> Conference proceedings
vs. journal papers
Ted DeJong, ISHS Vice-President in charge of Scientific Programs
The International Society for Horticultural
Science (ISHS) is a society essentially built
upon scientific conferences. The strength of
the Society is that it facilitates the hostingof numerous conferences such as symposia
and congresses that generally meet at fouryear intervals. These conferences provide an
opportunity for scientists from around theworld to meet and present their work andexchange ideas on a wide range of topics.
The proceedings derived from these conferences (Acta Horticulturae) provide written records of what was presented at theconferences and are especially valuable
to current scientists who could not attend
the meeting as well as to future scientists
who may benefit from the work done bycolleagues who precede them. Given thepurpose of published proceedings, if one
argues that meeting proceedings are not
worthwhile and that we should only rely on
scientific journal papers for communicating research content, then we must question the value of conferences altogether. As
members of academia, we must recognizethat what we do is not only for the benefitof what we get out of something, but itshould also be for the benefit of others.
A quick review of the literature indicates that
almost without exception, journal papers
provide an in-depth report on research workthat has concluded. Conference papers, on
the other hand, mostly report on either
ongoing research projects or mini-reviewsof completed work that has led to observations which might be useful to pursue in
future research. To publish either of thesetypes of papers in regular scientific journals usually requires substantial additional
research before it can be published. Conference papers often contain data sets that
may be valuable within specific contexts
but are not substantial enough for publication as scientific journal papers.
In this discussion it is also valuable to remember that ISHS has a different foundation to
many other scientific societies such as theAmerican Society for Horticultural Science orother national societies in specific fields ofscience. Many of the other societies have one
or more well-established scientific journals
that they manage and have annual meetingsof the whole society. Generally, they placeless emphasis on topical conferences. Thus,

Over the past thirty years, there has been
considerable commentary about Acta Horticulturae (https://www.actahort.org/). Many
consider Acta Horticulturae to be inferior
to scientific journals as it does not have an
Impact Factor rating, but publication is arequirement if someone wants to present
at an ISHS symposium or congress. Acta
Horticulturae was designed to be a conference proceedings. While scientists inbiological fields may not be very familiar
with the difference between conference
proceedings and journal papers, the distinction between the two types of publicationis common knowledge and widely acceptedby researchers in other fields such as engineering and computer science.
The purpose of the two types of papers isquite distinct. Conference proceedings aremeant to report and provide a concise written record on what was presented at scientific conferences. They are usually quite
short, receive a general review for readability, but are not rigorously peer-reviewed forscientific content. They are seldom rejected
because they simply report on what waspresented at a meeting.
On the other hand, journal papers are generally longer, report scientific findings on aspecific topic and are rigorously reviewed
for scientific content. The validity of thefindings and/or conclusions of the research
are often questioned by the reviewers.
Therefore, journal papers can be rejected onscientific grounds by referees and thus, thefact that they are accepted and publishedholds more weight within scientific communities. In general, only a limited percentageof the manuscripts submitted to journals
are published, depending on the rigor of thepeer review process.
For further clarification of the differences between conference proceedings andjournal papers see: https://www.differencebetween.com/what-is-the-differencebetween-journal-and-conference-paper/https://writingcenter.unc.edu/
tips-and-tools/conference-papers/
https://www.resurchify.com/blog/article/
what-is-the-difference-between-conference-papers-8
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18349/difference-between-conference-paper-and-journal-paper

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their emphasis is on publishing in their journals and extensive conference proceedings
are of little value because the annual meetings are not topic specific. ISHS has adopted two general content, scientific journals,
but its conferences are all organized around
specific topics that are addressed at approximately four-yearly intervals. Thus, for ISHS,
the emphasis has been on publishing conference proceedings. Ideally, it would be goodfor ISHS to build up its journals and the ISHS
Board is currently investigating strategies
for accomplishing that. On the other hand,
ISHS continues to recognize the value of its
conferences and is one of the few biologically-oriented societies that emphasizes thevalue of conferences by regularly publishingconference proceedings. This is a good thing,
not a bad thing.
ISHS provides a valuable service by maintaining a permanent repository of conference proceedings in the form of Acta Horticulturae. Members of the ISHS scientificcommunity have the benefit of regularly
being able to attend scientific meetings
in their fields of interest in locations allaround the world. In this age of information and accountability, it is very importantthat the members of our Society are able
to account for the opportunities to attend
these meetings. Acta Horticulturae provides
a permanent record of these opportunities.
While numerous other groups create conference proceedings that contain abstracts,
extended abstracts or short papers, theseproceedings are often produced on an adhoc basis and are not readily accessible
after attending a meeting.
Some people have complained about thegeneral requirement to write a conference
paper for Acta Horticulturae if their paper isaccepted for presentation at a symposium.
First of all, I would suggest that this is thewrong way to look at it. It should be viewed
as a privilege to present a paper at a symposium and furthermore, if one is asked topresent a paper, it is virtually guaranteedthat their contribution will be publishedwith very little hassle, compared to writing
a journal paper and responding to the referees’ comments on multiple occasions. In
my personal experience, writing a paper for
Acta Horticulturae requires about one-tenthof the time compared to writing a paper

5for a good journal. There is also much more
freedom to express thoughts in conference
proceedings than in journal papers.
For those who prefer to write a journal article, based on their presentation at an ISHS
symposia, they do have the option to submit their paper to the ISHS scientific journals eJHS (European Journal of HorticulturalScience, https://www.ishs.org/ejhs) or Fruits- The International Journal of Tropical & Subtropical Horticulture (https://www.ishs.org/fruits). These papers will then go throughthe normal scientific review process andbe subject to acceptance/rejection like anormal journal paper. Authors need only
to indicate that the paper was previously
presented at a specific symposium.
From our perspective, we as a Society
should embrace Acta Horticulturae for therole it provides in our Society as a valuable
conference proceedings for all horticulturists to benefit from. We should not try to

make it something it was never designed tobe. It greatly enhances the value of our symposia by making the information presented
more broadly available.
Upon writing this article, myself and theother ISHS Board members have realizedthat the current rules for submitting papers
to Acta Horticulturae are very similar towhat is expected for submitting regular,
peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, i.e.
“Submission of a manuscript implies: thatthe work described has not been published
before (except in form of an abstract or as
part of a published lecture, review or thesis);that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication has
been approved by all co-authors, if any, as
well as - tacitly or explicitly - by the responsible authorities at the institution where thework was carried out.”
We believe that these requirements havecreated some of the confusion that current-ly exists between Acta Horticulturae conference papers and scientific journal papers.
Given that the character and purpose ofconference papers is different to scientificjournal papers, we are proposing to change
the stated rules for submitting papers toActa Horticulturae to the following:“Submission of a manuscript to Acta
Horticulturae does not preclude aspects of
the work that are contained in a proceedings
manuscript from being published in amanuscript prepared for a peer-reviewed
scientific journal. However, authors must
be aware that some scientific journals may
have restrictions on publication of material
that is very similar to material that has
been published in conference proceedings.
Publication in Acta Horticulturae must beapproved by all co-authors, if any, as wellas - tacitly or explicitly - by the responsible
authorities at the institution where thework was carried out.”

Ted DeJong is an emeritus professor whoworked as a fruit tree crop physiologist in
the Department of Plant Sciences at theUniversity of California, Davis, USA, from1981 to 2016. He had a split appointment inteaching, fundamental and application-oriented research and extension. His research
program mainly focused on understanding
tree physiology and orchard management
factors that control the carbon balance/
budgets and productivity of fruit and nuttrees. He has co-authored ~300 scientificpapers, taught fundamental pomology

courses and mentored numerous graduate students, post-docs and visiting international scientists. He received the titleof Distinguished Professor at UC Davis inrecognition of his academic achievements
and service. Dr. DeJong is a Fellow of ISHS
and ASHS and is Vice-President in chargeof Scientific Programs of ISHS. E-mail:tmdejong@ucdavis.edu> About the author> Ted DeJong

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