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GUIDELINES TO AUTHORS

The following details about Training for Agriculture and Rural Development (TARD) are provided for the information and guidance of authors. The objective is to enable preparation of manuscripts that are acceptable for publication without major editorial changes and to indicate the type and style of article required.

Aim

The publication has the primary aim of providing agricultural educators, trainers and extension staff with information about new practices and methods and analyses concerning innovative methodologies and strategies that have been developed and used successfully in situations related to training, extension and education. The goal is to make relevant information in these broad areas available for interpretation and application wherever it is appropriate to do so. The experiences recorded are drawn from countries in as many geographic regions as possible, and include developing countries as well as developed countries, where certain approaches may well have wide application. In effect, the publication is a clearing-house for ideas that may be of use at the field level as well as at the policy and management levels.

Distribution

TARD, a biennial publication, is distributed to all FAO regional and subregional offices and related United Nations bodies, and to exchange libraries and various ministries of agriculture and agricultural education, extension and training institutions throughout the world.

Article length, review and language

As a working guide, articles should be between 2 500 and 3 500 words in length. Articles outside the suggested limits will be given due consideration, although long articles may be edited to a suitable length. Each article is judged on merit by a Review Committee. The Review Committee reserves the right to refuse publication of any article considered unsuitable. Articles that are being considered for publication by another journal, or that have been previously published in a journal or book, should not be submitted to TARD. FAO retains the copyright of all published articles.

Articles may be submitted in English, French or Spanish. Articles accepted for publication will be published in the language in which they are submitted. In the case of English, TARD follows British rather than American spelling. An abstract or summary of about 150 words in the original language should be provided, which will be translated into the other two languages. A separate cover sheet with the author's name, institutional affiliation and complete address, including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address, should accompany the article.

Illustrations, figures and tables

Illustrations, figures and tables that are essential to the message being conveyed should be included. Facilities exist for inclusion of both colour and black-and-white photographs, line drawings and tables. Negatives are preferred for black-and-white photographs, but gloss-finished black-and-white or colour prints (9 x 13 cm minimum) or colour slides may be submitted as alternatives. Artwork for drawings and figures need not be elaborate, but should be easy to copy or provide enough detail for graphic artists to follow. Each illustration, figure or table should have a title or cut-line and the source noted, and the preferred position in the text should be indicated.

Manuscript preparation and readability level

Manuscripts should be submitted on diskette (IBM-compatible), preferably using Word, together with three hard copies, double-spaced with clear headings and subheadings as appropriate. The text should be written in language that is clear and easily understandable to persons who are outside the author's area of specialization. Simple words and terminology appropriate to the subject and, above all, that express the message clearly and concisely should be used. Direct quotes should appear in double quotation marks, with quotations exceeding 40 words indented in the text.

References

Bibliographical references should be grouped at the end of the article in alphabetical order. Footnotes should be avoided. Book references should give (in this order) last name of author(s) followed by full first name and/or initials; year of publication; full title; place of publication; and published. For example: Rogers, E.M. 1983. Diffusion of innovations. New York, NY, USA, Free Press. Journal references should give author(s); year of publication; title of the article; journal title; and volume and issue numbers and page numbers. For example: Coutts, J.A. 1995. Agricultural Extension Policy as a Framework for Change. European Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 2(1): 17-27.

Editorial address

All manuscripts should be addressed to: the Editor, Training for Agriculture and Rural Development (TARD), Extension, Education and Communication Service (SDRE), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. Tel: 3906-5705-3445, Fax: 3906-5705-5731, E-mail: [email protected]

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