Use when targeting Field Crops Research or deciding whether an agronomy / crop-physiology manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the field-scale multi-environment and replication bar, data-reporting expectations, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics.
SkillScore91Maintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 20 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 19 of 22 without it.
Without skill86%
With skill91%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Directs author to re-check the live Elsevier Guide for Authors for current article guidelines
1 fixed19 passed either way2 still failing0 broke
Pass-rate lift
+5 pp
Tokens
+15%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-55%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v120 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
A test case the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
Prompt
We have a multi-site, multi-year field trial draft on canola planting density ready for Field Crops Research. What specific official items must we verify before submitting?
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Directs author to re-check the live Elsevier Guide for Authors for current article guidelines
Missed
Passed
Mentions verifying data-availability policy and agronomic metadata reporting standards
Passed
Passed
case-19 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/15/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md115 linessingle file
Field Crops Research (field-crops-research)
Journal positioning
Field Crops Research, published by Elsevier, is an agronomy and crop-physiology journal
centred on field-scale crop performance: yield and its determinants, resource-use
efficiency (water, nitrogen, radiation), cropping systems, crop modeling, and management
across environments. Its defining expectation is rigorous, adequately replicated field
experimentation that generalizes across environments — multi-site and/or multi-season
evidence, or modeling validated against field data. A single site-year, unreplicated trial,
or a pot/glasshouse study generalized to the field without field validation is a poor fit.
This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing tool. It does not replace the
journal's current author guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live Field Crops
Research author guidance.
When to trigger
The author names Field Crops Research and wants a fit/framing check for a field-agronomy or
crop-physiology paper.
A management, genotype, or resource-efficiency result must be framed for generalizability
across environments rather than as a one-off trial.
The author is choosing between Field Crops Research, agronomy-for-sustainable-development,
and agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment.
The author needs the venue's desk-reject heuristics around replication and field validity.
Scope & topic fit
Crop yield and yield-component determinants under field conditions across genotypes and
environments.
Resource-use efficiency: water-, nitrogen-, and radiation-use efficiency and the trade-offs
among them.
Cropping systems and management: rotations, intercropping, planting density, sowing date,
and agronomic interventions evaluated in the field.
Crop physiology underpinning yield formation: phenology, source–sink relations, canopy and
root function at field scale.
Crop simulation modeling calibrated and validated against field data, including
genotype × environment × management analysis.
Yield-gap analysis and benchmarking across regions and production systems.
Use when targeting Agronomy for Sustainable Development or deciding whether an agronomy / farming-systems manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the explicit-and-evidenced sustainability-contribution bar, evidence and data-reporting expectations, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics.