Cooperative Extension Publications Procedure

Arizona Cooperative Extension Publication Guidance and Process

This document pertains to publications that are submitted for review and publication through the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension System. All the content on this page is also in the following document.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Extension publications are valuable tools for Extension scientists, educators, and professionals

involved in outreach. They also serve as important stand-alone stakeholder resources. They should be:

Audience-centered – Tailor your content to the specific needs, interests, and characteristics of the target audience. Ensure the language and terms used are appropriately explained to maximize accessibility.

Location and seasonally specific – Include information about where and when the information provided is relevant.

Practical – Publications are often used to transform research-based information into understandable and actionable guidance. Be clear and concise, avoiding repetition and unrelated information.

Credible and unbiased – Include defensible, evidence-based information. Provide impartial evaluation information, avoiding grandiose claims or overstating findings and conclusions. Include statistical findings when appropriate and avoid unsupported conclusions.

Purposeful – Write with deliberate intention. Know why you are writing an extension publication and be intentional about the outcomes that will be achieved.

Cooperative Extension publications should be peer reviewed when they include substantial scientific contributions or data, or educational information that has been assembled for Extension clientele. In both instances documents should include relevant scientific references.

Adapted submissions based on trade magazine articles, or those that will be redrafted for publication in trade magazines, are permitted as long as magazine restrictions are accommodated. Similarly, adapted submissions based on presentations, newsletter articles, or other scholarly works are permitted at the Extension Publication Editor's (EPE) discretion, and as long as copyright rules are adhered to. Corresponding authors are responsible for their own submissions and review of restrictions.

Materials that do not need to go through the peer-review process include outputs like newsletters, blogs, PowerPoint presentations, conference posters/infographics, trade magazine articles, short fact sheets, videos, social media posts, popular media articles, or other short-form content. Regardless of the publication type (video, podcast, radio announcements, social media posts, etc.), if you feel your publication rises to the level of needing peer-review, you are encouraged to submit it.

Professional journal/book manuscripts do not need to be submitted to FastTrack prior to external publication submission.

General questions should be directed to the EPE.

AUDIENCE & AUTHORSHIP

Audiences of Arizona Cooperative Extension (CE) publications

Audiences may be internal and external scientific peers as well as clientele like governmental agency staff, industry and commodity organization employees, business owners, and public community members.

If the publication is aimed at providing information to a very specific group and uses specialized or technical language, consider adding a statement identifying the group.

Authorship

· Classified staff, post-docs, graduate students, visiting scholars, and external collaborators may be first author or a co-author assuming they have significantly contributed to the publication. There must be a University of Arizona faculty or staff member as a lead or co-author who has significantly contributed to the publication.

· Undergraduate students and all categories of Designated Campus Colleagues can publish as a first author if an Extension faculty or staff member is a co-author and at the discretion of the EPE.

· A University of Arizona faculty member must submit the manuscript to the FastTrack system and serve as the contact person to receive related correspondence, both during and after publication.

· An individual must make a substantial, original contribution to the scholarly work to be considered an author.

· For older publications being updated with less than 25% of new or altered material, the primary credit will remain with the original author/s, with the addition of the revising author/s names included after the originals.

· If the revision of an older publication is minimal with less than 5% of the content requiring revision, the reviewer/s should be recognized in an acknowledgement section.

· For older publications being updated with 25% or greater new material included or updated, the new author/s may be added and take precedence in the authorship list.

· Authors involved in revising original works should select “Extension Revision” when uploading files into FastTrack. If you are not sure if the revised manuscript meets the 25% new/updated content, ask the Associate Editor for assistance.

· Publications which contain substantial duplicative or copied material from other publications(s) will not be considered.

· Co-authors are not reviewers. If an individual has completed a presubmission review they can be acknowledged in the manuscript. If they provide substantive original contribution to creating or expanding the information they can be listed as a co-author (but not both).

· After an author has retired or left the university, they may remain an author, but a current University of Arizona faculty member should be listed as the contact person on the publication.

· Authors who are current University of Arizona employees are encouraged to update their original publications every five years, or earlier if scientific understanding deepens, or products change.

· Authors wishing to update other authors’ work should make a good-faith effort to contact the original author to collaborate on an update.

· If an original author cannot update the original publication on a publication that requires significant revisions (greater than 25%), new authors are encouraged to write a new publication, with a new title, and give a reference to the original publication where appropriate.

· Whenever possible and appropriate, publications should be translated into other languages (Spanish, Hopi, and other relevant languages). Translations count as revisions.

PREPARING YOUR SUBMISSION

To expedite the production of Cooperative Extension publications, we ask that submissions be carefully created and adhere to the following standards and formats:

Corresponding authors will submit their manuscript as an MS Word file to the FastTrack review website, where they will enter the information, including proposed reviewers (with email addresses).

Please do not format in columns or attempt to typeset images and text. The document will be formatted for you. Place figures and tables in the manuscript near the text in which they are referenced. The following Extension publication components include some that are mandatory, this is indicated by “*”.

*Title—The publication title should be descriptive and search engine optimized. This helps the content be discoverable to the right audience and drives organic search traffic to the output.

*Author/s - List the full name, title or position, and affiliation of each. This information can be placed immediately after the title or at the end of the manuscript. Incomplete or inaccurate information about authors and coauthors will result in delays.

Audience Statement - A few lines to indicate who the publication is written for.

Introduction or Abstract – Provide a summary, frame the problem, or summarize historical or background information.

*Body of Text - Pertinent headings and subheadings can be indicated using bold type, underlines, or italicized fonts.

Insert tables, figures, etc., near relevant text. Place table headings above tables and figure captions underneath.

Conclusions & Additional Resources – Provide key points, and/or additional resources.

*Acknowledgments – Include those providing input before submission, grants and contracts used to support the work, and your time producing the publication.

*References – Appropriate references should be cited in documents using a consistent fashion. All citations should be accompanied by an entry in a reference list. Please remove references that are not cited in the final manuscript.

Adopt a citation and reference standard. Be consistent. It is the author’s responsibility to correct citations and references. The American Psychological Association (APA) format is commonly used in scientific writing.

If Arizona Meteorological Network data is used, please cite the resource as below:

General Citation for Data Use

Arizona Meteorological Network (YEAR) Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMet) Data. https://azmet.arizona.edu . Accessed DATE

Citation for Data Tool Use (e.g., https://viz.datascience.arizona.edu/azmet/data-preview-and-download/ )

To cite the above AZMet data, please use: 'Arizona Meteorological Network (2025) Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMet) Data. https://azmet.arizona.edu . Accessed October 24, 2025', along with 'Arizona Meteorological Network (2025) Data Preview and Download. https://viz.datascience.arizona.edu/azmet/data-preview-and-download . Accessed October 24, 2025’.

Note: This information is automatically generated with an updated date at the bottom of the AzMet webpage when opened

Citation for use of ‘azmetr’ software (available at https://github.com/uace-azmet/azmetr )

Weiss, J., & Scott, E. R. azmetr: Access Arizona weather data from the AZMet API (Version 0.3.0) [Computer software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7675685

REVIEW YOUR MANUSCRIPT BEFORE SUBMISSION

· Extension publications should be clear, accurate, accessible, and engaging.

· Avoid jargon and complex vocabulary, unless it is necessary. Include explanations or definitions when appropriate.

· Write out acronyms in full the first time they are used.

· Use good quality visuals including photographs, illustrations, graphs, charts, tables, and infographics to support key points. Include image credit information.

· If writing for a non-technical audience, consider maximizing accessibility by writing at a 6^th to 8th-grade reading level.

· Check that all tables and figures are referenced in the text. Check that all table numbers and figures are sequential and as intended.

· Check that all references are cited in the text and that all citations are included in the references (including urls used as reference resources, unpublished data, and personal communications). Please remove references that are not cited. If they are included for additional information, then place them in an Additional Resources section.

· Extension publications are a useful way to share preliminary and initial data. However, sufficient statistical power and findings must be included to justify statements that can be interpreted as conclusions and/or recommendations. Experimental details and analysis may be summarized, but findings must have solid scientific evidence to support claims.

· All listed authors are expected to review manuscripts before they are submitted.

SUBMISSION

FastTrack

The first time an author uses the FastTrack system, they need to register. Manuscript FastTrack can be accessed here https://ace.expressacademic.org/login.php .

If you have difficulties, please contact the EPE.

The following fields must be completed or options selected:

· Title ≤50 characters including spaces

· Author/s

· Document type – Extension Original Work, Extension Revision, Extension Adaptation (redrafted version of newsletter/blog/trade mag article or other output)

· Document category – 4H, ANR, FCHS, Tribal

· Document Topics – Select multiple topics from the dropdown menu using the depressed “Control key” on a keyboard to select multiple topics

· Abstract ≤350 characters with spaces

· Comments to Editor – Only the editors will see this information. Use this space to indicate any special instructions regarding images or equations, a list of potential reviewers (along with their email addresses), and details regarding any pre-submission reviews. Also, indicate if there is a deliverable deadline associated with the publication (e.g., emerging issue of significance, grant deadline, or event date). Every effort is taken to expedite time sensitive submissions.

· Indicate if this is an Invited document

· Upload document files ≤50MB file size. If you have files larger than this, place them in a Box folder and include a Box folder link in the Comments to Editor section.

REVIEWS

All publications are meticulously reviewed. CE documents will go through a blind peer-review process, allowing other experts within the field to review your publication and verify the information. Publications that have undergone peer-review are often of higher quality, are better respected, and add to a reliable body of knowledge. Peer-reviewed publications are also necessary to obtain continuing status and promotion. Since this is a blind peer-review process, authors may make suggestions for reviewers, but the Associate Editors decide who is requested and reviewer identity is not revealed to authors.

If there are individuals that authors wish to exclude as reviewers, this information can be shared directly with the appropriate Associate Editor or provided in the Comments to Editor section of FastTrack.

If authors have manuscripts reviewed by subject matter experts before submission to Fast Track, please indicate their name and the institution they are affiliated with in the Comments to Editor section.

Here are the steps taken:

· An Associate Editor with recommendations from authors, decides on appropriate reviewers for the manuscript and will assign review requests via FastTrack. A minimum of 3 reviewers is required with one out-of-state reviewer recommended whenever possible. You can monitor progress by checking on FastTrack. Associate Editors may contact you directly for additional information.

· Manuscripts may be assigned to Subject Matter Editors who manage publication reviews and complete a final review of manuscripts that fall within their field of expertise. They serve in the same capacity as Associate Editors and have equivalent decision-making capacity. If you are interested in serving as a Subject Matter Editor, please contact the EPE indicating your scope of expertise and ability to manage submissions.

· Appropriate reviewers include:

o Subject matter experts at the University of Arizona or other academic institutions

o Government (i.e. USDA, FDA, EPA, other Federal and State agency staff) and non-governmental subject matter experts

o Qualified industry personnel (with no conflicts of interest associated with the publication content)

· Reviewers are asked to respond within three weeks. A reminder will be issued at that time, and the Associate Editor may contact you for additional potential reviewers.

· After reading the reviewer’s comments, the Associate Editor either accepts or rejects the publication via FastTrack. The FastTrack system will automatically forward an email notifying the author of the decision. The email will include reviewer’s comments. Any documents uploaded by the reviewers will be made available in FastTrack or emailed directly to the corresponding author after the FastTrack notification is sent.

· If accepted, the author makes revisions to the manuscript and addresses, in writing, all major comments made by reviewers in a separate Author Response word file or at the end of the manuscript.

· Revised manuscripts and Author Response notes should then be sent to the Associate Editor. This is NOT done through the FastTrack system but rather through normal email. Authors can provide a final version with tracked changes and responses to reviewer comments showing but are requested to also send a version with tracked changes resolved, and comments and line numbers removed.

· It is not uncommon for reviewers to request a change that author/s disagree with. Authors are asked to provide an explanation in these instances.

· The Associate Editor provides a final review and may have additional edits required.

· Authors may appeal review recommendations and Associate Editor decisions directly with the EPE.

· The following files should be sent by the author to the Associate Editor. These files reduce the time needed to create the ADA accessible pdf document for submission to the UA Campus Repository and associated content promoting the publication on the Cooperative Extension website.

o A word file of the final version with all edits included.

o High-resolution copies of all photos and graphics included in the publication. It is the responsibility of the authors to secure usage permissions for all photos and graphics.

o Editable versions of tables, charts and/or graphs included if the author is requesting special page formatting.

· Once a final draft is accepted, the Associate Editor will forward all material to the EPE via email.

· If a resubmission is requested, this is not a rejection. However, manuscript redrafting, data analysis, narrative expansion, or more substantive changes are needed. The response and reasons will be provided to the corresponding author who has an opportunity to resubmit a revised version. This decision will be made by the Associate Editor.

· If a submission is rejected, the author is encouraged to contact the Associate Editors for the reasons involved and determine if there is an opportunity to resubmit. This decision will be made by an Associate Editor and appealed by contacting the EPE.

· Once approved, the final draft and associated files will be sent to the EPE who uploads the files into the Extension Publication Tracker. The tracker manages the design of the final publication, and the creation of content related to the publication on the Cooperative Extension website.

o The peer-reviewed publication is put into the Extension publication template and sent to the author who confirms accuracy of the information.

o After author approval, the final publication is reviewed, and an ADA accessible pdf is created.

o The publication pdf file is submitted to the UA Campus Repository, which is the campus standard for archiving all University of Arizona research.

o The publication is also promoted as an Educational Material on the Cooperative Extension website and tagged to the appropriate topic and subtopic pages.

o The author will be notified that the publication has been added to the UA Campus Repository and promoted on the Cooperative Extension website.

DISTRIBUTION

All peer-reviewed publications are submitted to the UA Campus Repository. Cooperative Extension has its own collection within the repository. All UA Campus Repository content is discoverable via common search engines, including Google and Google Scholar, in addition to the University of Arizona Library discovery service.

All peer-reviewed publications are promoted as Educational Materials on the Cooperative Extension website.

· CALES has the right to distribute the publication via the UA Campus Repository and Extension website even if other sources are also distributing the publication.

· The EPE gives final approval for distribution and publication of peer-reviewed work.

Authors have the option to publish educational content (at a glance articles, fact sheets, short guides, etc.) that do not go through the peer review process as Educational Materials on the Cooperative Extension website. Authors can submit a request using the website and online content support form.

o Authors should submit a Word document of finalized text and high-resolution files of any images used.

o Authors of non-peer-reviewed content are responsible for the accuracy of information and obtaining use permissions for any images or graphics.

o Cooperative Extension website managers will lightly edit submitted content for flow and alignment to the University of Arizona’s Written Style Guide.

FOLLOW-UP

· The EPE initiates a review every two to five years (depending upon the publication) for content accuracy and relevance. If no updates are needed and the publication is still relevant, the publication gets a new date and another 2-5 years.

· Authors who are current employees are encouraged to update their publications.

The publication process is expected to take no more than two to three months. The greatest “wait time” is usually associated with acquiring meaningful manuscript reviews. As such, the process relies heavily upon a limited number of people, and efforts are made to avoid overburdening people. If asked to review a manuscript, please respond. It is quite acceptable to decline; this does not count against you in any way. But any time you can provide a review, know that your time and expertise are valued. Please report in your APR that you provided reviews of Extension publications.

APPROVAL

These guidelines have been approved by Dr. Ed Martin, Associate Vice President and Director of Cooperative Extension and the Executive Administrative Council (EAC), based on the recommendations of an Ad Hoc Publication committee Glenn Wright, Ashley Wright, Ayman Mostafa, Traci Armstrong Florian, Jacob Hennig, and ex officio members Ben Downer and Dominic Rodriguez. The final document does not necessarily reflect all the recommendations of the Ad Hoc committee.

Associate Editors:

Todd Kesner, Associate Director, 4-H Youth Development

Michele E Walsh, Associate Director, FCHS

Dominic J Rodriguez, Associate Director, Tribal Extension & Operations

Dawn H Gouge, Interim Associate Director, Agriculture & Natural Resources

Subject Matter Editors:

Jacob Hennig, Assistant Professor, Public Lands Grazing

Elise Gornish, Professor, Restoration Ecology

Extension Publication Editor (EPE): Dominic J Rodriguez

Updated April 20th, 2026