The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

which covers all aspects of

plant biology Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as ...

of 3.038, as of 2019. As of 2018, access is available through the publisher John Wiley & Sons (

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

). From 1951 to 1953,

Oswald Tippo Oswald Tippo (November 27, 1911 – June 10, 1999) was an American botanist and educator. Tippo became the first chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. Career Born in Milo, Tippo moved to Boston a year later, and gradua ...

served as its editor; the current editor is Pamela Diggle.

History

In the early 20th century, the field of botany was rapidly expanding, but the publications in which botanists could publish remained limited and heavily backlogged. By 1905, it was estimated that 250,000 contributions were generated in 8 or 9 languages. At the 1911 annual meeting of the society in Washington D.C., it was noted that at least 300 pages of American botanical contributions were sent abroad for publication, with a backlog resulting in a one-year delay in publication. On 31 December 1907, the Botanical Society of America met in Chicago and formally recommended forming a committee as an "aid to publication". The original form of the unspecified publication was a pocket edition of the constitution of the society, but it soon turned to other endeavours. In 1908, it published special addresses on popular topics, as well as lectures given at the Darwin Memorial Session in 1909, in honor of the centenary of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's birth and the 50th anniversary of the publication of ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

''. It was also in 1909 that the committee was officially named as the "Committee on Botanical Publication". Its task was to determine the need for a formal journal, published by the society, and how the journal would be published. However, at the subsequent annual meeting in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, the committee failed to file a report, and was discharged. At the same meeting, a new committee of three members, headed by

Frederick Charles Newcombe Frederick Charles Newcombe (1858–1927) was an American botanist, and the first editor-in-chief of the ''American Journal of Botany'' Newcombe was born in Flint, Michigan, May 11, 1858, to parents Thomas and Eliza (Gayton) Newcombe, who had emi ...

, a professor of botany at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, was formed. Newcombe had trained in Germany, given the limited educational opportunities in the United States at the time, and founded the Botanical Journal Club at the University of Michigan. He had expressed concerns, as early as 1895, about the dearth of high-quality American botanical journals that could compare to German ones such as ''

Botanische Zeitung The Regensburg Botanical Society (''Regensburgische Botanische Gesellschaft''), founded 1790 in the city of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany, is the oldest extant scientific society focused on botany. It was initially supported by the Prince-Archbi ...

'' (published 1843-1910). In 1910, Newcombe began an extensive letter-writing campaign to drum up support of the proposed journal among botanist colleagues.

References

External links

*
American Journal of Botany
at SCImago Journal Rank Botany journals . Academic journals published by learned and professional societies of the United States Monthly journals English-language journals Publications established in 1914 Botany in North America {{botany-journal-stub