Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection
Scientific Journal of the "Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft" (DPG) - the German Society for Plant Protection and Plant Health
The Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection (JPDP) is an international scientific journal that publishes original research articles, reviews, including meta-analyses, short communications, perspectives and opinion papers dealing with applied scientific aspects of plant pathology, plant health, plant protection and findings on newly occurring diseases and pests. "Topic collections" on coherent themes often arising from International Conferences are offered.
Scientists are encouraged to submit manuscripts on virtually all aspects of plant disorders, pathogenesis, biology and characterization of viruses, bacteria, phytoplasms, oomycota, fungi and herbivores, including nematodes, mites, insects, snails and rodents, their epidemiology and diagnosis. In addition, manuscripts on the interaction with the host plants are welcome. We accept manuscripts from all over the world, but the topics should have international relevance for plant health and protection.
The editors of JPDP have a significant interest in integrated plant protection, including plant protection in organic agriculture. The work should describe the mode(s) of action and efficacy of biorationals, semiochemicals, chemical-synthetic pesticides, microbial biostimulants, and aspects of pesticide resistance. Endophyte and microbiome research related to plant protection strategies are within the scope. Furthermore, monitoring, forecasting, modelling, decision support systems and application technologies will be included. Reports on new technologies like sensor technology or manuscripts on machine learning may be submitted. Although JPDP primarily focuses on plant diseases and protection, hence the name of the journal, it also considers manuscripts on legislative aspects.
Impact Factor (2024): 2,2
Editors in Chief
Noemi Meßmer
Dr. Thomas Tscholl
... supported by a broad and international Editorial Board
JPDP - an educational platform
The German Society for Plant Protection and Plant Health (DPG) uses the JPDP as a training platform for its early-career researchers. Experienced editors involve junior scientists in the peer-review process and teach them the methodology of reviewing. In this way, doctoral candidates not only gain practical experience in evaluating scientific manuscripts but also learn efficiently and directly how to structure and prepare their own publications.
Outstanding young researchers who have completed their doctorates may subsequently enter an advanced training phase, during which they learn how editors of scientific journals build professional networks within their field and use these networks to identify and engage suitable reviewers. Through this process, early-career scientists can even develop the skills and experience needed to assume the responsibilities of Editor-in-Chief.
The JPDP encourages all its editors to use the journal as a training resource for their own doctoral students, thereby enabling them to experience firsthand the value of the voluntary and non-profit work that supports the journal.
The DPG believes that this approach makes an important contribution to maintaining high scientific standards in the evaluation of scientific publications.
Historical Background of the Journal
The Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection (JPDP) is a hybrid journal, owned by the Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft e. V. (DPG) - the German Society of Plant Protection and Plant Health. JPDP addresses all aspects of plant pathology and protection as well as emerging pests and diseases. The journal has a remarkable history: it is one of the oldest plant science journals in Europe and was founded in Germany in 1891.
There is no doubt that Germany was a fertile place for the development of plant sciences at this time. J. G. Kuhn published the first textbook of plant pathology here in 1858, entitled "The Diseases of Cultivated Crops, their Causes, and their Control," and it's worth noting that Darwin's famous work, "The Origin of Species," saw the light of day only a year later in Britain. When you look at the title page of the first edition from 1891, published by Verlag Eugen Ulmer KG, and consider the names on the first editorial board, it's amazing that it was already an "international" board with scientists from the Americas, Australia, Europe, and even Java. It's hard to imagine how difficult it must have been then to stay in touch with like-minded individuals. The journal has a long history, and its title changed several times over the years until it was finally renamed the "Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection" (JPDP) in 2006 and also became the official publication of the Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft e. V. (DPG).
In 2016, Springer took over the distribution of this renowned publication, documenting 125 years of "plant protection" in Germany. It not only documents the rise of plant protection as a discipline but also the increasing complexity of this scientific field. Today, the journal is led by Dr. Falko Feldmann and Noemi Messmer, both supported by Dr. Christian Carstensen.
Present Days
The journal has a strong identity as the official publication of the DPG. The editors-in-chief are supported by a carefully selected large editorial team. The journal's editorial team meetings are usually well-attended: 54 editors were present at the last virtual editorial team meeting in January 2023.
With Springer, we began publishing the journal with the first issue in 2016, and since then, the journal's numbers have increased significantly:
- Submissions have tripled from 2016 to 2021.
- Publications have doubled from 2016 to 2021.
- The Impact Factor has grown from 0.485 in 2016 to 1.847 in 2021.
- The journal's usage numbers have also increased, with more than 145,000 article downloads in 2022, a 72% increase over the previous year.
What's Next
The journal has undergone many changes in recent years. As mentioned before, it was published by Ulmer until the end of 2015, and then Springer Nature took over the distribution. It was added to a new portfolio for plant pathology in late 2019.
The dedicated editorial team will help the journal continue to grow and support its active community of scholars, in part thanks to the "topic collections" that the journal has started to publish. This change was made because articles published in "special issues" were, in some cases, not recognized as regular scientific papers by some universities