Factors Affecting the Publication Quality of Scientific Papers in the Agricultural Sciences in Iran

The quality of scientific publication has an important role in facilitating the exchange of knowledge. Therefore, there is a special focus on pathology of publishing process and its quality preservation. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the publcation quality of scientific papers in the agricultural sciences in Iran. The research method was descriptive-correlational, which was carried out using survey technique. The statistical population consisted of faculty members and Ph.D. students of agriculture in the public universities of Iran (N=6773) that 363 persons of them were selected using Krejcei and Morgan sample size Table and multi-stage sampling method (three stages). The research instrument was a questionnaire which its face and content validity were confirmed by a panel of experts of agricultural extension and education, and a number of chief- editors of research-scientific journals in the agricultural field. The reliability of the scales of the questionnaire was approved with Cronbach's alpha test. The correlation test results showed that the variables of background of publication (including the fields of knowledge, ethics and attitude), behavior of publication (including the behaviors of planning, procurement and preparation, modification and revision and the preparation of final text), the policy structure of publication (including the policy structures of arbitration process and printing paper) have significant correlation with the scientific publication quality. In this regard, results of regression analysis showed that the mentioned variables explained about 60 percent of the variability of publication quality of scientific papers in the agricultural sciences. Finally, based on the findings, some executive recommendations have been provided.