FAQ

QUESTIONS

General questions

What is in AgEcon Search?

Submission and removal of materials in AgEcon Search

AgEcon Search features and functionality

Benefits and costs of AgEcon Search

AgEcon Search and other indexes

AgEcon Search and publishers

ANSWERS

General questions

What is AgEcon Search?

For a quick introduction to AgEcon Search features and functionality, check out our short Welcome to AgEcon Search video!

AgEcon Search is a free-to-user Web site that contains the full text of working papers, conference papers and journal articles in applied economics, including the subtopics of agricultural, consumer, energy, environmental, and resource economics. Contributors include academic institutions, government agencies, professional associations, and non-government organizations. See Overview and History for more details.

How can I contact AES?

See our Contact page for more details.

What is in AgEcon Search?

What institutions have their papers on AgEcon Search?

Browse the collections list.

Where are AgEcon Search contributing communities located around the world?

See our interactive map,and click on a pin for details about each collection.

What journals are in AgEcon Search?

Browse the current list.

Are papers in AgEcon Search peer-reviewed?

All papers in AgEcon Search are part of a series or conference or journal sponsored by one of the participating organizations and we rely on their review mechanisms. The process varies depending on the group.

What are the 30 possible subject categories that can be assigned to papers in AgEcon Search?

Browse the list of topics which includes a short description of each topic.

Submission and removal of materials in AgEcon Search

Where do I find instructions for submitting papers?

Submission instructions are available here and are also available in video format here, for all document types and here, for journal articles.

How can my department or organization submit papers to AgEcon Search?

See the To Participate section

How can I add my thesis or dissertation to AgEcon Search?

We welcome your thesis or dissertation. See our special dissertation procedures for including both digital versions and those that are currently only in print.

What formats do you accept?

All papers in AgEcon Search must be in PDF format.

Do papers have to be in English?

We accept papers in any language. We ask that you include an English title (required) and abstract (if available) to enhance the discoverability of the paper in Google and other search engines.

May I submit an updated version of my paper?

Generally, yes, although we are a permanent repository and are not designed to continually update drafts of papers over time. Send the updated version of your paper in pdf to aesearch@umn.edu with the link to the current version in AgEcon Search.

May I ask that my paper be removed?

As a permanent, formal subject repository we discourage the removal of content unless a paper is erroneous in some way. Our license agreement states that we retain the irrevocable right to host the papers, although this applies primarily at the institutional/organizational/society level (i.e. we will not remove an entire series or journal), not at the individual paper level. If we do agree to remove your paper, we will keep the metadata (title, author) in place. See our policy page for more details.

How do I suggest a working paper series, conference, or journal to be included in AgEcon Search?

Send a note to us at aesearch@umn.edu. It is helpful if you include a contact person and/or URL for the sponsoring organization.

AgEcon Search features and functionality

How can I find what's new in AgEcon Search?

Email us at aesearch@umn.edu to be added to the list for the regular weekly alert or see the registration instructions for setting up an account and establishing your own alerts.

Does AgEcon Search have an advanced search feature?

Yes, see the Advanced Search and the search tips. Also, you can check out our quick Search Tips Video.

What personalized features (baskets, alerts, saved searches) are available?

If you register for an account on AgEcon Search you are able to save searches, receive e-mail alerts about new papers based on a search, and save papers to a basket that may be shared with others.

How can I find use statistics for my paper in AgEcon Search?

Current statistics are available on individual records and for each collection. Prior to March 2017, only download statistics are available. Older download statistics (January 2001 - 2008) are available here. Select a collection from the dropdown list and locate individual papers by their titles.

Where can I find download statistics?

Download statistics for each paper are available under "Usage statistics" on each record. For each organization or conference, download statistics for 2008 and earlier are available here

Benefits and costs of AgEcon Search

What are the benefits of having my papers in AgEcon Search?

As an internationally recognized source for applied economics literature, AgEcon Search content is highly ranked by search engines such as Google and Google Scholar, and all content is indexed by RePEc (Research Papers in Economics). This greatly increases exposure to early research that is otherwise very difficult to locate.

Are there any costs involved in using AgEcon Search?

There are no costs involved in searching or downloading material from AgEcon search. There are no charges for posting papers for groups who submit/upload their own content. We do charge a minimal amount if you need us to perform any digitization or uploading tasks for you. Please check our current Charges for Services for details.

AgEcon Search and other indexes

What is RePEc and how is it related to AgEcon Search?

RePEc, Research Papers in Economics (http://repec.org/), is a free index covering materials in all areas of economics. All papers in AgEcon Search are automatically included in RePEc. Authors may register in RePEc and keep track of the usage of their papers. See RePEc Author Service for details.

How is AgEcon Search different from SSRN?

SSRN, or the Social Science Research Network, is a commercial, subscription-based repository owned by Elsevier. It is not truly open-access like AgEcon Search (AES) and is not focused on agricultural and applied economics, although it does have some of this content. Individuals can upload their papers there, but what users see and what features they can access depends upon fees paid by the user’s home institution. Fees to subscribe for an institution can cost tens of thousands of dollars. SSRN’s content varies from AES’s, particularly with respect to smaller, open access (free) journals in the Global South - which AES actively recruits. Further, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) indexes everything in AES and not SSRN - leading to larger distribution of content in AES. AES papers get author rankings via RePEc.

AgEcon Search and publishers

If my working paper or conference paper later evolves into a journal article, will the publisher be OK with having an earlier version on AgEcon Search?

With rare exception, publishers of journals in the fields covered in AgEcon Search are fine with older versions of a paper and preprints being available online in the repository. You can check individual journal or publisher policies at Sherpa/RoMEO. We are also happy to post “DRAFT-Do Not Cite” on the paper and on the record, and add a redirect to a full citation and publisher’s website after publication.

Is submitting an article to AgEcon Search considered “self plagiarism” by publishers?

Inclusion of a paper in AgEcon Search is not considered publication. It honors the long-time tradition of economists producing working papers and conference papers on a project prior to any journal article submissions. Generally we have found that publishers consider working and conference papers "preprints" and rarely do they require that they be removed from AgEcon Search, since they have not gone through the rigorous review and editing process that a publisher offers. A few publishers have now tried enforcing a "no prior publication" rule on disciplines like economics, and some journal editors also now use tools that flag anything on the web as a prior publication and label it as "self-plagiarism" without looking at what the prior publication is. We are happy to investigate the policy of particular journals in which our contributors wish to publish if there is concern, and can link to a final published version of a paper if asked.

Can I publish my paper in AgEcon Search?

AgEcon Search is not a publisher. If you are trying to get your paper published, you will need to reach out to a traditional publisher, such as a journal.