Journals in Life sciences

Flora

ISSN: 0367-2530
5 Year impact factor: 1.9
Impact factor: 1.7

Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of PlantsFLORA, the scientific botanical journal with the longest uninterrupted publication sequence (since 1818), considers manuscripts in a range of areas of botany which appeal to a broad international scientific readership. The journal publishes original contributions and review articles on plant structure (morphology and anatomy), plant developmental biology (ontogeny), phytogeography (including phylogeography), plant population genetics, plant functional ecology (including ecophysiology), plant population ecology, biotic interactions between plants and other organisms, plant community ecology, and ecosystem ecology. Suggestions for Special Issues are welcome, as are compilations of manuscripts (both original and review articles) for Special Features on a specific topic. Manuscripts on the following subjects are highly welcome, especially when they integrate between areas or research approaches: comparative and evolutionary aspects of morphology, anatomy and development, ecophysiology of plant species related to their distribution, mechanisms of ecological interactions in plant communities (e.g. plant-plant interactions, plant-soil feedback, and plant-animal interactions), reproductive ecology including plant-pollinator interactions, genetic and spatial structure of plant populations, and functional diversity in plant communities. Manuscripts focused on floristics or vegetation studies will only be considered if they go beyond a purely descriptive approach and have relevance for interpreting plant structure, distribution or ecology. Manuscripts whose content is restricted to taxonomy, phylogeny, nomenclature, or geobotany of local interest, or applied agricultural, horticultural, pharmacological or silvicultural aspects, or experimental studies dealing exclusively with investigations at the cellular or subcellular level will not be considered for publication.Article typesResearch article: Reporting original results of a theoretical, explorative or experimental botanical research. Typically, 6000-8000 words in length, but longer articles are also being considered, when the content justifies the extent. See formatting guidelines for the structure of the article in the manuscript preparation guidelines below.Review article: The review articles providing an up-to-date overview of a research area and/or scientific problem fitting into the scope of the journal. Review article should go further than the simple summary of published literature and should provide an in-depth analysis of the selected topic and should indicate research gaps or further directions of research. Should be drafted up to 8000 words, but longer manuscripts also being considered when the content justifies the extent. Potential authors are invited to submit an outline, abstract and list of authors first before the full submission of the manuscript.Opinion article: short pieces with a word count to 3000 words of the main text, presenting new ideas and insights, commentaries, opinion responses or new analyses to a published paper of the journal. Opinion article submissions will be assessed first by the editors and in case the topic is of broad interest of the journals potential readership will undergo regular review process for the journal. Commentaries are possible to papers published in the last 12 months in the journal and considered when they provide constructive and well-founded critiques or provide useful arguments for further development of a formerly published research idea. Opinion articles can convey new research ideas or hypotheses for discussion, and it is not necessary to support the idea with own-data-driven analyses. Opinion articles can be single-authored or multi-authored but no more than five authors. Potential authors are invited to submit an outline, abstract and list of authors first before the full submission of the manuscript.Editorial article (for editors, editorial board members and guest editors only)Humboldt Review article (by invitation only): The “Humboldt Review” article type was named after the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), who was the first describer of the phenomenon of climatic zonation of plant communities and the describer of the first plant functional types among other numerous discoveries. The “Humboldt Review” article type has been established in 2025 to honour eminent researchers in any field covered by the journal’s scope. In each year, 1-2 researchers will be selected by the chief editor(s) based on the nominations of the section editors of the journal for being invited to provide an opinion-review or synthesis paper on their field of research. The guidelines for drafting a Humboldt Review are the same as for a review paper with the exception that the review candidate should also provide a bio sketch up to 250 words and a photograph of her- or himself, which is published together with the accepted manuscript. The Humboldt Reviews are also peer-reviewed publications assessed by invited researchers for scientific rigour and quality.Submission of Papers with Graduate or Undergraduate Students as Lead Authors FLORA has initiated a section in its journal dedicated to highlighting exceptional, original research publications that are part of PhD, graduate, or undergraduate student theses and carry the name of the student, preferably as the lead author.Papers in this category will be published under the heading "Highlighted Student Research" and will be marked accordingly in the table of content of the volume in which it is published.The papers must be recommended for this honor by FLORA Handling Editors, following the normal peer review process and additionally taking the following criteria into account:the student contribution to the work is substantialinnovative research question or methodologyhigh quality of study / experimental design and dataabove-average quality of data analysis, presentation and discussionwell written textStudents who wish their papers to be considered for the honor have to explain in the cover letter the main reasons why the paper represents an outstanding contribution to the field, referring to the criteria above, and should indicate such a wish by marking the appropriate box as a FLORA Highlighted Student Research paper during the online submission process. The supervisor should confirm in the cover letter that research was generated during a BSc, MSc, or PhD degree.

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Food Bioscience

ISSN: 2212-4292
5 Year impact factor: 5.1
Impact factor: 4.8

Food Bioscience is a peer-reviewed journal that aims to provide a forum for recent developments in the field of bio-related food research. The journal focuses on both fundamental and applied research worldwide, with special attention to ethnic and cultural aspects of food bioresearch. Topics covered in the journal include but are not limited to: Biochemical, biophysical and biological properties of foods, ingredients, and componentsMechanism of functional foods and ingredients including both novel and traditional fermented foodsGenetic, and cellular and molecular biology germane to food production and processingFoodomics: comprehensive studies involving genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, nutrigenomics and chemogenomics of foods and their interactions with humansBiomaterials for food-related systems such as food packaging, food analysis, and delivery of nutraceuticals and functional food additivesApplication of novel technology to foods.

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Food Chemistry

ISSN: 0308-8146
5 Year impact factor: 8.2
Impact factor: 8.5

The Aims and Scope of Food Chemistry are assessed and modified on an annual basis to reflect developments in the field. This means that research topics that have been deemed in scope previously may now fall outside of the scope of the journal as our scientific and technical understanding of the fields evolve and topics become less novel, original or relevant to Food Chemistry .Food Chemistry publishes papers dealing with the advancement of the chemistry and biochemistry of foods or the analytical methods/approach used. All papers should focus on the novelty of the research carried out. The assessment of the manuscripts considers a number of elements including novelty, scientific rigour, scientific advancement of a particular field and the overall interest to the readership.Research advancing the theory and practice of molecular sciences of foods or cure/prevention of human diseases will not be considered for inclusion in Food Chemistry .Topics featured in Food Chemistry include:Chemistry relating to major and minor components of food, their nutritional, physiological, sensory, flavour and microbiological aspects;Bioactive constituents of foods, including antioxidants, phytochemicals, and botanicals. Data must accompany sufficient discussion to demonstrate their relevance to food and/or food chemistry;Chemical and biochemical composition and structure changes in molecules induced by processing, storage, distribution and domestic conditions;Effects of processing including novel ones and different extraction methods on the composition, quality and safety of foods, co-products, bio-based materials, , and processing wastes;Chemistry of food additives, contaminants, processing aids, and agro-chemicals, together with their metabolism, toxicology and food fate.We also accept Analytical Papers related to the microbiological, sensory, nutritional, physiological, authenticity and origin aspects of food. Papers should be primarily concerned with new or novel methods (especially instrumental or rapid) provided adequate validation is described including sufficient data from real samples to demonstrate robustness. Papers dealing with significant improvements to existing methods, or data from application of existing methods to new foods, or commodities produced in unreported geographical areas, will also be considered.For Analytical Papers, especially those dedicated to the development and validation of methods, authors are encouraged to follow internationally recognized guidelines, such as EURACHEM - for chemical compounds (https://www.eurachem.org/index.php/publications/guides/mv) or FDA - for microbiological data (https://www.fda.gov/downloads/ScienceResearch/FieldScience/UCM298730.pdf) and proper statistical methods should be applied. Special attention should be given to linearity, selectivity, determination of LOD/LOQ, repeatability and reproducibility of the analysis. Authors should also pay attention to trueness and, when possible (quantitative methods), determine the uncertainty of measurement. Overall, real samples should be analyzed by the state-of-the-art and the newly developed method for validation purposes. The results from new and novel methods (including sensors) should be compared with an acceptable reference method as part of the validation procedure (e.g. AOAC, CEN etc).Methods for the determination of both major and minor components of food especially nutrients and non-nutrient bioactive compounds (with putative health benefits) with proper validation in real samples will be considered.Results of method inter-comparison studies and development of food reference materials for use in the assay of food components;Methods concerned with the chemical forms in food, nutrient bioavailability and nutritional status;General authentication and origin [e.g. Country of Origin Labelling (COOL), Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Certificate of Specific Character (CSC)] determination of foods (both geographical and production including commodity substitution, and verification of organic, biological and ecological labelling) using chemical markers, providing sufficient data from authentic samples should be included to ensure that interpretations are meaningful.The following topics/manuscripts will not be considered for publication in Food Chemistry, unless otherwise stated.Clinical or engineering papers without contribution to chemistryPharmaceutical or non-food herbal remedies;Traditional or folk medicines;Food supplements, botanicals and herbal extract including Royal Jelly and Propolis, bee pollen and pollen, unless they are added to food as part of functional food development;Survey/surveillance data;In silico studies and/or network pharmacology, or computational simulations without proper validation in vitro/in vivo;Papers containing a high proportion of molecular based content (these papers will be offered a transfer to our companion journal Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences);Work that is incremental and does not present significant advances in current scientific knowledge.

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Food Control

ISSN: 0956-7135
5 Year impact factor: 5.4
Impact factor: 5.6

An official scientific journal of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) and the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST).Food Control is an international journal that publishes manuscripts resulting from original scientific investigation into significant food safety and food quality concerns and preventative control measures that improve public health. Manuscripts submitted to this journal should document the problem of concern, proper hypothesis, experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation of the observed results, supported by relevant statistical analysis. The research should have an international scope, not limiting to local issues.The journal focuses on postharvest human food safety and quality issues and welcomes submissions related to the areas of interest listed below: Microbial contaminants and food safety - causes and control measures, including isolation, detection, and intervention methodsChemical and biochemical contaminants (mycotoxins included) - causes and control measures, including isolation, detection, and intervention methodsFood safety preventative control measures, including process development, HACCP, food safety objectives, quality assurance, and good manufacturing practicesFood safety risk assessmentCodes of practice, legislation and international harmonizationConsumer training and educationFood Authentication and TraceabilityThe scope of Food Control is comprehensive and includes original research papers, authoritative reviews, short communications, comment articles that report on new developments in food control, and position papers.The work described should be innovative either in the approach or in the methods used. The significance of the results either for the science community or for the food industry must also be specified. Contributions that do not fulfil these requirements will not be considered for review and publication.Benefits to authors We also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our Support Center.

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Food Hydrocolloids

ISSN: 0268-005X
5 Year impact factor: 11.3
Impact factor: 11

Food Hydrocolloids publishes original and innovative research concerned with the characterisation, functional properties and applications of hydrocolloid materials used in food products. Hydrocolloids are defined as polysaccharides and proteins of commercial importance that are added to food products to control, for example, the texture, stability, rheology and sensory properties. The key focus of the research should be on the hydrocolloids themselves. The source and nature of the hydrocolloid materials should be fully described and details of their physicochemical characteristics provided. Manuscripts should clearly outline the specific aims and objectives of the research and must include a fundamental discussion of the research findings at the molecular level and their significance. Manuscripts that simply report data without providing a detailed interpretation of the results will not be accepted for publication in the journal. Studies on hydrocolloids in complex formulations should focus on their influence on the overall properties and their mechanism of action. Simple formulation development studies that primarily aim to optimize proportions of mixed ingredients and/or processing conditions to enhance formulated product properties will not be considered for publication.The main areas of interest are:Chemical and physicochemical characterisation of hydrocolloid materialsThe rheological properties of hydrocolloid solutions including viscosity, viscoelastic properties and gelation behaviourThe influence of hydrocolloids on food microstructure, texture and organoleptic propertiesThe interfacial properties of hydrocolloids including stabilisation of dispersions, emulsions and foamsInteractions in mixed hydrocolloid systems including phase behaviour, complexation and conjugationThe film forming properties of hydrocolloids with application in edible films, coatings and active packagingThe function and performance of hydrocolloids in 3D printing formulations for food applicationsThe encapsulation and controlled release of active compounds for inclusion in food formulationsThe modification of hydrocolloid functionality through chemical, biochemical and physical processesThe physicochemical characteristics and application of hydrocolloid materials from non-traditional sources with commercial potential in foodsHealth aspects, particularly the role of hydrocolloids as dietary fibreManuscripts that deal with the use of hydrocolloids in medical settings such as encapsulation of drugs, wound dressings and tissue engineering or research involving animal studies will not be considered for publication in Food Hydrocolloids. Such work would be more appropriate for publication in Food Hydrocolloids for Health. This is an open access companion Journal devoted to hydrocolloids applied in human health and nutrition.The Food Hydrocolloids Journal publishes Review articles that provide a focussed overview of the latest developments in emerging topics of specific interest to researchers in this field of activity.

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Food Microbiology

ISSN: 0740-0020
5 Year impact factor: 5.1
Impact factor: 4.5

Food Microbiology publishes original research articles, short research communications, opinions, and review papers on all aspects of the microbiology of foods and food environments, including safety, shelf-life, diagnostics, ecology, and sensory attributes. The Journal aims to advance the microbiology of foods by discoveries, increasing knowledge, research tools, and concepts. The global audience includes academia, government, industry, and competent authorities. The journal considers articles dealing with the application, association, or prevention of viruses, bacteria, yeast, and molds related to foods or food environments through physical, biological, chemical, diagnostics, application of omics, or training/education. The application of advanced tools such as artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and omics is encouraged. The following categories and examples that are within the scope of Food Microbiology:Food processing: Papers that report on intervention methods (physical, biological or chemical) related to inactivation and control of microbes will be considered. The articles should demonstrate optimization (validation) and verification with relevant microbes for the food matrix being reported. The use of protective cultures, microbial metabolites, and bacteriophages, amongst others, will be considered provided efficacy is demonstrated within food systems. Studies relating to natural antimicrobials (for example, bacteriocins, phenolic compounds, or essential oils) can be included, although these should be chemically characterized and novel without simply confirming previous findings. Food fermentations: The ecology, performance, and functionality of fermented foods would be within the journal's scope provided the reported study can be replicated and results applied to define, improve, or contribute to the body of knowledge. Using omics to characterize, correlate, and/or identify populations or to study community assembly in fermented foods is encouraged. Findings of omics are preferably verified and not solely based on sequencing, metabolic profiles, and correlation software. Probiotic studies will be within scope but only if these relate to the interaction of stability within a food system rather than the gastrointestinal tract or effects on the immune system. Food processing environments: The prevalence of pathogens or spoilage microbes within the processing environment can be considered if linked to a production practice or process. The control of biofilms by bacterial strains or communities is within scope if evidence of biofilm formation within a simulated commercial environment exists. Biofilms formed on surfaces not encountered within food processing environments, such as microtiter plates, will not be considered. Pre-harvest microbiology of foods: Aspects of microbiology, ecology, and control of microbes encountered in animal or plant production that impact food safety and/or shelf-life are considered. Survey and prevalence studies: The prevalence of pathogens, including antimicrobial resistance, would be considered within the journal if sampled over a reasonable time period and geographical region and linked to a practice or procedure (for example, administration of antibiotics, cage-free production, amongst others). Risk assessment and predictive microbiology: Studies reporting on risk assessment or predictive microbiology, including the application of artificial intelligence, are within the journal's scope provided they relate to the activity of microbes within a food or processing environment. Microbiology diagnostics: Diagnostics, including biosensors, for detecting microbes are within scope provided they are tested using a sufficient spectrum of strains to assess selectivity and sensitivity. Detection of targets with relevant food systems should also be demonstrated. Food safety education and training tools: Training or teaching approaches and training tools can be considered, provided the learning approaches, methodological framework, delivery methods, and success metrics are provided. Fundamental research on the physiology, genetics, and/or transcriptome of food-derived isolates: Research that reports on the mechanisms of virulence, physiology, or regulation of microbes isolated from foods but not necessarily within a food system. Out of scope The following areas are out of scope for Food Microbiology:Microbiology that resides outside the food or food processing environments. Exceptions are fundamental genetics/physiology of food isolates in relation to virulence, stress resistance or food fermentation. Observations, non-hypothesis, driven research or studies that confirm previous published works. Preliminary studies that only report observations. Research supporting health claims of pre- or probiotics. Prevalence studies or surveys that don’t report on practices, process or cause of the observations. Control of phytopathogens. Drugs or treatments administered to animals, unless there is an impact on the carriage of human pathogens through to the final product.Fermentation studies that do not verify through culturing, sequence and sensory metabolite attribution. Biosensors and microbiology methods that do not demonstrate the performance of detecting relevant microbiological targets in real food systems. Confirmation of diagnostics or those detecting chemical or physical adulterants.

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Food Packaging and Shelf Life

ISSN: 2214-2894
5 Year impact factor: 8.6
Impact factor: 8.5

Food packaging plays a vital role in preserving food throughout the distribution chain. Without packaging, the processing of food can become compromised as it is contaminated by direct contact with physical, chemical, and biological contaminants. In recent years, the development of novel food packaging (modified atmosphere & active packaging) has not only increased the shelf life of foods, but also their safety and quality - therefore bringing convenience to consumers. Directly related, and interlinked, with food packaging is the concept of shelf life - the length of time that foods, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption.Food Packaging and Shelf Life caters to the needs of scientists, material scientists, food chemists and microbiologists in the area of food packaging and shelf life. The journal will mainly publish original research papers, review articles and short communications in the following areas:• Food packaging material development • Designing food packaging machinery • Physical & chemical properties of food packaging materials • Polymer, glass, metal and paper packaging systems • Nano packaging • Vacuum, gas, aseptic and sterile packaging • Modified atmosphere packaging systems • Active and intelligent, & antimicrobial packaging systems • Edible packaging • Bio-plastics for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry • Food package testing • Sensory properties of packaged foods • Microencapsulation • Migration from packaging materials • Food package interactions • Shelf life of packaged food products • Recycling of food packaging Materials • Packaging sustainability • Microbial stability of food during storage, handling and transportation • Sensory changes during food storage • Chemical, physical and microbial determinants for shelf life • Shelf life simulation • Shelf life and food safety • Accelerated shelf life testsPapers focusing exclusively on food product development, functional foods, food chemistry, post-harvest technology, food microbiology, dairy processing will not be covered by this journal.

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Food Policy

ISSN: 0306-9192
5 Year impact factor: 6.6
Impact factor: 6.8

Food Policy is a multidisciplinary journal publishing original research and novel evidence on issues in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies for the food sector in developing, transition, and advanced economies.Our main focus is on the economic and social aspect of food policy, and we prioritize empirical studies informing international food policy debates. Provided that articles make a clear and explicit contribution to food policy debates of international interest, we consider papers from any of the social sciences. Papers from other disciplines (e.g., law) will be considered only if they provide a key policy contribution, and are written in a style which is accessible to a social science readership.Policy issues that are relevant to the journal include: • Food production, trade, marketing, and consumption • Nutrition and health aspects of food systems • Food needs, entitlements, security, and aid • Food safety and quality assurance • Technological and institutional innovation affecting food systems and access • Food systems and environmental sustainabilityConceptual and methodological articles should be written so that they are accessible to the journal's diverse international readership. We normally do not publish review papers, although we might make rare exceptions for rigorous and critical reviews on topical issues.See also Elsevier's Economics Journals

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Food Quality and Preference

ISSN: 0950-3293
5 Year impact factor: 5.3
Impact factor: 4.9

A journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products.An official journal of the Sensometric Society and the official journal of the European Sensory Science Society Food Quality and Preference is a journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products. It publishes original research, critical reviews, and short communications in sensory and consumer science, and sensometrics. In addition, the journal publishes special invited issues on important timely topics and from relevant conferences. These are aimed at bridging the gap between research and application, bringing together authors and readers in consumer and market research, sensory science, sensometrics and sensory evaluation, nutrition and food choice, as well as food research, product development and sensory quality assurance. Submissions to Food Quality and Preference are limited to papers that include some form of human measurement; papers that are limited to physical/chemical measures or the routine application of sensory, consumer or econometric analysis will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution in line with the journal's coverage as outlined below.The journal's coverage includes:Sensory and motivational studiesFood choice studies of cultural, sensory and environmental factorsInnovative consumer and market researchGeographical, cultural and individual differences in perception and preferencesHealth and wellbeing studiesMathematical modelling in relation to acceptability and food qualitySensometric analyses and models of sensory and acceptance parametersConsumer psychology and behavior, including the study of emotionsConsumer-driven product developmentProduct experience and contextual influencesMethodological papers on personal care and other consumer productsBenefits to authors We also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our Support Center

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Food Research International

ISSN: 0963-9969
5 Year impact factor: 7.4
Impact factor: 7

Food Research International provides a forum for the rapid dissemination of significant novel and high impact research in food science, technology, engineering and nutrition. The journal only publishes novel, high quality and high impact review papers, original research papers and letters to the editors, in the various disciplines encompassing the science and technology of food. It is journal policy to publish special issues on topical and emergent subjects of food research or food research-related areas. Special issues of selected, peer-reviewed papers from scientific meetings, workshops, conferences on the science, technology and engineering of foods will be also published.Food Research International is the successor to the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology Journal. Building on the quality and strengths of its predecessor, Food Research International has been developed to create a truly international forum for the communication of research in food science.Topics covered by the journal include: food chemistryfood microbiology and safetymicrobiomefood toxicologymaterials science of foodsfood engineeringphysical properties of foodssensory sciencefood qualityhealth and nutritionfood biophysics analysis of foodsfood nanotechnologyemerging technologiesSubjects that will not be considered for publication in Food Research International, and will be rejected as being outside of scope, include : Studies testing different formulations and ingredients leading to the choice of the best formulation or ingredient to be used in the manufacture of a specified food;Optimization studies aiming to determine processing conditions and/or raw materials that increase the yield of a production process or improve nutritional and sensorial qualities;Studies describing the production of ingredients and only their characterization without a strong mechanistic emphasis;Studies describing the biological activity of foods lacking identification of the compounds responsible for the reported activity will not be published. This is also valid for any other chemical compounds such as phytochemicals and minor components of foods. Compounds of interest need to be characterized at least by mass spectrometry-based methods.Studies that do not clearly prove the relationship between the structure of the compounds and their activity;Fingerprinting studies lacking molecular insights and validation sets;Studies on antimicrobial compounds that do not consider a validation step in foods, lacking full data on chemical composition indicating the compounds responsible for the inhibitory activity and, when appropriate, the use of molecular biology approaches to support the findings;Development of analytical methods not comprising a validation step in situ that represent the range of conditions faced during their application will not be considered;Surveys of chemical, nutritional, physical and microbiological hazards will not be considered. Only papers presenting a significant data set, wide coverage, novel and supported by adequate chemical or microbiological techniques will be considered;Pharmacology and nutritional studies papers focusing in hosts rather than in foods.Pharmacology and nutritional studies that do not contain bioavailability or biofunctionality.Engineering studies lacking of mathematical verification or validation in situ, when appropriate;Fragmented studies, of low scientific quality, or poorly written.Studies with no food component.

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Journals in Life sciences

Flora

Food Bioscience

Food Chemistry

Food Control

Food Hydrocolloids

Food Microbiology

Food Packaging and Shelf Life

Food Policy

Food Quality and Preference

Food Research International

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