In the 1950s, the American Phytopathological Society had intended to publish its own journal to cover significant developments in the field of phytopathology, or plant diseases. However, the nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews offered to publish the journal for them, and they agreed due to their publishing experience. In 1961, the American Phytopathological Society compiled the editorial board of the journal at their annual meeting. The first volume was published in 1963.[4] It was the twelfth journal title published by Annual Reviews. In its first ten volumes, it published a total of 188 reviews from authors from twenty-one countries.[5]
The Annual Review of Phytopathology is helmed by the editor or the co-editors. The editor is assisted by the editorial committee, which includes associate editors, regular members, and occasionally guest editors. Guest members participate at the invitation of the editor, and serve terms of one year. All other members of the editorial committee are appointed by the Annual Reviews board of directors and serve five-year terms. The editorial committee determines which topics should be included in each volume and solicits reviews from qualified authors.[8] Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Peer review of accepted manuscripts is undertaken by the editorial committee.[9]
Dates indicate publication years in which someone was credited as a lead editor or co-editor of a journal volume. The planning process for a volume begins well before the volume appears, so appointment to the position of lead editor generally occurred prior to the first year shown here. An editor who has retired or died may be credited as a lead editor of a volume that they helped to plan, even if it is published after their retirement or death.
^"Annual Review of Phytopathology. Volume 42: 2004. Edited by Neal K van Alfen, George Bruening, and , William O Dawson. Palo Alto (California): Annual Reviews. $74.00. X + 498 p + 7 pl; ill.; subject index. ISBN: 0–8243–1342–9. 2004". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 80: 121. 2005. doi:10.1086/431074.
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