What would you like to know about Sustainable Food Technology?
Impact factor: n/a
Time to first decision (all decisions): 33.0 days**
Time to first decision (peer-reviewed only): 49.0 days***
Editor-in-Chief: Jorge Barros Velázquez
Gold open access, APCs waived until mid-2025
Indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Scopus
Open. Impactful. Multidisciplinary.
An open access forum for new food technologies
What can we do to ensure food security around the globe? How do we end world hunger? Where can we find the solutions to produce food more sustainably?
Sustainable Food Technology seeks the answers to these big questions. While our companion journal, Food & Function, focuses on the purpose of food and its relation to health and nutrition, this new journal publishes high-quality sustainable research on food engineering and technologies. Key topics include food preservation methods, shelf life and the creation of greener packaging.
Hear from our Editor-in-Chief
We need to find the solutions to our biggest challenges in food production and processing. Sustainable Food Technology acts as a forum for scientists worldwide who wish to produce better, safer foods that respect our environment. I am more than delighted to be part of this exciting project
The effects of food production on climate change
Where can we find the solutions to produce food more sustainably? Several chemists talk about the future of food production and reducing its effects on the environment.
Read and publish in our themed collections
Sustainable Food Technology publishes a number of themed collections every year, guest edited by members of the community on timely and important topics.
Interested in contributing your work? Explore the latest open calls for papers in Sustainable Food Technology
Journal scope
Sustainable Food Technology is a gold open-access journal dedicated to publishing innovative strategies for producing safe, high-quality food in environmentally sustainable ways. This multidisciplinary journal publishes research spanning chemistry, physics, engineering, biotechnology, as well as environmental and materials science, all aimed at advancing sustainable solutions in food production.
We welcome novel green strategies for both crops and animal products throughout all post-harvest stages of food production. We also invite research in biotechnology and bioengineering aimed at increasing food production sustainably.
Manuscripts submitted to Sustainable Food Technology should focus on either applied or fundamental science and cover the development and optimisation of technologies aimed at improving post-harvest supply-chain of food. All manuscripts must address environmental, economic and/or health challenges associated with food sustainability.
The quantitative and/or qualitative aspect of sustainability e.g. water usage, energy efficiency, process intensification, by-product extraction, or benchmarking of proposed sustainable packaging against conventional should be demonstrated and discussed.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Novel and sustainable food resources and food ingredients
- Food fortification
- Food production systems requiring less energy and water consumption
- Nanotechnology and biosensors in food processing, packaging and safety
- Data harmonisation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence to assist food production and control
- Omics-based food traceability tools to prevent economic and sanitary threats
- Biotechnology, bioengineering, and cellular agriculture approaches to enhance food production, quality, or safety
- Emerging techniques in food preservation and processing: food engineering innovations, non-thermal methods, bioactive compounds
- Green active and intelligent packaging and storage systems
- Circular economy approaches , including methods that enhance the value of food by-products and food waste (recovery and valorisation)
- Life cycle analysis and sustainability metrics in food production and processing
- Sustainable intensification of food production and processing
Manuscripts must show significant novelty and exhibit cutting-edge technologies or engineering advances. Sufficient chemical, microbiological and/or nutritional analysis must be provided to justify claims of novelty, interest and applicability of the research presented.
Manuscripts without a foundation in sustainability, or studies that are purely descriptive in nature are not suitable for publication in this journal.
The following fields of study are not included in the scope of Sustainable Food Technology:
- Nutritional studies – these can be published in Food & Function
- Routine applications of well-established processing and preservation techniques
- Compositional analyses of conventional foods not representing novel food resources
- In-vitro characterization of microorganisms not performed in food models or food systems
- Incremental advances or application of agricultural practices
Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award
We are delighted to introduce the Outstanding Early Career Research Award 2023. This award aims to acknowledge and celebrate exceptional contributions made by early career researchers within the Sustainable Food Technology field. It serves as a means of recognition for their dedication, innovation, and impactful research endeavours.
Find out more about the award and meet the winners
Submissions
Submissions are initially assessed and taken through peer-review by our high-profile, internationally-recognised Associate Editors. The journal operates a single-anonymised peer review model, and a minimum of two reviewer reports are required.
See who's on the team
Meet Sustainable Food Technology Editor-in-Chief and board members.
Editor-in-Chief University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Associate Editor Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Associate Editor
RMIT University, Australia
Associate Editor Institute of Chemical Technology, India
Associate Editor University of Maryland, USA
Editorial Board Member
University College Dublin, Ireland
Cristóbal N. Aguilar, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Mexico
Rafael Auras, Michigan State University, USA
Bhesh Bhandari, University of Queensland, Australia
Maria G. Corradini, University of Guelph, Canada
Sakamon Devahastin, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, Thailand
Tian Ding, Zhejiang University, China
Hao Feng, North Carolina A&T State University, USA
Elena Ibañez, CIAL-CSIC, Spain
Joe P. Kerry, University College Cork, Ireland
Olga Martín-Belloso, University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
Maria Angela A Meireles, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Manjusri Misra, University of Guelph, Canada
Solange I. Mussatto, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Ian Noble, Mondelez International, UK
Indrawati Oey, University of Otago, New Zealand
Caio Otoni, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Umezuruike Linus Opara, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Federico Pallottino, CREA-IT, Italy
Marco Poiana, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy
Anet Režek Jambrak, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Victor Rodov, Agricultural Research Organization - The Volcani Institute, Israel
Andreas Schieber, University of Bonn, Institute of Nutritional and Food Sciences, Germany
Aimin Shi, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Juming Tang, Washington State University, USA
Paula Teixeira, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal
Long Yu, South China University of Technology, Institute of Chemistry, Henan Academy of Sciences, China
Min Zhang, Jiangnan University, China
Anna Rulka, Executive Editor, ORCID: 0000-0002-3236-9801
Audra Taylor, Deputy Editor
Viktoria Titmus, Editorial Production Manager
Angelica-Jane Onyekwere, Assistant Editor
Zareena Saleem, Assistant Editor
Michael Whitelaw, Assistant Editor
Alexander Whiteside, Assistant Editor ORCID: 0000-0002-1743-1531
Samantha Campos, Editorial Assistant
Jasmin AP, Publishing Assistant
Neil Hammond, Publisher, ORCID: 0000-0001-6390-8874
Open access
We want the research published here to be easily accessible and beneficial to people globally. That’s why Sustainable Food Technology is gold open access with all article processing charges (APCs) paid by us until mid-2025 – so initially you can publish for free. We’re committed to increasing the visibility of your articles and making a difference around the world. As part of the submission process, authors will be asked to agree to the Sustainable Food Technology open access terms & conditions.
We offer Sustainable Food Technology authors a choice of two Creative Commons licences: CC BY or CC BY NC. Publication under these licences means that authors retain the copyright of their article, but users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Read our open access statement for further information.
All published articles are deposited with LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico and the British Library for archiving.
Dive into the benefits of open access publishing
Find out more about open access publishing routes
Transparent peer review policy
To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article. Reviewers are anonymous unless they choose to sign their reports.
Find out more about our transparent peer review policy.
Article Types
Sustainable Food Technology publishes:
- Communications
- Full papers
- Reviews
- Comments
Author Guidelines
General author guidelines
For general guidance on preparing an article please visit our Prepare your article page, the content of which is relevant to all our journals.
To learn more about the Royal Society of Chemistry's policies and processes, including licensing, publishing ethics, peer review, and formatting, please refer to our Resources for authors page.
All submitted papers must include a cover letter that should specify the novelty of the work and give a justification for the publication of the paper.
Peer review and editorial process
All articles published in Sustainable Food Technology are subject to external peer review by anonymised experts in the field and all manuscripts submitted are handled by a team of internationally recognised Associate Editors, who are all practicing scientists in the field.
The peer review for all articles submitted to the journal consists of the following stages:
- Phase 1: Your manuscript is initially assessed by an associate editor to determine its suitability for peer review
- Phase 2: If the manuscript passes the initial assessment process, the associate editor solicits recommendations from at least two anonymous reviewers who are experts in the field. They will provide a report along with their recommendation.
- Phase 3: The associate editor handling your manuscript makes a decision based on the reviewer reports received. In the event that no clear decision can be made, another reviewer will be consulted.
Sustainable Food Technology is committed to a rigorous peer review process and expert editorial oversight for all published content. Please refer to our processes and policies for full details including our appeals procedure.
All submissions to our Open Calls will undergo an initial assessment by the journal Editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals.
Publication frequency
Articles accepted for publication in Sustainable Food Technology are published online with citeable DOIs as Advance Articles after they are edited and typeset. Articles are then assigned page numbers and published in an issue. Issues of Sustainable Food Technology are published every other month. Please find our most recent issue here.
Ethical Requirements
Sustainable Food Technology authors, editors, reviewers and published works are required to uphold the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ethical standards. The Royal Society of Chemistry is a member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our ethical standards follow COPE’s core practices and best practice guidelines. In cases where these guidelines are breached or appear to be so, the Royal Society of Chemistry will consult with COPE.
When a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, authors must include in the 'methods/experimental' section of the manuscript a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the author’s institute’s policy on animal use and ethics; where possible, details of compliance with national or international laws or guidelines should be included. The statement must name the institutional/local ethics committee which has approved the study; where possible, the approval or case number should be provided. A statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects is required. Reviewers may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.
For further guidance on author responsibilities and code of conduct, which apply to Sustainable Food Technology and to all manuscripts submitted to Royal Society of Chemistry journals, please visit our author hub.
Themed Collections
Sustainable Food Technology publishes a number of themed collections every year on timely and important topics, guest edited by members of the community. All submissions to our themed collections undergo an initial assessment by the journal's associate editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals.
Subscription Information
Sustainable Food Technology is fully gold open access – articles can be downloaded free from the website with no barriers to access.
Online only: ISSN 2753-8095
Copyright
Copyright is retained by authors when an open access licence is accepted, as with our standard licence to publish agreement. Full and accurate attribution to the original author is required for any re-use of the work. Find out more about copyright, licences and re-use permission.
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**The median time from submission to first decision including manuscripts rejected without peer review from the previous calendar year
***The median time from submission to first decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts from the previous calendar year