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Soil Science Society of America Journal Author Instructions

Scope

The Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ), published bimonthly, is the official publication of the Soil Science Society of America. SSSAJ publishes content on soil physics; hydrology; soil chemistry; soil biology; soil biochemistry; pedology; soil mineralogy; soil fertility; plant nutrition; soil and water management and conservation; forest, range, and wildland soils; soil and plant analysis; urban and anthropogenic soils; wetland soils; practicing professional soil scientists; soil education and outreach. The audience is researchers, students, soil scientists, hydrologists, pedologist, geologists, agronomists, arborists, ecologists, engineers, certified practitioners, soil microbiologists, and environmentalists. Manuscripts may focus on any aspect of soil science and will be classified according to the Soil Science Society of America group with which they align most closely.

Manuscript Types

Contributions to SSSAJ may be:

Original Article. The outcome of scholarly inquiry, investigations, modeling, or experimentation having as an objective the revision of existing concepts, the development of new concepts, or the development of new or improved techniques in some phase of soil science.
Review. Review papers should provide a synthesis of existing knowledge and give new insights or concepts not previously presented in the literature, or at least not with the same level of detail. The review should identify knowledge gaps for future research.
Technical Note. Studies of limited scope, unique observations, or research techniques and apparatus. The length of a note should be about 2,000 to 3,000 words, not including references.
Lecture. By invite only, papers associated with one of Soil Science Society of America Lectureships.
Issues. Papers on timely topics, trends, or observations across the (or within a) soil science discipline.
Commentary. Papers containing (a) critical comments on papers published in one of the Society outlets, (b) editorial comments by Society officers, or (c) personal comments on matters having to do with soil science.
Invited Review. Invited papers on timely topics or themes related to soil science.
Letter to the Editor. Papers that provide a forum to discuss specific topics. Published subject to review and approval by the Editor.
Book Review. By invitation only. Short description of a book related to the soil science field.

Manuscript Submission

Templates

Download the SSSAJ Manuscript Submission Template and Pre-Submission Manuscript Formatting Checklist.

Submission

Submit manuscripts at the SSSAJ Manuscript Submission Site. Submissions to SSSAJ may not be previously published in their entirety or simultaneously submitted to any other scientific or technical journal. American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) journals follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style) for references. Consult our Publications Handbook and Style Manual for specific questions about style.

At submission you will be asked to pick your group and division. SSSA divsions are divided into four groups: Fundamental Soil Science, Agricultural Soil and Food Systems, Soil and Ecosystem Processes, and Education and Practicing Professionals. For guidance on divisions, refer to the SSSAJ Divisions page.

Creating the Manuscript File

Microsoft Word or LaTeX files may be submitted for review. For your convenience, we encourage you to use our Word template. The manuscript should be double-spaced, using page and continuous line numbers. See our LaTex File Submission Guidelines for instructions on submitting LaTeX files.

Double-Blind Peer Review

SSSAJ operates under a double-blind peer review process. Authors are responsible for ensuring their manuscript is anonymized for review. A separate document containing any relevant identifying information, including author lists, affiliations, acknowledgments, or anything else that could be used to identify any of the authors should be uploaded as a title page. SSSAJ will consider articles for review that were previously available as preprints. However, authors should note that sharing their manuscript in preprint form may compromise their anonymity during peer review.

Peer Review and Revisions

All manuscripts submitted undergo double-blind peer review. Papers are assigned to a technical editor, who will assign an associate editor to solicit at least two reviews. After evaluating the completed reviews, the associate editor will recommend a decision to the technical editor. Authors will be prompted to provide a list of potential reviewers. These reviewers must not have a conflict of interest involving the authors or paper, and the editorial board has the right to not use any reviewers suggested by authors. See the ASA, CSSA, SSSA Editorial Policies information page for additional information on review policy. All revisions to the manuscript during the review process will be made by the author only, and revisions will be given the same manuscript number, with an R number on the end (e.g., S-2006-04-0017-ORA.R1). Each revision has the opportunity for another round of review—the manuscript status “awaiting reviewer selection” is automatic and does not indicate a re-submission. Authors have four weeks to review and return their manuscript following reviewer and associate editor comments. Manuscripts may be released if revisions are not received, and the paper will have to be submitted as a new manuscript. Within days of submission, we'll decide whether or not to send your paper through review. For papers that are reviewed, the average time from submission to final decision (including revisions) is about 60 days.

ORCID iD

Corresponding authors are required to use an ORCID iD when submitting a manuscript. More information on ORCID can be found on their website. We encourage all authors to list their ORCID iD in the manuscript.

Plagiarism Screening

Papers submitted to ASA, CSSA, SSSA journals are screened for plagiarism before being sent for review. If there appears to be major repetition from other sources, the editor will evaluate the duplication and take appropriate action as warranted.

Article Requirements

Full papers must be either reports of original research, critical reviews, or interpretive articles. The journal also publishes book reviews and letters to the editor. Papers related to soil science software are accepted as original research or letters to the editor (see guidelines). Authors should follow the Publications Handbook and Style Manual when formatting manuscripts for submission.

Please submit the manuscript file in Word format containing the title, abstract, text, references, figures, and tables. The submission should contain the following elements:

Title
Core ideas
Abstract
Plain language summary (optional)
Abbreviations
Text
Supplemental Material statement
Data Availability statement (optional)
Author Contributions
References list
Figure captions
Figures*
Tables*
Affiliations

*Tables and figures (review quality) with captions should be placed into the text document at first mention. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, figures must also be submitted separately as high-resolution image files in the following acceptable formats: PDF, EPS, TIF, or JPEG.

Paper Structure

Title. The title page should include a title preferably 12 words or fewer (not counting conjunctions or prepositions). Note: the author line and affiliations are omitted from the first page to keep the authors anonymous during review. A title gives the reader a clear idea of what the article is about; it should be brief and informative. Use common names for crops and avoid abbreviations.

Core Ideas. Include 3 to 5 summary statements that convey the core findings of the article. The purpose of these short, bullet-pointed statements is to identify the most relevant outcomes of the paper and to provide a synopsis encapsulating the significance of the research and its implications for readers. Each statement must be 115 characters or less (spaces included)..

Abstract. Abstracts are a single self-contained paragraph of no more than 1500 characters – including word spaces ‑ for papers or 750 characters for Notes. Abstracts should contain the rationale, objectives, methods, results, and their meaning or scope of application. Be specific. Identify the crops or organisms involved, the soil type, chemicals, and other details that are pertinent to the results. Do not cite references, figures, or tables.

Plain Language Summary. You may include a plain language summary (limit 1000 characters). The summary should be clear, concise, and free from jargon. See guidelines for writing plain language summaries here.

Abbreviations. Prepare a list in alphabetical order of abbreviations used in your article. Do not include SI units, chemical abbreviations, or abbreviations listed in the style manual as not needing definition.

Text. The usual order of sections is an Introduction (which includes the literature review), Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (optional). Results and Discussion may be combined, and conclusions can be given at the close of the Discussion section.

Supplemental Material. Supplemental material may be included in the online version of articles at the discretion of the editors. The material must be submitted along with the original manuscript and will undergo peer review. Authors are encouraged to submit materials that contribute to the content and quality of the article or to use supplemental material as a means to shorten the text of manuscripts. Ancillary information such as some experimental data, including schematics of apparatus and maps of study sites, or material of interest mainly to specialists, are examples of potential supplemental material. When using supplemental material to shorten the text of a manuscript, keep in mind that the Materials and Methods section should provide enough detail to allow the reader to determine whether the interpretations are supported by the data.

Supplemental tables and figures should be cited in order in the main manuscript, as Supplemental Table S1, etc. Supplemental material should be formatted with a cover sheet listing authors and manuscript title, and the number of pages, figures, and tables. Tables and figures should be numbered Supplemental Table or Supplemental Figure S1, S2, etc. The journal program manager may limit the quantity of supplemental material posted. Ideally, the supplement should consist of a single PDF or MS Word file (rather than a series of files with individual images or structures). Other file types, such as Quick Time or Excel, may be allowed. Contact the program manager with questions about file types. If submitting videos please use the format .FLV (Flash Video) with 640 x 480 or 720 x 480 (widescreen) as the resolution. If you do not have this format available to you please contact the program manager. The following are not allowed: executables (.exe) of any kind, java script, TeX, or PowerPoint.

Include a short (one- or two-sentence) paragraph, titled “Supplemental Material,” describing the supplemental material in the main manuscript directly after the main text.

In place of supplemental material, our journals encourage the use of data repositories that assign DOIs or other persistent unique identifier (PID) to the data.

Data Availability Statement. Authors are encouraged to include a data availability statement directing readers to research data. Include this statement directly after the main text.

Conflict of Interest Statement. At the time of acceptance, authors should include a statement just before the References section that explains any conflicts of interest. If there are none, authors should explicitly state there are no conflicts of interest.

Author Contributions. The contributions of each author must now be indicated at submission. The submitting author is required to assign specific author contribution roles for each coauthor, using the CRediT taxonomy to indicate their respective roles. The 14 roles are Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, and Writing – review & editing. Author Contributions will be published with the accepted article and cannot be edited after article acceptance. Therefore, you must ensure the Author Contribution information you provide is accurate prior to final acceptance.

Acknowledgments. At the time of acceptance, authors may add an acknowledgments paragraph.

References. ASA, CSSA, SSSA journals follow the APA style for citations and references. The author-year system for citations is required; do not use numbered references. Refer to chapter 1 of the Publications Handbook and Style Manual for examples of our reference and citation style, in addition to following these guidelines:

• Arrange the list alphabetically by the surnames of the first authors and then by the second and third authors.
• Single-authored articles should precede multiple-authored articles for which the individual is first author.
• Two or more articles by the same author are listed chronologically; two or more in the same year are indicated by a, b, c, etc.
• Only literature that is available through libraries or other readily accessible public media can be cited. Material that does not meet this standard should be cited as personal communication or unpublished data.

Tables. Each entry should appear in a new table cell. Do not use tabs, spaces, or graphics. Cite each table in the text in numerical order; do not use table parts (1a, 1b). Each table must be cited in the text. Table heads should be brief but complete and self-contained. Define all variables and spell out all abbreviations. Table notes can include “Notes” for general notes that apply to the entire table, superscript lowercase letters for specific notes, and asterisks and other symbols as needed for significance notes.

Figures. At submission, review-quality figures with captions should be placed into the main text document at first mention. Authors may also submit figures as separate files. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, color figures must adhere to our color-figure policy. Figures must also be submitted separately as high-resolution image files (300 dpi preferred) in the following acceptable formats: PDF, EPS, TIFF, or JPEG. PPT files are acceptable if the figure was created in PowerPoint. Width of figures should approximate desired print size, i.e., 80 mm for a one-column figure, 180 mm for a two-column figure. All figure parts should be labeled. Multi-panel figures should be submitted as one image. Biplots should have equally scaled axes with tick marks.

Spell out abbreviations on first mention in figure captions, even if they have already been defined in the main text. Define symbols used either in the caption or in a legend within the figure. For more information on figures, see Chapter 5 of the style manual.

Math. Use keyboard formatting where possible (i.e., bold, super-/subscripts, simple variables, Greek font, etc.); if needed, use MathType.

Units of Measure. The International System of Units (SI) must be used. Other units may be indicated in parentheses after the SI unit if this helps understanding or is needed for replication of the work.

Nomenclature

Both the accepted common name and the chemical name of pesticides must be given upon first mention in the manuscript. Use chemical symbols for elements, ions, and simple compounds except at the beginning of a sentence or in a title or heading. The scientific binomial or trinomial (and authority for plants) must be included with the common name for all plants, insects, pathogens, and animals at first mention. When referring to soils, give at least the subgroup in accord with the US system of soil taxonomy. Ideally, both the series and complete family name should be given.

Changes to Author Byline

From time to time, authors' names are either added or removed from a given manuscript between the time of submission and publication. In situations such as this, the ethical and responsible manner of handling this type of change is for the lead author to advise the author being added or removed of the change and to notify, in writing, the journal editor and program manager for approval. In addition, all coauthors should notify the program manager that they are aware of and approve of the change.

Consent and Permissions

Before submitting the paper, the corresponding author should send each living coauthor a draft copy of the manuscript and obtain the coauthors’ assent to coauthorship. Authors are responsible for obtaining all permissions for use of figures or other material from other publishers and should supply these permissions when the manuscript is accepted. Authors are also responsible for obtaining permission from individuals whose images are included in photographs. Note that ASA, CSSA, and SSSA reserve the right to publish and republish any images you submit with a manuscript.

Errata

Errata may be used by the authors of a paper to correct errors and omissions that affect the integrity of the version of record that are identified after publication. All additions and corrections are subject to editorial approval and must be approved by all coauthors before submission; corrections of minor errors or omissions will not be published. Send all errata requests to the journal's program manager.

Publication Fees

Author Page Charges

Manuscripts accepted for publication are assessed a mandatory per page author page fee for the eighth page and more pages published. Society members are charged $100 per page after seven pages and nonmembers are charged $200 per page after seven pages. The corresponding author must be a member to receive the member rate.

Optional Open Access Opportunity

After manuscript acceptance, authors have the option of paying an additional open access licensing fee of $1,800 to apply an open access license at the time of publication to make the article freely available without a subscription. These fees are in addition to any applicable author page charges.

Journal articles are published open access under the CC BY-NC-ND (attribution, noncommercial, no derivatives) license. Learn more

Authors may request that their article be published under the CC BY (attribution) license. Learn more

No author page fees are charged for invited reviews, comments, or letters to the editor.

Institutional Funding and Transformational Agreements

Your institution or funder may be able to help with open access licensing fees through a transformational agreement. For qualified authors, fees may be covered in full or part when publishing in the journal. Visit the institutional funder payments web page to learn if you qualify and for more information.

Authors Funded by cOAlition S

If you or one of your co-authors received funding from a member of cOAlition S, there may be restrictions on where you can publish. Please check your agreement with your funder for specific details. The information and author compliance tool on this web page can help you make an informed decision about where to publish in alignment with funder and journal requirements.

Green Open Access

Authors with an open access requirement mandated by a funding agency should purchase one of the two gold open access options with funds designated for publication charges by the funding agency. For other repository requirements, authors may post a PDF of the accepted version of a paper to funder and institutional repositories and/or employer’s sites after a 12-month embargo. Authors may post accepted papers to their own personal websites. The doi link must appear on the PDF.

Official Sources

Spelling: Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
Plant scientific names: USDA–ARS GRIN database
Chemical names: PubChem
Soil series descriptions: USDA–NRCS Official Soil Series Descriptions
Fungal nomenclature: Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States (APS Press)
ASA, CSSA, SSSA journal style: Publications Handbook and Style Manual

For questions about the format of submissions, the process of submitting a manuscript, or about the status of manuscripts that have been submitted and assigned a manuscript number, please contact the SSSAJ program manager.

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