J.D. Oster, Brent Clothier, Dennis Wichelns
Agricultural Water Management began in 1976 with Dr. Jans Wesseling as Editor in Chief and Dr. N.A. de Ridder as Associate Editor. Dr. Wesseling stated the purpose of the journal in his editorial published in the first issue as follows: �that the new journal will contribute to the fruitful exchange of ideas and knowledge of the role of the most commonly occurring fluid in the world on the production of our daily food�. Papers about the role water plays in agriculture have been published based on national, regional, or even local studies of interest to the readers. In 1977, the first full year of publication, 19 papers were published. In 2005, that total swelled to 129. From the beginning through 2005, 1581 papers were published in 78 volumes including 15 special issues. The ambit of the journal has always been global, publishing results from industrialized and developing countries. In the first year, authors from 10 nations published papers in the journal; 44 countries were represented in 2005. People from 21 countries have served on the journal's Advisory Editorial Board.
The journal's Impact Factor (based on how often its papers are cited) during the past decade has risen from 0.3 to 0.8. Since 2002, it has ranked in the upper half of the 55 journals in the Water Resources class according to Thomson Scientific. Electronic submission and review began in 2004. After registration, authors submit papers to http://ees.elsevier.com/agwat/default.asp, and reviewer comments, and manuscript revisions are conducted electronically under the supervision of the Editors in Chief. A web-based system enables authors in remote locations to submit manuscripts without any expenditure for photocopying or postage. It also speeds the publication process in an area of science that is rapidly evolving, and new work can be cited quickly when published in Agricultural Water Management.