12.1.2017, Brno Připravil: Antonín Vaishar 8th VOLUME 2016

Published in 2016 4 issues Of it 2 standard numbers, 2 special numbers 31 articles, Of it 1 Editorial, 26 Research papers, 2 Research notes and 2 Short communications 480 pages 84 authors from 17 countries; Slovakia 23, Hungary 11, Poland 11, Czechia 10, United Kingdom 5, Austria 4, Estonia 4, Serbia 3, Denmark 3, Ireland 2, France 2 etc. Since the very beginning: 157 papers, 2,505 pages

Submitted 77 papers, of it: 41 accepted 9 rejected 5 shat down or without any replay from authors 22 still in the review process Rejection rate 25% The politics of the Executive Board support rather improving papers (if possible) than their rejections

Reviewed 539 experts addressed 103 evaluations obtained 28 countries involed: Czechia 16, Poland and Spain 8, Hungary 7, United Kingdom, Slovakia and Italy 6, France, Germany and Greece 4, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Croatia, Slovenia and the USA 3 etc.

Cited Web of Knowledge, 146, of it 43 in 2016; 0.93 times per a paper; SCOPUS, 130, of it 45 in 2016; 1.40 per a paper (it concerns only 93 papers since 2012), Google Scholar quoted 558 times (3.55 times per a paper); The most quoted paper is Wellbrock, W., Roep, D., Wiskerke, J.: An integrated perspective on rural regional learning (12 times on Web of Knowledge, 13 times on SCOPUS and 26 times on Google Scholar)

Outlook for 2017 Special number WATER (about 11 articles + 2 short communications) is under the technical preparation (1/2017) Standard number (2/2017) – 5 papers prepared as ahead of print + 3 papers under re-working after the review process Special number FOOD (7 papers in the review process) Special number BUILT ENVIRONMENT (34 papers offered; deadline January 31, 2017) It seems that the 9th volume is more or less ensured

The most downloaded papers on DeGruyter Societal implication and challenges of demographic change – some introductory remarks by Černič-Mali, Barbara/ Koch, Andreas and Koch, Madeleine Rural Europe and the world: Globalization and rural development (Editorial) by Woods, Michael and McDonagh, John Agritourism in Italy and the Local Impact Referring To Itria Valley. The Organic Firm “Raggio Verde” and Its Ecological Agritourism Project by Ciervo, Margerita Naturbanization and Urban – Rural Dynamics in Spain: Case Study of New Rural Landscapes in Andalusia and Catalonia by Pallarès-Blanch, Marta/ Prados Velasco, Maria-José and Tulla Pujol, Antoni Francesc Regional Differentiation of the Use of Production Factors in the Polish Agriculture by Wasilewski, Mirosław and Mądra, Magdalena

Categorization of articles Research articles (containing related theory, methodology, empirical part, discussion and conclusions) Editorials (introductory parts of special numbers) Research notes (primary theoretical overview articles) Short communications (articles which are not fully theoretically based but they deliver interesting empirical or practical knowledge – not very known regions, new problems, implementation etc.)

Initial evaluation In order to eliminate papers of lower quality or to order them to the respective category, the initial evaluation should be improved Necessary assumptions of a research paper: Coincidence with the aim and scope of the Journal The structure of a scientific paper (recommended in the instructions); the aim of the article and research questions are clearly defined Sufficient embedding in the scientific literature (journals in Web of Knowledge and SCOPUS) Possible suggestions: to accept for a review as a research paper, to reject, to order within a different category

Evaluation process On-line process Initial evaluation (the reporter + Advisory Board members) within 7 days Suggestion of reviewers (the executive board + the reporter) approved by the Executive Board (conflict of interests, further suggestions) within 3 working days Review process within 21 days, repeated if necessary Revised version as a rule Definitive acceptance (the reporter + Advisory Board members) within 7 days

Change of quotation The part REFERENCES will be separated for academic and other sources. Academic sources (papers in journals, books and chapters, theses, research reports, thematic maps) dispose with data like author(s), the publisher, year of publication, pages as a rule DOI numbers enabling cross-reference will be asked from authors when available Other sources (data sets, government materials, basic maps, web sources, laws, technical norms, oral information) will be quoted separately.

Special numbers Special numbers delivers a majority of papers and thus they are necessary at the moment Special numbers from conferences – papers presented in conferences are not prepared for publication in a scientific journal as a rule; Special numbers from projects are usually compact and well-prepared Special numbers initiated by the Editorial Board bring a wide spectrum territorially and in content; their surplus can be used within standard numbers

Future Special Numbers It is suitable to suggest a special number with following schedule: Announcement February 2017 Expressions of interest May 2017 Deadline for papers submitting September 2017 Publishing March 2018 Members of the Advisory Board and the Executive Board are free to suggest relevant topics