Help for JOE Authors Gets Help

Help for JOE Authors Gets Help

If you haven't consulted the Help for JOE Authors page http://www.joe.org/for-authors-help.php lately, check it out. Prospective authors can find the helpful information provided there much more easily.

Why? Subheadings!

When I first realized that the information I was conveying in my Editor's Pages was information that prospective authors could use and should consult as they were preparing their articles for submission, it seemed obvious to collect them in one place and order them by date. That was fine in the early days, when there were relatively few entries.

But the page grew—and grew. It just no longer made sense to order some 30+ entries by irrelevant-to-content date of publication. Important stuff was getting buried or lost in the shuffle. The page just wasn't as helpful as it could and should be.

So I decided to practice what I preached in "Headings Help Readers & Authors" http://www.joe.org/joe/2001august/ed1.php and "digest" the material for users by reorganizing the material under three subheadings: JOE Article Advice, JOE Style, and JOE Policy and Practice.

The reorganization will make it possible for me to add entries that are not, perhaps, appropriate topics for Editor's Pages but would be helpful nonetheless. Expect entries in the future on topics like the treatment of "Extension" and how JOE doesn't favor "CES."

More important, prospective authors will find it easier to locate information and apply it to the articles they're preparing. They'll have less excuse for not consulting Help for JOE Authors. I'll have to return fewer submissions for revision before accepting them as suitable for publication or blind review. And prospective authors will become published authors a little sooner.

August JOE

The Commentary, "4-H as a Catalyst to Enhance Quality of Life for Hispanic Individuals" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/comm1.php, and first Feature, "Diversity Inclusion in 4-H Youth Programs: Examining the Perceptions Among West Virginia 4-H Youth Professionals" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/a1.php, deal with the important issue of diversity in 4-H, specifically, but implicitly in all of Extension.

The next two Features, "Strength Training Improves Body Image and Physical Activity Behaviors Among Midlife and Older Rural Women" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/a2.php and "Using Clicker Technology with Rural, Low-Income Mothers: Collecting Sensitive Data Anonymously" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/a3.php, focus on studies of rural women, an underserved population.

"The Impacts of the Great Recession on State Natural Resource Extension Programs" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/a11.php is, I believe, the first published JOE article that deals extensively with the effects of the Great Recession on Extension.

Most notable to me in this issue were the articles on GIS, GPS, and all things geospatial. Check out "GIS in Public Planning Agencies: Extension Opportunities" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/a5.php, "A Comparison of Recreational- and Intermediate Survey-Grade GPS Units for Importing Data into GIS Software Packages" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/rb3.php, and "The Virginia Geocoin Adventure: An Experiential Geospatial Learning Activity" http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/iw4.php.

There are, as usual, a number of other articles on using technology to enhance Extension programming—from clickers, to blogging, to iPads, to email, to repurposing material for new digital platforms.

And, also as usual, I've just scratched the surface of one more issue full of informative articles.