Publication Guide
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is the leading US scientific society for food science and technology. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, IFT brings together more than 17,000 food scientists, technologists, and industry professionals from over 90 countries. Unlike large commercial houses, IFT is a focused society publisher: its peer-reviewed journals are published by Wiley on IFT's behalf and hosted on the IFT hub of Wiley Online Library (ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com).
IFT's active peer-reviewed portfolio centers on two titles: the Journal of Food Science (founded 1936 as Food Research) and Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (launched 2002), plus the monthly member magazine Food Technology. A third journal, the Journal of Food Science Education, ran from 2002 until it ceased publication in 2021. This guide covers which IFT venue fits your paper, open-access options and APCs, the peer-review workflow, and how to submit.
Which IFT journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Report original research in food chemistry, microbiology, engineering, sensory science, or nutrition | Journal of Food Science - IFT's flagship research journal, sectioned by discipline since 1996, publishing applied and fundamental food science across the full field. |
| Write an authoritative review or synthesis on a food science or food safety topic | Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety - online-only, review-focused, and consistently among the highest-impact review venues in food science. |
| Share practice-oriented or industry-facing perspectives | Food Technology magazine - IFT's monthly member magazine covering processing, packaging, ingredients, safety, and industry trends (not a peer-reviewed research outlet). |
What IFT publishes
- Journal of Food Science (JFS) - IFT's flagship, publishing peer-reviewed original research since 1936. Sections span food chemistry, food engineering, materials science, food microbiology and safety, sensory and consumer science, nutrition, and health. Nine issues per year, hybrid open access.
- Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (CRFSFS) - launched in 2002 as an online-only review journal. It publishes in-depth, invited and unsolicited reviews across food science, food safety, food engineering, and related regulatory science, and carries one of the highest Journal Impact Factors in the food science category (12.8 in the 2020 JCR release; check the current JCR for the latest value).
- Food Technology - the monthly membership magazine, professionally edited rather than peer reviewed.
- Journal of Food Science Education - IFT's pedagogy journal (2002-2021), now ceased; its archive remains available on Wiley Online Library.
IFT also runs IFT Press, a book program operated in partnership with Wiley.
Open access and APCs
Both active IFT journals are hybrid: articles are published behind Wiley's subscription paywall by default at no cost to authors, with an optional Gold OA route.
| Route | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription (default) | $0 | No page or submission charges for standard subscription publication. |
| Hybrid Gold OA | ~3,500 | Wiley OnlineOpen APC, licensed CC BY (or other CC licences where permitted). Prices are set per journal and revised annually - always check Wiley's current APC list before submitting. |
| Green OA (self-archiving) | $0 | Wiley's standard self-archiving policy applies, typically allowing accepted-manuscript deposit after an embargo - check the journal's policy page. |
| Read & Publish coverage | $0 to author | IFT journals are included in Wiley's transformative agreements; authors at participating institutions (e.g., Projekt DEAL, Jisc, and many national consortia) can publish OA with fees covered. Check the ESAC registry or your library. |
Peer review
- Model: single-anonymized peer review is the norm across IFT journals - reviewers know author identities, authors do not know reviewers.
- Editors: both journals are led by academic editors supported by discipline-specific associate editors.
- Turnaround: decision times vary by journal, section, and revision cycle; consult the journal homepage on Wiley Online Library for current editorial statistics rather than relying on historical averages.
How to submit
- Pick your venue. Original research goes to the Journal of Food Science; reviews go to Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.
- Read the author guidelines. Each journal's guidelines on Wiley Online Library set out scope, article types, and length limits.
- Format your manuscript. IFT journals use the IFT author-year citation style; SciSpace templates for IFT formats are available at scispace.com/formats/ift.
- Submit online. IFT journals have used ScholarOne Manuscripts (Manuscript Central) via Wiley; Wiley has been migrating titles to its Research Exchange submission platform, so follow the submission link on the journal's homepage for the current system.
- Track and revise. The submission platform handles status tracking, reviewer reports, and revised versions.
Ethics and integrity
IFT journals follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and Wiley - the publishing partner - is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. Standard expectations apply: originality, disclosure of conflicts of interest, appropriate authorship, and data availability statements where required by the journal. Retractions and corrections follow COPE procedures.
