MNF's Upcoming Topics, Structure, and Standards in 2018.

Abstract

Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (MNF) is well beyond its infancy. Since its relaunch in 2004, the journal has grown continuously in the number of submissions and published manuscripts. With a current ISI Impact factor of 4.323 (>4 for the 8th year in a row) and a 5-year impact factor of 4.518, MNF has established itself as one of the leading journals in the field of molecular nutrition research. This is largely an accomplishment of our authors—we can publish a high-ranking journal only if we receive innovative, high-impact manuscripts. In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the three most highly cited articles from 2016, which focus on some of the current top research subjects in the field of nutrition: gut microbiome,1 inflammation & obesity2 and metabolism.3 The journal's contributions originate from a truly international author landscape: 5 continents and 43 countries, with USA, China, Spain, Germany, and Japan comprising more than half of all published papers. Our readers (>330000 full-text downloads in 2016) are also spread across the globe: USA, China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Canada, and Australia constitute the top 10. With the first issue of MNF in 2018, we will again present our annual reviews issue with the addition of selected meta-analysis articles. Year after year, this is the most downloaded and cited issue of the journal. The topics in the current collection range from safety aspects in novel foods and allergy to epigenetics as well as berry-based food interventions and infant nutrition. Later in the year, we will publish two topical special issues. The first special issue will cover various aspects of isothiocyanates and health, guest edited by Emily Ho (Oregon State University) and Richard Mithen (Norwich Research Park). It will summarize current findings in the areas of bioavailability in foods and crops, glucosinolate hydrolysis, epidemiology, clinical trials, and more. The second special issue is edited by Lorraine Brennan (University College Dublin) and will cover two related and timely topics, namely metabolomics and biomarkers. This reflects the increasing impact that these emerging fields have in nutrition research. As nutrition science is continually evolving so are the demands of rigorous reporting of its results; thus, manuscript guidelines and formats, nomenclature, database deposits, etc., need periodic revision. In 2017, we have added new, specific details on allergen nomenclature rules in accordance with the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature initiative (see author guidelines). In 2018, we will ask our authors to clearly define doses of applied active compounds (including the human equivalent dose (HED)) for in vivo experiments and clinical trials in the materials and methods section. On an editorial note, MNF will be moving to an online-only format with publication frequency increased to 24 issues per year. This reflects the growing number of accepted papers and ensures faster turnover. As our regular readers will have noticed, we have changed the format of the articles slightly and have replaced page numbers with e-locators. This enables instant full citation of articles without the need to wait for issue publication. As announced already in last year's editorial and implemented as of 2017, the continuously increasing number of submitted manuscripts has led to the decision to change the peer-review process for the journal. Reviewer selection and invitation, as well as manuscript evaluation and decision, are now handled by an in-house team of editors who will dedicate their full attention to this task. In continuation of this change, we will split the main responsibility of leading the journal into two roles: The external academic lead as Chair of the Executive Editorial Board (Hans-Ulrich Humpf) and the in-house Editor-in-Chief (Chris(tine) Mayer). The in-house team of editors handling the peer review (Chris Mayer, Kerstin Brachhold, Ana V. Jobling Almeida, Xie Cai) will work together with the slightly restructured Editorial Board (the Associate Editors and Senior Editors will form the new Executive Editorial Board) to ensure that MNF continues to publish at the forefront of molecular nutrition research. “As a personal note, I would like to thank Hans-Ulrich Humpf for his enthusiasm and dedication to the journal in his role as Editor-in-Chief. Having held this position since 2013, he has been responsible for the high-quality course the journal has continued on since taking over from Peter Schreier. However, this is thankfully not a goodbye but rather a slight shift in task distribution, as he will stay on as the academic lead as Chair of the Executive Editorial Board. A second thank you goes to Claus Schneider and Fred Stevens for their excellent work as Associate Editors. I am pleased to say that they will also remain in key roles on the newly formed Executive Editorial Board” – Chris Mayer