About the Journal | Agricultural & Rural Studies

1. Our Story

In the past few decades, the publication of scientific journals has undergone a digital revolution, namely, the rapid transition from print-only journals to parallel print and electronic publishing and then to digital-only Open Access (OA). In this context, sometimes crises are also opportunities; for example, the COVID-19 pandemic has further supported the growth of electronic resources that can be readily available to scholars worldwide as they are not restricted by physical locations.

In early 2023, as part of our post-pandemic recovery efforts, we established the Scholar Community Center (SCC) to prepare for the publication of the new OA journal: Agricultural and Rural Studies (A&R). “The Secret of Change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” (Socrates) We aim to forge strong connections with scholars and academic institutions worldwide to explore issues and policies related to agriculture, rural areas and farming.

From 2023 to 2026, A&R will be fully funded by the Jiwan Education Charity Fund; Therefore, all published articles are exempt from Article Publishing Charges (APC) for the first four years. In addition, A&R runs to serve the society under not-for-profit principle and promises to maintain APC at a reasonable level in the future.

This is our open call for researchers to partake in a truly global community of scholars who work together, support each other, and share ideas on agriculture, rural areas, and farming. This speaks directly to the Chinese roots of this Journal and the ‘Three Rural Problems’ (i.e., Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers) but it is expanded for a global audience.

2. Brief Introduction

A&R (ISSN 2959-9784) is a quarterly journal to be an international, multi-/inter-disciplinary platform for communicating advances in fundamental and applied studies on contemporary agricultural, rural and farmers' issues and policies, as broadly defined by the disciplines of economics, sociology, human geography and cognate subjects.

A&R is a digital-only, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access (OA) journal. Article Publishing Charges (APC) are waived in the first four years. The journal publishes various materials – perspective, review, original research, and commentary articles – and it is dedicated to serving as an efficient, professional, and innovative platform for scholars in the field of agricultural and rural studies. Scholars around the world can publish and have access to cutting-edge research and results in the continuously expanding fields of agricultural and rural sciences.

In a nutshell, the A&R Journal:

(1) covers multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary subjects such as economics, sociology, human geography and cognate subjects that are relevant to contemporary agricultural, rural and farmers' issues and policies.

(2) Is served by a renowned, dedicated, and international editorial board.

(3) Is a fully independent OA platform：www.sccpress.com, which promotes your article worldwide.

(4) Offers supportive, efficient, and professional publication services. We understand that authors are unique, and each paper is different. That is why our full-time professional editors are ready to help authors with structure matters and support them with reference management to simplify their research life.

3. Aims and Scope

A&R is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to being an international multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary platform for communicating advances in fundamental and applied studies on contemporary agricultural, rural and farmers' issues and policies, as broadly defined by the disciplines of economics, sociology, human geography and cognate subjects. From the outset, it is an efficient, professional, and innovative platform for agricultural and rural studies scholars. It delivers cutting-edge research and results, pushing forward discussions and innovations in the respective fields of science it promotes. With global coverage, the journal invites and publishes articles based on experimental/empirical research to fulfil its mission as a top-notch academic publishing outlet connecting current research to an international author and readers’ base.

A&R publishes articles related with an emphasis on, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Sustainable agriculture and rural sustainable development.

(2) Farmer’s well-being, rural poverty alleviation and women’s studies.

(3) Smart agriculture, rural e-commerce and digital governance.

(4) Understanding and analysis of contemporary agricultural, rural and farmers' issues and policies (Chinese/domestic and global), as broadly defined by the disciplines of economics, sociology, human geography and cognate subjects.

(5) Other related novel sciences and technologies with agricultural and rural perspectives.

4. Copyright & Archiving Policy

A&R aims to help authors achieve a top level of openness with their research and support them in meeting the OA requirements of their research funders and institutions. A&R publishes OA, digital articles under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), of which CC BY 4.0 is the most recent version, was developed to facilitate OA as defined in the founding documents of the movement, such as the 2003 Berlin Declaration. Under this license, authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and they agree to make their original works completely available and free to use, copy and redistribute in all formats without permission as long as the authors and the original source are properly cited.

A&R openly supports Open Access in academic publications and has aligned itself with the I4OC to facilitate the circulation of scholarly citation data.

In alignment with the spirit of the Open Access license, the A&R's repository policy allows the author(s) to deposit the published version to any repository (institutional, personal or otherwise) they wish, as well as share and upload their work accordingly.

A&R archives the issues via CLOCKSS/LOCKSS and the PKP PN preservation repositories, ensuring long-term preservation and access to published material.

5. Organizational Culture

(1) Mission: “Establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry forward the unique knowledge for the sages, and create peace for all generations.” (Zhang Zai/Hengqu, Philosopher; 1020-1077 CE) | "横渠四句": 为天地立心，为生民立命，为往圣继绝学，为万世开太平)

(2) Vision: Establish a Scholar Community Center (SCC) as a change-maker to seek a way out for agriculture, seek development for rural areas, and seek well-being for farmers.

(3) Beliefs: Open, global, trusted and top-quality.

(4) Values: Add value around you (i.e., the journal adds value to the author, who in turn adds value to the journal).

(5) SCC Philosophy: Uphold equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI).

(6) Journal Philosophy: Promise less, deliver more.

(7) Editorial Slogans: Pour your heart into A&R; Find a way forward.