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African Journal of Range and Forage Science
H-index 14

African Journal of Range and Forage Science

1022-0119

Published by: Taylor & Francis

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tarf20/current

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Ecology and Evolution 315 27 59 12

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 50
Documents by Best Scientists*: 75
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 2
SCIMAGO H-index: 38
SCIMAGO SJR: 0.536
Impact Factor: 1.9

Overview

Top Research Topics at African Journal of Range & Forage Science?

The journal tackles a plethora of topics, such as Agronomy, Grazing, Ecology, Agroforestry and Forage. The studies on Agronomy discussed can also contribute to research in the domains of Stocking and Botany. The Botany research dealing mostly with Acacia is the focus of it.

Grazing research featured in the journal incorporates concerns from various other topics such as Growing season, Cape and Animal science. Vegetation, Herbivore, Species richness and Habitat are among the areas of Ecology tackled. Some problems in Agroforestry that were presented in the journal overlapped with concepts under Arid, Agriculture and Livestock.

The Forage study featured in the journal draws parallels with the field of Range (biology). The study on Dry matter presented in the journal intersects with the topics under Yield (wine). Most of the Rangeland studies addressed also intersect with Environmental resource management.

  • Agronomy (46.98%)
  • Grazing (26.70%)
  • Ecology (20.23%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Do we understand the causes of bush encroachment in African savannas (215 citations)
  • Bush encroachment in southern Africa: changes and causes (186 citations)
  • KLEE: A long‐term multi‐species herbivore exclusion experiment in Laikipia, Kenya (173 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at African Journal of Range & Forage Science:

The journal articles are mainly concerned with subjects like Agronomy, Grazing, Agroforestry, Ecology and Rangeland. While Agronomy is the focus of the journal papers, it also provides insights into the studies of Soil water, Stocking and Botany. The Grazing research presented in the most cited papers focuses mostly on Species richness and, on occasion, topics in Species diversity.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Ecology
  • Botany
  • Agriculture

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal aims to foster the development of research in Ecology, Rangeland, Agroforestry, Grassland and Agronomy. In the journal, Underpinning and Tuft are investigated in conjunction with one another to address concerns in Ecology research. Topics in Rangeland were tackled in line with various other fields like Mediterranean climate, Grazing, Pasture and Vegetation.

The work on Agroforestry tackled in the journal brings together disciplines like Montane ecology, Biomass (ecology), Pastoralism, Arid and Woodland. While work presented in African Journal of Range & Forage Science provided substantial information on Grassland, it also covered topics in Abundance (ecology), Soil water, Edaphic, Disturbance (ecology) and Species richness. The research on Agronomy featured in it combines topics in other fields like Climate change, Soil surface and Seed dispersal.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Frequent burning maintained a stable grassland over four decades in the Drakensberg, South Africa (7 citations)
  • Does defoliation frequency and severity influence plant productivity? The role of grazing management and soil nutrients (4 citations)
  • The population dynamics of four grass species in relation to burning in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg (3 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in African Journal of Range & Forage Science (based on the number of publications) are:

  • N.M. Tainton (49 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Craig D. Morris (40 papers) published 6 papers at the last edition, 5 more than at the previous edition,
  • Timothy G. O’Connor (40 papers) published 7 papers at the last edition, 6 more than at the previous edition,
  • Kevin P. Kirkman (30 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition,
  • Hennie A. Snyman (30 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in African Journal of Range & Forage Science (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Natal (101 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • University of KwaZulu-Natal (89 papers) published 16 papers at the last edition, 13 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of the Free State (60 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
  • University of Pretoria (59 papers) published 7 papers at the last edition, 5 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Cape Town (58 papers) published 5 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 7.14% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 67.31% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 1.92% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 15.38% of all publications and 15.38% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Top Publications

  • Recent droughts in the Kruger National Park as reflected in the extreme climate index

    Johan Malherbe;Izak Pj Smit;Konrad J Wessels;Philip J Beukes

    (2020)
    35 Citations
  • Megaherbivore response to droughts under different management regimes: lessons from a large African savanna

    Izak Pj Smit;Mike Js Peel;Sam M Ferreira;Cathy Greaver

    (2020)
    34 Citations
  • Could drought constrain woody encroachers in savannas

    Madelon F Case;Benjamin J Wigley;Corli Wigley-Coetsee;A Carla Staver

    (2020)
    22 Citations
  • High-intensity fire experiments to manage shrub encroachment: lessons learned in South Africa and the United States

    (2022)
    22 Citations
  • Drought as a driver of vegetation change in Succulent Karoo rangelands, South Africa

    (2022)
    19 Citations
  • Long-term frequent fires do not decrease topsoil carbon and nitrogen in an Afromontane grassland

    (2022)
    19 Citations
  • Does defoliation frequency and severity influence plant productivity? The role of grazing management and soil nutrients

    Zander S Venter;Heidi-Jayne Hawkins;Michael D Cramer

    (2021)
    18 Citations
  • Accounting for land cover changes and degradation in the Katse and Mohale Dam catchments of the Lesotho highlands

    Jane Turpie;Grant Benn;Mark Thompson;Nigel Barker

    (2021)
    17 Citations
  • Ecology of fire-dependent ecosystems: wildland fire science, policy and management

    (2021)
    15 Citations

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