Analysis and reflection on the development status of excellent agricultural journals in China

Abstract: Abstract： Purposes The paper aim to analyze the development trends of agricultural journals in China by summarizing the current development status of outstanding agricultural journals and new high starting points in the agricultural field, propose inspiration for the development of agricultural journals in China, providing a basis for the high-quality development of agricultural journals in China. Methods Taking 19 agricultural selected for the 2019 ‘Excellence Plan’ and agricultural journals selected for the high starting point new publication project of the ‘Excellence Plan’ from 2019 to 2023 as research objects, the study focused on the distribution of agricultural disciplines prioritized for the construction of excellent agricultural journals, the domestic influence of journals, the international influence of journals and the selection of new high starting points in the agricultural field. The development trend of agricultural journals in China was analyzed. And the enlightenment and development prospects for exploring the overall high-quality development of agricultural journals in China were summarized. Findings Compared with the agricultural journals supervised by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, the journals run by the agricultural universities under the supervision of the Ministry of Education of China are relatively weak and strong. There is a phenomenon of ‘strong disciplines and weak journals’. The number of agricultural journals selected into ‘Excellence Plan’ and the High Starting Point New Publication Project is relatively small. However, in recent years, agricultural universities in China have comprehensively laid out their advantageous disciplines, and the number of new publications from high starting points is on the rise. At the same time, the blank areas of interdisciplinary research are being explored, a group of strong new journals are being developed, and have strong momentum in publishing. Conclusions Although the power of running journals in China’s agricultural field is relatively weak, dominant disciplines are obvious, and the development momentum of journals is strong, showing a significant upward trend. Priority should be given to the development of outstanding agricultural journals in China, driving the common development of overall agricultural journals.