---
name: fcr-topic-selection
description: Use when deciding whether an agronomy or crop-science project fits Field Crops Research (FCR) and which article type to target. FCR's defining test is field-based agronomic significance with multi-season/-environment relevance — it rejects controlled-environment-only, single-site single-season, horticultural/woody-perennial, and corroborative/descriptive/local-only work. Helps frame the question; it does not collect data.
---

# Topic Selection & Scope Fit (fcr-topic-selection)

FCR is a **field-agronomy** journal. The bar is not "a new result in my plot" — it is **"a field-based
insight of general relevance to field crops."** Use this skill to pressure-test fit **before** you
invest, because FCR's scope boundary is strict and a mismatch is a fast desk rejection.

## When to trigger

- Choosing among possible projects or framings for an FCR submission
- A reviewer/colleague said the work feels "controlled-environment," "too local," or "descriptive"
- Deciding between an **Original Research Paper** and a **Short Communication**
- Considering a **Review** or **Opinion** piece (propose to the Editors-in-Chief first)

## The FCR scope gate (must clear all four)

1. **Field-based.** Conducted in the field, not **exclusively** under controlled conditions
   (greenhouse, pots, or **any system that constricts root growth**). A controlled-environment
   component is fine only when integrated with, and subordinate to, field results.
2. **Multi-season / multi-environment relevance.** Field experiments should, unless exceptional
   circumstances apply, span **at least two seasons and/or multiple locations/environments**. A
   single-site, single-season trial usually fails the gate.
3. **A field crop.** Crops grown for **food, fibre, feed, or biofuel**. **Out of scope:**
   horticultural (vegetable/fruit) species, woody perennials, medicinal and non-cultivated species,
   and natural grasslands.
4. **General significance, not local/descriptive.** Must show **new scientific insight, original
   technology, or a novel method** of general application — not corroborative, purely descriptive, or
   of only local interest.

## Frame the agronomic contribution

| Angle | Make it FCR-worthy by… |
|-------|------------------------|
| Yield / yield gap | quantify the gap vs. potential/water-limited yield and what closes it |
| Crop physiology | connect a process (RUE, WUE, partitioning, phenology) to yield formation |
| Agronomy / management | show a management response that travels across environments, with G×E×M |
| Cropping systems | demonstrate system-level effects (rotation, intercrop, residue) over seasons |
| Crop modelling | calibrate/validate against field data and use the model to generalise beyond the sites |

Including **yield data** is encouraged — it ties the work to the biophysical processes FCR cares about.

## Article-type choice

- **Original Research Paper** — full field/modelling study, multi-environment, general relevance.
- **Short Communication** — one complete, focused finding that will not be part of a later paper.
- **Review** — critical synthesis; normally invited, but send a brief proposal/outline to the
  Editors-in-Chief first.
- **Opinion Paper** — a reasoned perspective on an issue in field-crop science.
- **Loomis Review** — major review by invitation only.

## Scope-boundary calls (borderline cases ruled)

The gate is strict, so the hard calls are the borderline ones. These rulings reflect FCR's stated
exclusions; confirm the current scope wording against the journal's aims & scope, which can change.

| Borderline case | Likely call | Reason |
|-----------------|-------------|--------|
| Greenhouse mechanism + one supporting field season | In scope **only if** field results are the spine | controlled-environment cannot be main evidence |
| Maize agronomy, 2 seasons, 1 site | Borderline — add sites or a modelling generalisation | one location weakens multi-environment relevance |
| Potato tuber-quality trial | Likely out — horticultural framing | vegetable/horticultural species risk |
| Forage grass in a cropping rotation | In scope as a feed crop; natural grassland is out | cultivated vs. non-cultivated grassland |
| Crop model validated on others' field data | In scope if it generalises field results | modelling that extends field evidence is welcome |

## Worked scope vignette (illustrative)

*Illustrative.* A student has greenhouse data showing a root-architecture trait improves P uptake, plus
**1 field season at 1 site** (**3.9 vs. 3.5 t ha⁻¹**). As framed — "trait improves P uptake and yield" —
it fails twice: the mechanism rests on controlled-environment pots, and the field evidence is a single
site-year. The FCR-worthy reframe keeps the physiology as context and rebuilds the spine around the
field: test the trait's yield and P-uptake response across **2 seasons × 4 environments** on a soil-P
gradient, so the claim becomes "the trait closes a P-limited yield gap across low-P environments."

## Anti-patterns

- A pot/greenhouse-only study dressed up as agronomy (out of scope)
- "First time measured in my region" as the whole contribution (local/descriptive)
- One season at one site with no path to multi-environment relevance
- A horticultural, woody-perennial, or non-cultivated species (wrong journal)
- A result with no yield or biophysical-process link

## Output format

```
【Question】one sentence
【Scope gate】field-based? ≥2 seasons/envs? field crop? more than local? [pass/fix each]
【Agronomic contribution】yield / physiology / management / systems / modelling
【Article type】Original Research / Short Communication / Review / Opinion / Loomis Review
【Fit verdict】strong / needs reframing / off-fit (why)
【Next】fcr-literature-positioning
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — agronomy data sources and crop models
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — FCR scope and the explicit exclusions