Statistical challenges overcome in publishing GIS analyses

GIS data and methods have the potential to answer questions concerning agriculture that were too complex to even consider formulating until quite recently. Unfortunately for researchers trying to publish findings ranging from the reasons for spatial patterns in the distribution of weeds to options for the placement of straw-based biofuel refineries, the publication process is fraught with extra challenges when GIS enters the picture. In my experience, successfully navigating the peer-review publication process includes not just finding the "right" journal, but also translating the arcane language of geo-statistics into terms and concepts that resonate clearly with editors, reviewers, and ultimately readers of your paper. While painful, being forced to be the first one to describe underlying assumptions behind the colorful maps that take only a few (final) keystrokes to produce is not without its rewards foremost amongst these is your own improved understanding of how the "tools" actually work. Statistical challenges overcome in publishing GIS analyses – “A Tale of Three (or More) Papers” GIS paper #1 – “Remote sensing classification of grass seed cropping practices in western Oregon” by Mueller-Warrant et al. 2011. International Journal of Remote Sensing 32(9):2451-2480. GIS paper #2 – “GIS Analysis of Spatial Clustering and Temporal Change in Weeds of Grass Seed Crops” by Mueller-Warrant, Whittaker, and Young. 2008. Weed Science 56:647-669. GIS paper #3 – “Geospatial identification of optimal straw-to-energy conversion sites in the Pacific Northwest” by Mueller-Warrant, Banowetz, and Whittaker. 2010. Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefineries 4:385-407. Common themes in all three sagas include rejections, revisions, resubmissions, and willingness of the journals to only publish their favorite parts of any story. Final versions of the papers also included lengthy sections describing the methods at a level of detail needed to explain GIS and spatial statistics to the novice – it sometimes/often felt like I was writing the text for “Spatial Stats 101” or maybe “399”.