Announcing the ADSA Loyalty Program and other developments

At the core of scientific peer review is “sharing insights and information among peers so that researchers can learn from each other and move science forward” (Schultz, 2020Schultz J. Learning from each other.Sci. Ed. 2020; 43: 70-71https://doi.org/10.36591/SE-D-4303-70Google Scholar). This year will mark the 107th year of existence for the Journal of Dairy Science. Over this time, the journal has been a stable pillar of ADSA, the dairy sector, and the scientific community. Several years ago, Kent Anderson published an article (Anderson, 2016Anderson K. The power of community—Why much of scholarly publishing is unlikely to change quickly.https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/05/12/the-power-of-community-why-much-of-scholarly-publishing-is-unlikely-to-change-quickly/Date: 2016Date accessed: October 11, 2023Google Scholar) in the Scholarly Kitchen, an online blog of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, and discussed the vibrant community that makes up virtually all successful scholarly publications. Anderson wrote that these publications “are not just production outlets for research papers, but community creations that provide identity, context, and cultural integration. [These] communities have layers and points of unity beyond the production systems or digital outlets.” The Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications are no exception; each issue publishes articles written by dairy scientists, binding the worldwide community of dairy scientists. Additionally, many members of this community gather in person each year and attend the ADSA Annual Meeting and ADSA Discover Conferences. We see daily posts on social media from scientists of all career stages sharing and discussing their publications. We also see enthusiastic posts containing photos of undergraduate and graduate students, research staff, and primary investigators conducting research that will soon be published in the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications. For the journals, publishing this work is a great responsibility, and our continued pledge is to work diligently to ensure each article is published in a timely and accurate fashion. Over the past several years, our journals have sought to strengthen their reach, engagement, and reputation, while also maintaining the aim to support emerging and established scientists in strengthening the community. Examples of this include our Dairy Digressions podcast series (https://www.adsa.org/Publications/Dairy-Digressions-Podcast), an active and vibrant social media presence (X: @jdairyscience, YouTube: @ADSANews, and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adsaorg/), graphical abstracts (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_pBLlLPgzM), and newly published Perspective articles. We are proud to report that our journals are truly products of the global community of dairy scientists. For example, according to data acquired from Clarivate, authors in just JDS Communications through November 2023 represented 36 countries around the world: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, and Uruguay. This month, we are excited to share a new program for our community! As many of you may recall, in 2017 then–Editor in Chief of the Journal of Dairy Science, Roger Shanks, PhD, developed and unveiled the JDS Member-Author Loyalty Rewards Program. We are pleased to announce that the ADSA Board of Directors voted to support and install a new version of this popular offering. Full details of the program will be posted on our journals' websites, but we will take this opportunity to share some highlights. Leadership within ADSA and both of its journals are keenly aware that many of the successes we see today stem from the dedication and efforts of authors and reviewers. In response, action has been taken to recognize individuals who participate in our society and its publications. The ADSA Loyalty Rewards Program, effective January 1, 2024, will provide article publishing charge (APC) relief to ADSA members who are core contributing authors and reviewers to either or both the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications. Corresponding authors will be awarded 40 points for authoring a publication, and reviewers will earn 10 points for every on-time anonymous peer review completed for either of ADSA's journals—all that is needed to begin accruing points is a current ADSA membership and an associated ORCID. Accrued points will remain valid for 4 yr and may be redeemed at the reward levels outlined in Table 1. We are excited to execute the program, as it is engineered to reward both authors and reviewers who contribute to the success of our journals. In an evolution from the first program, we will now reward a greater number of people who contribute to varying aspects of our community. Members can view their point accrual on the ADSA website member portal. Any papers with partial or fully waived fees will not count toward qualifying papers for subsequent rewards. Ultimately, points can be redeemed toward the publication of a paper in either journal.Table 1Reward levels of the ADSA Loyalty Program1Program is subject to change, but points can accrue for up to 4 yr.PointsReward400 points100% waived APC2Article publishing charge. in either journal (free publication)200 points50% waived APC in either journal (publishing fees are 50% off)100 points25% waived APC in either journal (publishing fees are 25% off)1 Program is subject to change, but points can accrue for up to 4 yr.2 Article publishing charge. Open table in a new tab As we seek to modernize, we have adjusted several timelines and editorial policies. For example, in both the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications, we have streamlined our production process to enable accepted, peer-reviewed proofs to be released early as uncorrected journal preproofs, or “articles in press.” The strategy of posting unfinalized, but fully peer-reviewed, articles reduces the time from acceptance to publication from months down to weeks. Shortened production time is a benefit to our authors, who can share their research findings more rapidly. It also supports early-career scientists, who can now document their publication accomplishments in an even more timely manner. The change also benefits our readers, who gain faster access to articles describing cutting-edge research, innovations, and breakthroughs happening in dairy science. This streamlined production process aligns more with the practices of other leading journals and will not negatively impact the long-held scientific rigor of our journals, nor does it affect our established overall peer-review process. The publications staff, our section editors, and we, as editors in chief, continue our commitment to maintaining fairness, excellence, and thoughtfulness. One additional change in 2024 will be the modification of our time allotted for revisions. Currently authors are provided 42 d to return a revised manuscript. In an attempt to reduce our time from submission to publication, we plan to trial a reduction in the time allotted for authors to 28 d for a major revision and 14 d for minor revisions. The vast majority of authors return these revisions within these timeframes already, but we know individual cases and circumstances may not always allow authors to submit revisions on this timeline. For these authors, we will continue to provide them with the time they need on an individual basis. The future of our journals and peer review will no doubt continue to face challenges. Among these challenges are the time and costs authors incur to publish a paper and reviewer fatigue (Ghosh, 2023Ghosh R. The peer review renaissance: An urgent call for transformation.https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2023/10/12/the-peer-review-renaissance-an-urgent-call-for-transformation/Date: 2023Date accessed: October 12, 2023Google Scholar). In the face of these and other challenges, as scientists, we need not become pessimistic. In fact, we should be emboldened because ingrained in our fundamental training and even deeper in our spirit lies curiosity, and a desire to collaborate inclusively and globally to solve problems. As always, we look forward to any and all feedback from those who read, publish, and review for our journals. Sincerely, Jessica A. A. McArt, DVM, PhD, DABVP (Dairy Practice) Editor in Chief, JDS Communications jmcart@cornell.edu X: @jmcartdvm Pronouns: she/her/hers Paul J. Kononoff, PhD Editor in Chief, Journal of Dairy Science pkononoff2@unl.edu X: @rumen8er Pronouns: he/him/his

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