Purpose – The study aims to focus on the application of Web 2.0 tools in Agriculture and Food Sciences
open access journals. The changing trends in scholarly publishing processes have revolutionised the
academic world. The shifting of academic journals to open access mode has been on the rise because of the
numerous benefits associated with it. The high level of profitability reaped from open access titles has forced
them to experiment with new and innovative technologies, including Web 2.0. The new shift in the form of
Web 2.0 has sifted in to the open access journal world. Open access journals in the field of Agriculture and
Food Sciences are growing and so are the features and functionalities within them. Because of these new
innovative tools there is an urgent need to focus on their adoption.
Design/methodology/approach – Directory of Open Access Journals, being one of the growing
open access journal directories, was selected for the purpose of data gathering. The journals selected for
the study included those titles which were currently active.
Findings – The open access journal landscape in the field of Agriculture and Food Sciences is
influenced by the Web 2.0 revolution. The degree of experimenting with Web 2.0 in open access journals
in Agriculture and Food Sciences is evident and can prove an excellent platform for the dissemination
of agricultural information in a more advanced mode.
Researchlimitations/implications – The study will be helpful for journal administrators who
belong to the field of Agriculture and Food Sciences to know the actual status of Web 2.0 adoption by the
journals in their field. The study can also be helpful for journal administrators for the adoption of Web
2.0 tools to achieve a better, more innovative and interactive scholarly platform. It will also enable us to
know how the new pioneering technology – Web 2.0 – can help to explore new innovative ways of
managing information in the scholarly world in general and the Agriculture and Food Sciences
discipline in particular.
Originality/value – The study can be extended to harness the effects of Web 2.0 on the research
activities of the scholars associated with various disciplines of Agriculture and Food Sciences. How
Agricultural scientists make use of Web 2.0 for sharing and exchange of information for their academic
development can also be researched. The impact of Web 2.0 tools on the citation counts of open access
journals can also be studied
