Instructions for Authors
Enacted on October 1, 2019
Revised on July 15, 2024
Precision Agriculture Science and Technology (PAST) is an international open-access journal that publishes four issues a year (March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31). A special issue can be published when needed by the Korean Society of Precision Agriculture (KSPA). The journal reports on advanced scientific and engineering aspects in precision agriculture, which aims for the least input and sustainable agriculture.
Submission of Manuscripts
Manuscripts should be submitted directly via the journal webpage (https://submission.past.or.kr). Technical difficulties can be resolved by contacting the Korean Society of Precision Agriculture.
Email: kspaknu21@gmail.com
Phone: +82-53-950-6891
Manuscripts are to be submitted in their final form and must be written in English or Korean. Authors are urged to aim for clarity, brevity, and accuracy of information and language. Authors should have their manuscripts checked for linguistic accuracy.
A properly completed “Copyright Transfer Agreement” will be asked for when the manuscript is published. All Authors, including the corresponding author, are asked to sign it.
Editorial and Review Policy
Editorial policy
Manuscripts submitted for publication should contain no materials that violate any copyright. Submission of a manuscript to Precision Agriculture Science and Technology (PAST) involves the tacit assurance that no similar paper has been or will be submitted for publication in other journals. Manuscripts that have been published in a conference or meeting proceedings without peer review may be submitted to PAST.
It is the responsibility of the authors, not the Korean Society of Precision Agriculture (KSPA), to determine whether disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties and to obtain that consent. Statements and opinions given in work published by PAST are the expressions of the authors. Responsibility for the contents of published papers rests upon the authors, not the KSPA.
Publication type
PAST accepts the following types of manuscripts: original research articles, review articles, and technical notes.
Original research article represents an original, important contribution to all agricultural science including crop and plant science, forestry, animal science, food science, chemistry, engineering, business and economics. The manuscript should clearly state the scope and purpose of the research work. The information presented must be objective and well organized, and the conclusions should be adequately supported.
Review articles should be a critical evaluation of the existing state of knowledge on a particular aspect of agricultural science. Simple literature surveys will not be accepted for publication.
Technical notes should be brief descriptions of the development of devices, equipment, techniques, or applications that offer definite advantages in research or practice over those already available.
Peer-review process
All manuscripts are subject to peer review for the validity of the experimental design and results, significance, and appropriateness for PAST.
When manuscripts are submitted successfully to the online manuscript submission system, they are initially subjected to a pre-screening step by the Editor. The pre-screening step includes a plagiarism check. Manuscripts that have potential issues with plagiarism or poorly written or fail to meet the required format will be rejected by the Editor-in-Chief without further review.
Manuscripts that pass this step will be reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers selected by the Editor-in-Chief or associate editors. The corresponding author is notified as soon as possible regarding the decision to accept, reject, or request revision of a manuscript. The manuscripts evaluated as “accept” or “request minor revision” by the reviewers are considered to be accepted for publication, although some revisions may be required to address the concerns of the reviewers and Editor-in-Chief.
In cases where a manuscript is evaluated as “make major revisions” or “reject” by one of the reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief will analyze the reviewers’ comments thoroughly and make a decision on acceptance or rejection.
If there are major flaws in the results of the research or the methodological design, the Editor-in-Chief may ask the author to clarify and resubmit or may reject the manuscript.
If a manuscript is classified as “accept with revisions,” the author is expected to respond within 2 weeks, addressing all the comments raised by the reviewers, making appropriate corrections or stating why the comments are unreasonable.
The responsible editor or a reviewer will consider the revisions, and recommend that the Editor-in-Chief either accept the manuscript for publication or reject it. The Editor-in-Chief will inform the author of the final decision on the publication of the manuscript.
When the final revised manuscript meets all PAST content and format requirements and has been accepted for publication without additional revisions, it is scheduled for publication in the next available issue.
Page proofs
This proof stage is not a time for extensive corrections, additions, or deletions. It is advised that editing be limited to the correction of typographical errors, incorrect data, and grammatical errors, and for updating information on references that had been in press. The corrections to page proofs should be sent immediately by e-mail preferably within 2 business days.
Page charges
The Precision Agriculture Science and Technology charges a publication fee of 300,000 KRW ($300 US) to the authors when a submitted paper is confirmed for publication.
Organization of the Manuscript
The manuscript should be organized in the following sequence.
Title and Authorship
Abstract and Keywords
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgments (optional)
References
Appendix or Nomenclature (optional)
Title and Authorship
The title should communicate key information about the article’s content. The list of authors should include the full names and institutional affiliations of all the authors. The name of the corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk. The e-mail address of the corresponding author should be provided on the first page.
Abstract and Keywords
The abstract should summarize the most important points from the text of the article. It should include the purpose of the research, a brief description of the experimental methods, a summary of the significant results, and major conclusions or implications of the findings for research or practice. The method and results should be presented as specifically as possible within the constraints of the word limit. The abstract of the paper should have a length between 200-300 words. Less than five keywords should be listed for indexing purposes.
Introduction
The introduction should be used to review the published literature and issues related to the topic. A thorough introduction will help the reader recognize how the research contributes to the current knowledge in the subject area. Thus, the introduction should include a literature review, a description of the problem addressed by the study or the gap in current research findings, and the purpose of the study.
Materials and Methods
Information about materials and methods should be provided in enough detail to allow a competent researcher to repeat the experiments and verify the results. In the materials section, material preparation, specification of the materials, and equipment used in the experiments should be described. The source company of materials, equipment, and software should be stated parenthetically along with the model name, the city, the state or province, and country of the company. The experimental procedure and the data analysis methods should also be stated in this section.
Results and Discussion
A solution to the problem stated in the introduction should be provided in the results and discussion section. Tables and figures are commonly used to visually show the results. Rather than restating the entire content of tables and figures, only the critical data can be restated in the text to emphasize evidence on which the conclusions are based. The data should also be interpreted in this section. Because the results and discussion are combined, the author may choose to address each finding and then discuss it before moving on to the next point, or present the results followed by the discussion. The discussion should include a comparison with previous findings by identifying how and why there are differences and where there is agreement. Any limitations of the study should be addressed.
Conclusion
The main findings of the research should be summarized in the conclusion section. This section should not contain extensive repetition of the Results and Discussion section or reiteration of the Introduction section.
Acknowledgments
The sources of financial or material support can be listed in the acknowledgements section. Also, any individuals whose contributions were significant but not deserving of authorship should be described.
References
There must be a text citation for each reference and vice versa. The required method for giving references in the text is the last name-publication year system as in Kim (2003) or (Kim, 2003), depending on whether the author is mentioned in the sentence or not. For two authors, the format of Kim and Lee (2010) or (Kim and Lee, 2010), and for three or more authors, Kim et al. (2000) or (Kim et al., 2000) should be used. When more than two references are cited for the same content, they should be arranged alphabetically. The references cited in the text should be listed in the reference section in alphabetical order of the last name of the first author. The references published by the same author in the same year are indicated by placing a, b, and so on, next to the publication year (e.g. 1999a, 1999b, etc.).
The most common types of references are as follows:
1) Journal Article
Lim, J.W., Reza, M.N., Chung, S.-O., Lee, K.Y., Lee, S.Y., Lee, K.N., Lee. B. 2023. Application of artificial neural network in smart protected horticulture: A review. Precision Agriculture Science and Technology 5(1): 29-41.
https://doi.org/10.12972/pastj.20230003
Chang, S., Puryear, J., Cairney, J. 1993. A simple and efficient method for isolating RNA from pine trees. Plant Molecular Biology Report 11:113-116.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02670468
Noh, J.K., Lee, J.N., Kim, Y.K. 2010. Development of standardized water balance model for applying irrigation district in South Korea. Journal of Agricultural Science 37:105-112.
2) Book
Fonteno, W.C. 1996. Media, fertilizer, and water. In GrowerTalks on Plugs Ⅱ (2nd) edited by Hamrick D. pp. 59-96. Ball Publishing, Batavia, IL.
Lim, S.W. 2005. Fertilizers. Ilsinsa, Seoul, Korea.
Senga, Y. 1989. Soft science of water resources. pp. 45-75. Rokudowu Publishing, Japan.
3) Bulletin or Report
MOCT (Ministry of Construction and Transportation), KOWACO (Korean Water Corporation). 2006. 2020 Water Vision (Modified).
MLTM (Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs). 2009. Master Plan for 4 Major Rivers Restoration Project. pp. 400-410.
4) Conference proceedings
Lund, E.D., Collings, K.E., Adamchuck, V.I. 2004. Managing pH variability with on-the-go pH mapping. In: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Precision Agriculture. pp. 120-132. Madison, WI: ASA-CSSA-SSSA.
5) Software
SAS. 1990. SAS User’s Guide: Statistics. Ver. 6a. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.
SPSS. 2000. SigmaPlot for Windows. Ver. 3.2. Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc.
6) Dissertation or Thesis
Choi, J.M. 1994. Increased nutrient uptake efficiency by controlling nutrient release in floral crops. Ph.D. dissertation, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, USA.
Noh, J.K. 1991. A conceptual watershed model for daily streamflow based on soil water storage. Ph.D. dissertation, Seoul National Univ., Seoul, Korea. [in Korean]
7) Online Source
Kim, S.U. 2010. Measures on restoring water cycles for protecting drying up urban stream. Report on Current Issues No. 101, pp. 44. National Assembly Research Service.
(http://www.nars.go.kr. NARS Publication. ISSN 2005-3215 Accessed Jan. 15, 2011)
Pokharel, B.K., Tumbahamphe, N. 1999. Community forestry development action: A synthesis of NUKCFP reports and publications. Nepal-UK Community Forestry Project. Project report G/NUKCFP/52. pp. 125.
(http://www.forestrynepal.org/project/2903 Accessed Mar. 3, 2011)
KNP (Korea National Park). 2010. Breathing nature.
(http://english.knps.or.kr Accessed Sep. 1, 2010)
8) Patent
Moulton, R.K. 1992. Method for on-site cleaning of contaminant filters in livestock housing facilities. U.S. Patent No. 32455986.
Appendix or Nomenclature
This optional section can include lists of nomenclature or abbreviations, data, or tables that are too long to include in the body of the article.
General Style
Manuscripts must be 2-line-spaced on a recent version of a word processor such as Microsoft Word Line numbers and page numbers should be included on each page, including the title page.
The article title should be in bold 12-point font. Any first level headings should be in bold 12-point font with their first letter capitalized. Any second level headings should be in bold 12-point font with their first letter capitalized. Any third level headings should be in italic 12-point font, and the font of the text should be plain 12-point.
All units of measurement should be expressed in SI (metric) units. A space should be left between the measurement and unit (e.g., 25 mm) but no space is needed for temperature degrees (e.g., 25°C) and percentages (e.g., 35%).
Tables
Tables should be used for reporting extensive numerical data in an organized manner. They should be self-explanatory. The data presented in the tables should neither be duplicated in figures nor discussed exhaustively in the text, but instead, only key findings should be highlighted and discussed. Each table should be specifically referenced and explained in the text. Tables should be placed within the main text. Table titles should be brief, but must sufficiently explain the data included. Tables should be consecutively numbered and referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc. Table titles should be located above the tables.
Figures
Figures, including graphs or charts, should be designed to improve the general presentation of technical information and should be of publishable quality. The type of charts or graphs should be chosen based on the key message the author wishes to deliver. Information on and explanation of the figures should be provided in the figure caption or in the text. Figures should be numbered consecutively in the text and referred to as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.
Equations
For new equations, all assumptions and initial boundary conditions should be stated, and a sufficient derivation should be provided for the reader to understand its development. Only those mathematical steps required for comprehension should be shown. All important equations should be displayed on separate lines with consecutive numbers enclosed in parentheses (1) and positioned at the right margin to facilitate their reference within the manuscript.
Precision Agriculture Science and Technology
