The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals to provide high-quality research on the science and technology of food. The Journal of Food Science (JFS), available with subscription online, provides results of original research and short interpretive reviews on the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of food science and technology. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (CRFSFS), available online, provides in-depth interpretive reviews in these same areas and in risk analysis. IFT is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of professional ethics, accuracy, and quality in all matters related to handling manuscripts and reporting scientific information.

Editor in Chief: Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, University of Maine

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety aims to offer scientists various unique reviews dealing with food science and technology. CRFSFS publishes in-depth, critical, extended reviews that address foods' chemical, microbiological, physical, sensory, and nutritional properties, food processing and engineering, analytical food methods, and food packaging. Manuscripts should highlight how they add value to the scientific knowledge on the topic. Reviews that repeat information given in previously published reviews without new insights and recommendations for addressing research gaps will not be considered. Please note that a comprehensive review does not necessarily cite all research ever published on a specific topic. Reviews should focus on recent developments with limited citations of key original research that is ten years old or older. Readers value reviews that critically assess the experimental design and interpretation of results in research papers since abstracts may not accurately portray research findings.

Food safety topics such as preventive controls in food processing and preparation operations, ingredient contaminants, inadequate or improper storage, food authenticity, and adulteration may be considered. Reviews on chemical, microbial, and physical food hazards are accepted. However, reviews on detection methods must include the demonstration of validity and reliability in foods, not only in model systems. Reviews on the nutritional properties of foods should provide readers with a realistic perspective of how foods, as eaten, may influence health, as well as how food processing, consumer practices, and storage influence the bioactivity of the food components. Manuscripts on the health effects of isolated compounds or that focus on in vitro and in silico research will not be considered, nor will reviews that focus solely on the metabolism of nutrients in the body. Reviews addressing consumer food behavior, psychological aspects of food choices and consumption, risk assessment and management, and the scientific basis of food regulations are also considered. Reviews dealing with post-harvest physiology or storage should address food quality issues as well as compositional changes.  

Special government and institutional reports and comprehensive symposium proceedings may be considered. Authors should consult previous issues of the journal to avoid duplication since only unique reviews will be considered. The journal does not extend invitations to authors. However, authors are advised to consult the Editor in Chief regarding the suitability of a topic prior to submission ([email protected]). 

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on analytical and sensory methods, quality control strategies, and approaches related to food science, technology, and food safety are also considered for publication. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor in Chief prior to submitting systematic reviews and to follow the IFIS Good review practice: a researcher guide to systematic review methodology in the sciences of food and health.

Hypothesis papers are better suited for the Journal of Food Science. 

CRFSFS will not consider bibliometric analyses. CRFSFS will also not consider reviews focusing on agronomical sciences and food crop breeding unrelated to food science and technology, drug, traditional medicine, and cosmeceutical applications, disease prevention or treatment of health conditions, and pharma-related topics. Papers addressing food issues in a single nation are not likely to be considered. 

CRFSFS does not accept special issue proposals from outside of the editorial board.

• Submission letters are required. Authors should explain how their review adds new and important information to the field and describe how their manuscript differs from other reviews on the same general topic published in the past three years. 
• Comprehensive Reviews should be between 8,000 and 15,000 words in the main body of the text, excluding references, tables, and figures.
• Reviews containing fewer than 8,000 words in the body text should be submitted to the Journal of Food Science as Concise Reviews.
• Reviews should use a structured methodology such that the review could be traced and repeated.
• Manuscript text must be double-spaced with continuous line numbering.
• Text and references should be formatted in APA Style.
• All authors’ CRediT contributions must be added in the manuscript submission form. Each author’s contribution must comply with the ICMJE criteria for authorship.
• Original tables or figures are encouraged rather than simply duplicating work published previously.
• Authors must disclose conflicts of interest in a “Conflicts of Interest” section at the end of the body text.
• Submit to CRFSFS at https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/CRFS

Performance Attributes

• Clarivate Journal Impact Factor, 2022: 14.8; Rank: 3/142
• Scopus CiteScore, 2022: 21.7; 98th percentile
• Acceptance rate (2022): 16%
• Submit-to-1st decision average time: 27 days
• Submit-to-accept average time: 150 days (includes author revision time)
• Accept-to-online publication average time: 38 days

Diversity & Inclusion

IFT’s has dedicated itself to three important pillars: diversity, inclusion, and equity, with the goal to leverage all three to advance our mission and the science of food. We are committed to fostering diverse and inclusive editorial boards, reviewer pools, and authorship of IFT’s scientific journals. Learn more about DEI at IFT.

Author criteria

Authorship is restricted to those who meet the ICMJE criteria, those who have:

• Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
• AND aided in drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
• AND given final approval of the version to be published;
• AND agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Ghost, guest, honorary, or anonymous authorship is not allowed. Contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be mentioned in the acknowledgments. New authors cannot be added after initial manuscript submission. 

Nonhuman technologies such as AI tools cannot qualify as authors. Use of AI tools in the design, literature search, data collection, analysis, writing, and/or development of graphics or images must be disclosed in a relevant section of the manuscript, including naming the AI tool and describing how it was used. Refer to the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI tools.

We advise against the submission of a manuscript by a single author, particularly those who have not attained their final degree, because multiple authors reviewing the manuscript before submission are more likely to identify mistakes that can easily be addressed.

CRediT

When submitting a manuscript, the submitting author will be asked to enter each co-author’s name and contact information, then select from a drop-down list each author’s contribution(s) to the work using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) as well as the degree of contribution for each role (Lead, Equal, or Supporting). 

From this metadata, an Author Contributions section will be generated automatically during the production process and added to the proof of the manuscript.

Authors may have multiple roles, and the ICMJE authorship criteria still apply—for example, a person whose only contribution to the work is Resources may not qualify as an author but can be thanked in the acknowledgments.

Expectations

For CRFSFS, authorship is not restricted. Peer review is the best of all possible quality assurance systems. However, authors relatively new to a field, such as recent graduate students and individuals without prior publications on the subject under review, must have at least one co-author with recognized experience in that area. In addition to the stated requirements for authors, expectations from authors of comprehensive reviews are:

• Good writing
• Adherence to the journal's style and format
• manuscript presentation with double-spaced, line-numbered text
• interpretation of the references cited so that meaning as well as the data of each are easily understood
• analysis and summary of important concepts under discussion
• identification of further research needed on the subject
• listing references in the required format.

Authors are expected to adhere to established ethical best practices, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) International Standards for Authors (link to PDF).

All submissions to IFT's journals are screened for overlap with other previously-published materials using iThenticate software. Manuscripts with excessive overlap will be rejected outright after review by editorial staff.

All submitted manuscripts are screened by the Scientific Editor for language, importance, interest to subscribers, substance, appropriateness for the journal, unique topic, and general scientific quality. Those failing to meet current standards are rejected by the Scientific Editor without further review. Those manuscripts meeting these initial standards are sent to an Associate Editor, who assigns referees (also called “reviewers”).

• CRFSFS uses a review process where author identities are visible to the referees, but referee identities are hidden from the author.
• Associate Editors strive to obtain three or more referees for each manuscript.
• In the submission form, authors are asked to recommend the names of two to four experts who are qualified to review the manuscript but who have no personal or professional relationships with the authors and who work at other institutions. Former professors and students should not be suggested as reviewers.
• For more information about our review policies, see our Reviewer Resources page.
• It is the policy of CRFSFS to hide the peer-review process of Editorial Board members' own submissions, just as all authors are excluded from seeing identities of reviewers. Alternate editors handle submissions made by Editorial Board members to ensure an unbiased review process.

When the initial review is complete, the Associate Editor will send you the referees’ suggestions along with their suggestions. You are expected to respond in a cover letter to all suggestions either by making appropriate revisions or stating why the suggestions are unreasonable. The Associate Editor will consider your revisions, and provide the Scientific Editor with a recommendation to accept, revise, or reject your manuscript. Occasionally a peer- reviewer insists on a re-evaluation. If a second revision of a manuscript is still not satisfactory, it may be rejected. You will be informed by the Scientific Editor of the final decision.

Factors considered when judging the suitability of a manuscript for publication are: interest readers will have in the subject; relevance to human foods; originality, scientific quality (including appropriateness of the experimental design and methods, depth of investigation, proper statistical analysis of the data for meta-analyses); and critical evaluation, importance, and substance of the results. Conclusions should identify gaps in knowledge and topics for future research, not restate the theme of the review.

There is an 8,000-word minimum and 15,000 word maximum (body text, excluding references) for manuscripts submitted to CRFSFS. Reviews under 8,000 words should be submitted to the Journal of Food Science, Concise Reviews and Hypotheses in Food Science topic.

IFT membership is not a prerequisite for publication.

Traditional (Subscription) Model Publishing Fee
There is no charge for publishing for IFT Premier, Student, or Emeritus members. To join IFT to take advantage of this benefit, visit the Membership page. 

For non-IFT-members and IFT Networking & Engagement members, a traditional-model publication charge of $3,000 per manuscript is assessed prior to publication.

Open Access Publishing Options
Alternatively, authors can publish their article Open Access. The traditional-model non-member fee does not apply to Open Access articles.
Many institutions have Open Access publishing agreements with Wiley that allow authors to use Open Access credits. Check if your institution has a current Open Access agreement here. 
If an institutional agreement does not apply to you, you can purchase Open Access from Wiley at the current APC rate.

Waivers
If none of the authors is able to join IFT to get the free publishing member benefit, authors may request a waiver of publication charges after acceptance of the manuscript, prior to publication. Authors based in countries in either Group A or B of Research4Life's eligibility list will automatically be granted a waiver if none of the authors is an IFT member. Authors from other countries who lack funding for publication fees or for IFT membership will be granted waivers as needed.

IFT prioritizes publication of quality food science, regardless of authors' funding status. An author’s ability to pay for publication is not a factor in consideration of submissions. Waiver requests should be e-mailed to the Editorial Office at [email protected] at the time of acceptance.

An Open Access option is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers upon publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With Open Access, the author, the author’s funding agency, or the author’s institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley Online Library, as well as deposited in the funding agency’s preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/open-access/hybrid-open-access.html.

Open Access articles are subject to a Creative Commons license, instead of traditional copyright transfer to IFT. After acceptance, the author can choose the Open Access option in Wiley Author Services when asked to complete copyright information.

This journal accepts artwork submissions for Cover Images. This is an optional service you can use to help increase article exposure and showcase your research. For more information, including artwork guidelines, pricing, and submission details, please visit the Journal Cover Image page. Wiley Editing Services offers a professional cover image design service that creates eye-catching images, ready to be showcased on the journal cover.

Language, units of measurement and symbols

Use the English language (American spelling and usage) and the SI system (Système International d’Unités, often referred to as “International Units”) for measurements and units.

Style

Your manuscript should be consistent with APA style, detailed in the current edtion of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Refer to apastyle.org for examples or contact the Editorial Office ([email protected]) with questions. You can submit with references in a different style; in this case, you will be asked to update the references to APA style at the revision stage.

Format

Recommended format can easily be followed using our Manuscript Template (Word).

• Continuous line-numbering for the entire manuscript is mandatory. 
• Double-space the entire manuscript. 
• Submitted manuscripts must list full names for all authors.
• Try to restrict individual file sizes to 5Mb maximum. Larger files may be uploaded, but these can lead to download issues for users. 

A manuscript template in Microsoft® Word is available to help you format your submission.

Table of contents (recommended) 

A listing of major section headers or table of contents helps readers navigate the manuscript. This is not published with the paper, but helps for the review process. 

Title page

• Enter full title (be concise) Do not use trade names in titles. Do not use abbreviations and acronyms in titles. 
• Enter name(s) and e-mail addresses of author(s) and author affiliation(s)
• Provide contact information for the corresponding author, including full name, complete mailing address, phone, and e-mail address. 
• Enter short version of title (less than 40 letters and spaces). 
• Provide previous address(es) of author(s) if research was conducted at a place different from current affiliation. 

Abstract 

• Enter “ABSTRACT:” followed by abstract text, preferably not exceeding 250 words; define all acronyms and abbreviations; do not cite references. State in one paragraph basic background, major results, and conclusions.

Introduction

• Enter introductory text; review pertinent work; cite key references; explain the importance of the topic and the objectives of your work.  

Body text 

• Topic must be covered in depth and information must be critically evaluated (strengths, weaknesses, discussion of discrepancies in results among similar studies) so that insightful, integrative interpretations and conclusions are achieved. 
• Abbreviations and acronyms. At first use in the text, use full length form followed by the acronym in parentheses. Use only the acronym for subsequent mentions. 

Conclusions 

State conclusions (not a summary or continuing discussion) briefly in one paragraph and without references. 

Funding (if applicable)

List all sources of financial support.

Acknowledgments (optional)

List the names of contributors who are not authors. 

Conflicts of Interest (required)

Declare any conflicts of interest, or state that there are none to declare.

Data Availability (if applicable)

If you have deposited an original dataset to a repository, link to it in a brief statement here.

Nomenclature (if needed) 

Enter a list of abbreviations used in the manuscript and their definitions. 

References 

Alphabetically list only those references cited in the text. Required format is described below. 

Tables 

• Enter one table per page after the references. Be sure you have cited each table within the text. 
• Enter a short descriptive caption at the top of each table, preceded by an identifying Arabic numeral. 
• Columns and their headings are normally (but not always) used to display the dependent variable(s) being presented in the table. 
• Footnotes should be identified by lowercase letters or number (e.g., a, b, c; 1, 2, 3) appearing as superscripts in the body of the table and preceding the footnote below the table. The same data should not appear in both tables and figures. 
• All data reported in numerical form must take significant figures into account. 
• Tables including a large amount of data with few significant differences should instead be described in a sentence along with “(data not shown)”. 

Figures (graphs, charts, photographs, and other illustrations) 

General instructions

• Enter one figure per page after the tables (if any). Be sure you have cited each figure within the text, using Arabic numerals.
• Enter the figure number and descriptive caption at the bottom of each figure. 
• You are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted figures. Proof of permission to reproduce is required. 
• Submit your figures at least twice the size they will appear when published at 300 dots per inch (dpi) or greater. 
• Be sure to use lettering, data lines, and symbols sufficiently large and thick to be clearly legible when the figure is reduced to the normal published size. 
• All data reported in numerical form must take significant figures into account. 
• Avoid redundancy between the figure caption and information in the figure.

Special instructions for graphs 

• Keep as simple as possible. 
• Dependent variable should be presented on the vertical axis (y or ordinate). 
• Independent variable should be presented on the horizontal axis (x or abscissa). 
• The label for each axis should be parallel to, and centered on, the axis; that is, the label for the vertical axis should be rotated 90° counterclockwise from normal. 
• Axis labels should be followed by the units of measurement in parentheses, with abbreviations shown elsewhere in these Instructions. 
• Range of values presented on each axis should be no larger than the range of values being presented. 
• All data reported in numerical form must take significant figures into account. 
• If data lines are close together and/or intersect, do not present more than 4 lines per figure. 
• If data lines are well separated and few or none intersect, a maximum of about 8 lines per figure may be entered. 
• Identify lines directly, if feasible. If not, enter key box at a blank area inside the graph. 
• Avoid simultaneous use of a new symbol and a new line style. 
• Avoid, if possible, presenting more than 8 data bars per figure. 
• Avoid using shades of gray on bars or lines. 

Appendix (if needed)

Examples are complicated calculations or additional data tables. 

Supplemental materials

Multimedia (audio, video, and animation) files demonstrating important information relevant to the article can be published as supplemental material. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and file functionality remains entirely with the authors. A disclaimer will be displayed to this effect. 

If your review has original data, we encourage you to share the data and other artifacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the dataset under an additional subhead, entitled "Data Availability", after the Conclusions section. Visit re3data.org or fairsharing.org to help identify registered and certified data repositories relevant to your research.

If the data has not been archived in a public repository, to assist in the review process, the editors may request the original data for review.

Manuscripts must follow the name-year reference format specified in APA style, detailed in the Publication Manual of the  Americal Psychological Association, 7th Edition, 2020. Refer to apastyle.org for examples. Cite only necessary publications and use primary rather than secondary references when possible. It is acceptable to cite work that is “forthcoming” (that is, accepted but not yet published) with the pertinent year and, if available, the DOI. Works that are “submitted” and under review are not to be cited. Use of reference management software such as EndNote is highly recommended.

List only references cited in the text. List references alphabetically by the first author’s last name. Single author precedes same author with co-authors. When the authors are identical in multiple references, sequence them by publication date (earliest to latest). References must be complete, containing up to 20 author's surnames and all relevant publication data, including DOI whenever possible. In the case of references to papers presented at a meeting, the full title of the paper, when and where it was presented, and the name of the sponsoring society must be given. Below are examples of the most common types of references; for journal abbreviations and other examples of reference formats, please refer to apastyle.org or contact the Editorial Office.

Examples:

• Wlodkowski, R. J. (2008). Enhancing adult motivation to learn (3rd ed). Jossey-Bass John Wiley & Sons.
• Yore, L. D. (2004). Why do future scientists need to study the language arts? In E. W. Saul (Ed.), Crossing borders in literacy and science instruction: Perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 71–94). International Reading Association.
• Bhatt, T., Gooch, M., Dent, B., & Sylvia, G. (2017). Implementing interoperability in the seafood industry: learning from experiences in other sectors. Journal of Food Science, 82(S1), A22–A44. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.13742
• Pei, L., Ou, Y., Yu, W., Fan, Y., Huang, Y., Lim, J, . . . Lai, K. (2015). Au-Ag core-shell nanospheres for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of Sudan I and Sudan II in chili powder. Journal of Nanomaterials, 16, 215-221. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/430925
• Abrams, E. M., & Gerstner, T. V. (2015). Allergy to cooked, but not raw, peas: A case series and review. Allergy Asthma and Clinical Immunology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-015-0077-x

Comments, observations, different perspectives, and suggestions for improving concepts and techniques of previously published manuscripts are welcome and accepted. Letters should be submitted through Research Exchange (ReX) at https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/CRFS. Choose the article type, "Letter". The Editor in Chief will consider letter submissions for potential publication.

Getting Started

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange (ReX) portal: https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/CRFS

For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected].

Create an account or use your Wiley Researcher ID to log in. Your default login ID is your e-mail address.

From here, you can create new submissions and revisions and check the status of submissions in progress across all journals on the ReX platform.

Create a new submission and select the manuscript type: Review Article.

Completing Submission

After acceptance, the corresponding author will be asked to complete copyright transfer or licensing through Wiley Author Services. If publishing traditional model, copyright will be transferred to IFT. If publishing Open Access, choose the appropriate Creative Commons license type CC-BY, CC-BY-NC-ND, etc.), which may be directed by the funder or institution.

For detailed licensing information, including instructions for Multiple Ownership copyright, see https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/licensing-info-faqs.html.

Reproduction of all or any significant portion of an IFT publication is prohibited unless permission is received from IFT. Authors have the right to reproduce portions of their own papers with proper acknowledgment and retain the right to any patentable subject material that might be contained therein. Authors can obtain permission online through Rightslink, which is an automated online permissions service available 24 hours/day. You can do so by locating the article you want to reuse and clicking on the “Request Permissions” link under the “Article Tools” menu on the abstract page.

After acceptance, the corresponding author will receive further information on copyright transfer and tracking production of your paper through Wiley Author Services. You will also be asked to provide an IFT member number for one of the co-authors if you would like to publish at no charge (see Publication Charges section above).

We will use the accepted files for production. If you need to make final edits suggested by the editor, please e-mail a final file as soon as possible to [email protected], or you may make those edits at the proofing stage.

A few weeks after production of your manuscript begins, you will receive a PDF proof via e-mail so you can make any final minor corrections. You are responsible for all statements appearing in the page proof. If you are not available to review the page proof, you should authorize someone else to carefully study the page proof for errors.

Post-publication Corrections
After publication, if a mistake is noticed, authors may issue corrigenda to fix errors made by the authors or request that the journal issue an erratum to correct errors made during the production process.

In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request. 

CRFSFS works together with Wiley’s Open Access Journal, Food Science & Nutrition, to enable rapid publication of good quality research that is unable to be accepted for publication by our journal. Authors will be offered the option of having the paper, along with any related peer reviews, automatically transferred for consideration by the Editor of Food Science & Nutrition. Authors will not need to reformat or rewrite their manuscript at this stage, and publication decisions will be made a short time after the transfer takes place. The Editor of Food Science & Nutrition will accept submissions that report well-conducted research which reaches the standard acceptable for publication. Food Science & Nutrition is a Wiley Open Access journal and article publication fees apply. For more information, please go to www.foodscience-nutrition.com.

To appeal a decision by the Scientific Editor or report problems related to the review process or published journal, please contact the Editor in Chief, Mary Ellen Camire, via the Editorial Office ([email protected]).