Would you give us a brief history of the journal?

LWT – Food Science and Technology (LWT) has been published by Elsevier since 2004, following its acquisition of the journal’s previous publisher, Academic Press. Ownership of the journal has recently transferred to Elsevier from the Swiss Society for Food Science and Technology (SGLWT).

LWT began publishing in 1968 following the initiative of a group of food scientists at ETH Zurich, the Technical University of Karlsruhe, and the Federal Research Institute for Food Preservation (now Nutrition) in Karlsruhe, Germany. Publishing as LWT – Lebensmittel Wissenschaft-und Technologie, its focus was on new innovations and sound science, with papers accepted using common sense, not necessarily looking at high citation potential. Papers were to be interesting and innovative, and publication of papers repeating results with different products was discouraged.

How would you account for the increased citation rate of LWT?

In 2000, the journal underwent a name change in Thomson Reuters (then ISI), which resulted in it being listed twice, under two different names. For the 2000 Journal Citation Reports®, the title Food Science & Technology-Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft & Technologie had an impact factor (IF), while the concurrent title (Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft-und Technologie) had no IF listed. In 2001, both titles were listed with separate IFs. In 2002 and 2003 the journal was listed as Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und Technologie.

When Elsevier began publishing LWT in 2004, discussions had already been underway to change the journal name to a title that would reflect its subject more easily to English readers—thus the name LWT – Food Science and Technology was chosen. This period of blurred identity may explain why the journal is now achieving the growth in citations that it has recently seen, as its citations are no longer split between two separate titles, and as non-German speaking authors can identify that LWT is indeed a food science journal.

Did you expect LWT to become highly cited, or is this surprising to you? Was there a change in policy or editorial direction that might account for this?

The new Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Katrin Hecht, took over the role in January 2008, succeeding Dr. Irene Studer-Rohr. Dr. Hecht is not surprised at the high citation rate of the journal. Although the journal started slowly, there was a sound knowledge base, with those involved with the journal working closely together, along with strong support of the host institute (ETH, in Zürich, Switzerland).

The appointment of a Reviews Editor (Prof. Shri Sathe) has led to an increase in review papers, and the continuing input of Prof. Rakesh Singh and Dr. Melanie Loessner as Editors has helped to improve manuscript turnaround times. The publisher has also raised the profile of the journal through marketing and display at major food conferences.

How do you see your field(s) evolving in the next few years? What role do you see for your journal?

Dr. Hecht sees the role of LWT to serve as a source of innovative research. LWT accepts a broad spectrum of research; this, combined with the improved IF, has resulted in a large increase in the number of manuscripts submitted to the journal. The editors maintain a policy of high standards, stricter reviews, and higher rejection rates. It is vital that submissions not only report a description of results and methods, but also provide justification for why the research was carried out.

She sees food science evolving to include research into new or modified ingredients with enhanced functionality, antioxidants including functional foods, innovative processing technology, and packaging. Key growth areas in LWT include antioxidants, particularly those from plants. Hot topics will continue to be functional foods, shelf life, and healthy foods.

LWT – Food Science and Technology
Dr. Katrin Hecht, Editor-in-Chief
Elsevier, publishers

KEYWORDS: FOOD SCIENCE, PUBLICATION HISTORY, CITATION DATABASES, TITLE CHANGES, IMPACT FACTOR, ANTIOXIDANTS, FUNCTIONAL FOODS, PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY, FOOD PACKAGING, SHELF LIFE.