This journal has for several years suffered too long of a delay in printing times; in some cases, more than 3 years from when a manuscript was received until it was in print. The editors handle the review process as fast as we can, usually within a couple of months, if a paper needs minor revision. However, the Journal has had too many accepted papers waiting in line for printing, which resulted in a lengthy delay before an accepted manuscript could be printed. After a period where more papers have been declined, unless those of very high quality, and with the help of the publishers, who have given us more pages for printing, we have now succeeded in bringing down the total production time, meaning that the time from acceptance to print has been considerably shortened. We are pleased to announce that currently, manuscripts are being printed less than 6 months after their acceptance; and some manuscripts that do not require extended revisions and reviews can be published less than 6 months after their initial submission.
The Journal’s page budget will remain high for the next volume year, so the short time for printing is anticipated to continue. However, we will never compromise quality, and we will thus continue a high rejection rate. If papers are not up to standards according to our guidelines and deemed acceptable by our expert peer reviewers, they will be declined. Most reviewers give very detailed instructions as to how papers should be improved, so a possibility to come back with an improved manuscript is usually an option. Papers out of scope are directed to the Cogent Series, a multidisciplinary, open journal platform for the rapid dissemination of peer-reviewed research across all disciplines.
We consider our target readers to have interest in aquatic food product technology in a rather strict sense, but when reading our aims and scope, please keep in mind that we also cover consumer attitudes toward aquatic food. This is because acceptance by the consumer of the final products is mandatory for any product being made and any technology being applied. There is one such article in the present issue, and another one even considers culinary methods as part of the product technology.
Most people think of fish or crustaceans when considering aquatic food, but we see an increasing number of studies on the use of algae, particularly macroalgae, or seaweed. This reflects the growing interest for harvesting or growing seaweed around the globe. It has been an old tradition in the Far East for centuries, but other areas are now starting to extend their use of seaweed as part of growing interest in utilizing organisms other than regular seafood species. Some organisms have been considered invasive in certain areas, as they have not been common previously in the observed waters, but they may have qualities that make them suitable for use as food or feed, or interesting biomolecules may be extracted for various uses, including pharmaceutical purposes.
We welcome papers on new components or new use of all kinds of aquatic organisms, but not farming per se, as we are not an aquaculture journal, and not extensive medical testing, as we are not a medical journal. Furthermore, papers must not be purely descriptive, and novelty and scientific merits are always requirements. If these things are in place and no part of the manuscript has been previously published, as controlled by our Crossref analysis report, we can offer short printing times from now on!