews.
• Post-publication comments: ISJ allows readers and authors to exchange ideas that are directly accessible from the full-text article.
• International readership: All articles are being accessed from over 200 countries worldwide.
• Promotion and press coverage: Articles published in this journal are included in article alerts and regular email updates.
• Access and reach: We continue to submit our journals to all known abstracting and indexing services.
• Flexibility: ISJ journals gives you the opportunity to publish at your convenience.
• Copyright: Authors retain the copyright to their works. Authors are allowed unlimited use and/or distribution of their work without any form of restriction. As an author of an article published in any ISJ journal, you retain the copyright of your article and you are free to reproduce and disseminate your work.

Subscription Information

To subscribe for an article published by any of our journals, kindly contact editor@internationalscholarsjournals.com. The subscription rate is $350 and it is the same for all countries. The subscription charges are inclusive of delivery charges. All journals are open access and subscribers shall receive the print edition.