I Purpose
The Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics (ARAFE) will have an editorial board (hereinafter referred to as the Board) in place. These guidelines have been established to ensure the proper and efficient operation of the editorial work of the Board.

II Board composition
1. The Board is comprised of the editor in chief, executive directors of editorial board and ARAFE members selected by the editor in chief and nominated by the ARAFE President.
2. The editor in chief shall represent it. The editor in chief is responsible for editing the Journal of Rural Problems (JRP) and presides over and convenes the executive editorial Board as stipulated below.

III Board duties
1. The board will meet once a year the day before or during the annual conference to decide the annual editorial policy.
2. The written consent of all the editorial board members shall be obtained if the need arises to change the basic editing policy or decide important matters related to editing in the middle of the year.
3. The first issue of the Journal of Rural Problems (JRP), which is published four times a year, will be a special issue on the research conference every year.

IV Executive editorial board
1. The Board shall establish an executive editorial board to conduct ordinary editorial work in accordance with Board policies.
2. The executive editorial board shall be comprised of the editor-in-chief and Executive Directors of Editorial Board and appointed by the president of ARAFE as well as several Board members selected by the editor-in-chief and appointed by the president of ARAFE as the need arises.
3. The executive editorial board decides on whether to accept submitted manuscripts (research articles, short papers, research materials, etc.). The executive editorial board must also select the members specified below to review manuscripts, depending on what type of submission it is.
4. The executive editorial board must select two or more reviewers for each article　to review research articles; in principle, one or more of the reviewers must be selected from among the Board members. Reviewers who are not Board members may be only requested in exceptional circumstances. The selected reviewers will review the manuscript in accordance with the review items specified separately by the Board and the editor in chief shall be responsible for handling any adjustments to the review. The names of the reviewers will be announced for a two-year editorial period. However, it must not be specified which reviewer is in charge of which paper.
5. The executive editorial board must select two or more reviewers for each article　that are responsible for the review of short papers.
6. No reviewers are selected to review research materials.
7. If the executive editorial board decides to not accept a submitted manuscript (research article, short paper, research material, etc.), the Board shall clarify the reason to the author in writing.
8. The executive editorial board shall not, in principle, publish manuscripts written by the same author at the same time or in a series; this measure is taken so as to equalize opportunities for publication.

V Other
1. Regulations for submission are established separately.
2. Travel expenses are paid only to those who comprise the executive editorial board.

VI Revision of these guidelines
The Board will revise these guidelines and report the revisions to the board of directors.

Supplementary Provisions 1. These guidelines shall be implemented from 2 October 1987.
Partially revised on 7 October 1989