The natural home for agricultural entomologists?

Abstract

With the plethora of entomological journals, applied and otherwise, now available, why should an entomologist attempt to publish in Annals of Applied Biology? At first sight it may seem a less than obvious choice, but the Annals of Applied Biology has a long and distinguished tradition of entomological publishing and in the first ever editorial the point is made very strongly that applied entomologists were very much seen as important readers and contributors to the journal (Maxwell-Lefory, 1914). During the 1920s and 1930s almost half the papers published were entomological in nature and many focused on cereal crops (Petheridge, 1921). The current emphasis on statistical excellence was also evident in those early days with statisticians from Rothamsted Experimental Station (Mathetes, 1924) leading the way. Then as now, however, the crops covered were not all cereals, as a study by Newton (1934) investigating an attack of chrysomelid beetles on henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) reveals. During the war years, although papers on plant pathogens were in the ascendant, studies of insect pests on cereals were still prevalent (Barnes & Weil, 1944). During the 1950s the Annals led the way in publicising new monitoring technology such as the early development of the Rothamsted suction traps (Johnson & Taylor, 1955) and the understanding of the modes of action of insecticides (Stringer et al., 1955). During the 1960s plant pathology dominated the journal but entomologists still saw the Annals as a useful outlet for work on orchard pests (Avery & Briggs, 1968). The advent of large scale cereal aphid outbreaks in the 1970s saw important pioneering work appearing in the journal throughout the 1970s and early 1980s (Dean, 1973, 1974; Watt, 1979; Leather & Dixon, 1981). The Annals continued to be a home for papers investigating pests of cereals during the 1990s (Howard & Dixon, 1995) and despite the presence of rivals such as Journal of Economic Entomology and Bulletin of Entomological Research and the launch of Agricultural & Forest Entomology in 1999, continued to attract good quality agricultural and forest entomology papers from around the world as the 21st century began (Kaspi & Parrella, 2003; Oberg & Ekbom, 2006; Timms & Leather, 2008). Now as we progress through the second decade of the century, the Annals has become ever more international and topical, publishing papers on the effective rearing of biological control agents (Colinet & Hance, 2010), pests of coconuts (Gitau et al., 2011), hemipteran virus vectors (Kirchner et al., 2011), the effects of Bt maize on pests and natural enemies (Petzold-Maxwell et al., 2012), modern insecticide efficacy (Tome et al., 2012) and the ever present pests of cereals (Aqueel & Leather, 2012). The Annals of Applied Biology also publishes influential reviews such as that examining insect pest movement in agricultural landscapes (Mazzi & Dorn, 2012). Many of us these days are encouraged by our employers to submit to journals with the highest impact factors. This is not necessarily good for our science or our intended audience. It is much better to target a journal where we will get the widest readership, and a high impact factor does not necessarily go hand in hand with readership. Applied journals tend to be read much more than they are cited, as their readership includes a high number of practitioners, for example in the case of a journal such as the Annals of Applied Biology, advisory and extension entomologists, agronomists, people from the agro-chemical industry, biological control practitioners etc. In 2010 for example there were 73 170 full-text downloads from the Annals and in 2011 this had risen to almost 82 000. Thus, as an agricultural entomologist it makes a great deal of sense to publish in a journal such as the Annals of Applied Biology that speaks directly to the agricultural and associated sectors as well as to the research community. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions dealing with global food security issues, in particular innovative crop protection methods, for example, modern approaches to biological control and integrated pest management. We also welcome papers dealing with the