The International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition significantly evolved through almost 65 years of its life. This evolution involved changes in name (it became ‘Nutrition’ in 1952 and then the Journal of Human Nutrition in 1976, only to get its original name back after its rebirth in 1992). It also involved changes of topics, format, volume and circulation.
With nutritional sciences becoming increasingly interlinked with other scientific fields, and dietary habits becoming more and more involved in the process of preventing (or causing) diseases and maintaining (or loosing) good health, constant evolution was the only way to survive. Its last – so to say – ‘evolutionary leap’ was masterly directed by Professor C.J.K. Henry, who, in his own words, edited a journal with the main aim of linking food science and nutrition in a way that had hitherto been neglected. Well, after the last 20 years of profitable work, the editorial team of the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition changes again and we, as new Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors, will try to prepare the field for another leap forward in the evolutionary process of this renowned and historic scientific title.
Part of the innovation will include the introduction of new topics. Among these, the nutritional implication of the human microbiome is an example of a new critical area that is aligned with the mission of our journal. Similarly, novel technologies and ingredients have emerged in food science, yet there remains a gap in the understanding of how these influence nutritional quality once introduced into food. The application of scientific principles towards the rational design and manufacturing of healthy, attractive and sustainable foods by focusing the basic physical and chemical principles governing the interaction of major food components, such as lipids, water, dietary fibre, carbohydrates and proteins, is also a topic of extreme interest for the journal. Similarly, the role of micro-nutrients and bioactive substances, especially those found in whole plants and natural foodstuffs, will be retained as important focus area recognizing their emergence as important regulators of human health and disease prevention. Finally, in vitro and animal studies will now be considered for publication, but only if they are fundamental to the process of understanding the mechanisms of action of nutrients and non-nutrients in exerting protective effects towards human health. On the contrary, the journal will hardly consider as publishable material research dealing with the concept of ‘food therapy’ aimed to replace pharmaceutical or medical treatments for human disease, as the new editorial team is strongly convinced that the main role of food and nutrition in human health is disease prevention rather than treatment.
New article types have been introduced to better suit the need to highlight the relevance of published work while dealing with print space constrains.
Articles under ‘Gap-bridging research’ will cover extremely recent topics, with the main aim of highlighting where new research is needed to increase the scientific knowledge in specific areas of food science and nutrition. This article type was thought to be specifically linked with the scientific substantiation of ‘health claims’ and should be the inspiration and basis for future research aimed to fill the existing gaps.
‘Brief communications’ have now been introduced among the article types acceptable for publication by our journal. Rather than just ‘short’ research articles, these should be intended as concise research articles aimed to cover exciting preliminary findings that will have a major impact in food science and nutrition. Every effort will be made to keep acceptance time to a minimum for this type of articles.
Finally, the journal will continue to publish comprehensive reviews as full-length critical appraisals of topics that would be of long-term archival value.
We intend to keep attracting the best research in the field, and we are aware that, in times of high competition, we need to understand risks, opportunities and best practices. The two subject categories ‘Food Science and Technology’ and ‘Nutrition and Dietetics’ under which the journal is now indexed by ISI Thompson include a total of 198 titles (of which 10 share with our journal the privilege to be included in both categories), and a growing number of non-indexed but potentially highly citable open access journals are appearing at increasing pace. Some research agencies expressly require public-funded research to be freely accessible even though this may involve high publication fees. This fact is becoming a major issue for authors when deciding where to submit an article for publication. Moreover, the use of new evaluation metrics in addition to the traditional Impact Factor, such as the Eigenfactor™ Score and the Article Influence™ Score, should be better understood by decision makers, such as librarians and science quality-rating boards.
Together with our highly reputed publisher, Informa Healthcare, we will try to optimize the journal visibility by balancing promotion, diffusion and the possibility to select some open-access options while maintaining profitability for both authors and the publisher.
And now, the crew! Yes, because what used to be an Editor-in-Chief taking care of all submissions will now comprise three Associate Editors. This decision was based on the recognition that the field of food science (and nutrition) has increased in breadth and has become significantly multidisciplinary. The presence of Associate Editors with different expertise is a valuable aid to the Editor-in-Chief in the manuscript evaluation process and in deciding the future directions of the journal. Professor Furio Brighenti is the new Editor-in-Chief. He is the Chair of Human Nutrition at the University of Parma, Italy, and, currently, the President of the Italian Human Nutrition Society. His expertise will cover aspects of nutritional epidemiology and human nutrition.
Dr Daniele Del Rio is the Associate Editor for the topics involving nutrients and phytocompounds. He is Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Parma. His expertise will cover nutritional biochemistry, food chemistry and pharmacology, with a special focus on investigating the mechanisms of action through which nutrients and their metabolites exert disease preventive effects.
Dr Kieran Tuohy is the Associate Editor for the topics involving biology, microbiology and biotechnology. He is head of the Nutrition and Nutrigenomics Group, the Department of Food Quality and Nutrition at the Research and Innovation Centre – Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy, and will provide expertise in molecular microbial ecology, laboratory models of the gut microbiota and colonic fermentation, human tissue culture and health biomarkers.
Professor Yael Vodovotz is the Associate Editor for the topics dealing with food science and technology. She is an Associate Professor of Food Science at the Ohio State University. She will focus on the physicochemical changes of functional foods during formulation, processing and storage as well as on sensory and other quality aspects of foods and ingredients.
The Editorial Board has been restructured with the addition of competent new members with a relevant track record of publications in the several fields covered by the journal. They will help the Editor-in-Chief and his Associates in the evaluation process, while contributing to the growth of the journal with their own research.
We are confident that the changes we have undertaken will help elevate the stature of the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. We look towards our readership for feedback and support as we initiate this exciting new journey. At the same time, we invite authors to consider the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition as a valuable option to submit their work, in the conviction that quality is a shared commitment. The International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition is evolving again. If you trust us and our vision, then become part of this evolution.