The British Journal of Nutrition (BJN) is the flagship journal of the Nutrition Society, founded in 1941 to advance the scientific study of nutrition and its application to the maintenance of human and animal health.

In 1947, the Nutrition Society launched the BJN as an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes papers across the full spectrum of nutritional science. The focus of all manuscripts submitted to the BJN should be to increase knowledge in nutritional science relevant to human or animal nutrition.

As for all sciences, rigorous and innovative methodology underpins advances in nutritional science. For more than 75 years, the BJN has published influential review articles that shape emerging fields of research. For example, a review on prebiotics (food substances that improve the gut microbiome) published in 2010 has been cited more than 1,500 times.

Rigorous peer review process

With support from our publishers, Cambridge University Press, we operate a peer review process that provides rigorous and fair evaluation of submitted manuscripts.

Manuscripts undergo an initial screening to ensure that the topic of the manuscript is within the remit and that the authors have complied with requirements — e.g. around ethical standards for reporting studies involving humans or experiments on animals.

Manuscripts are peer reviewed, normally by at least two expert reviewers, and may undergo review by one of our specialist Statistical Editors. Each manuscript is handled by a First Editor, an experienced researcher in the topic under study, who uses the reports from peer reviewers to provide a recommendation to a Deputy Editor. Deputy Editors are the decision makers within the BJN who write the Editorial Report that informs authors whether their manuscript has been accepted, requires revision or has been rejected.

Celebrating excellent research

In 2022, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the BJN by publishing a special collection of our most highly cited papers. In addition to methodological and review papers in human nutrition, our top 10 highly cited papers included two in animal nutrition, one of which addressed the fundamental processes that enable ruminant animals to digest herbaceous plants.

In parallel, we published Invited Commentaries that discussed why each of these highly cited papers was so influential and how that area of science has subsequently developed.

For the past five years, we have made an annual Paper of the Year award for which all papers published in the previous year are considered. The short-list is determined by the Deputy Editors, each of whom chooses the best paper that they have handled over the previous year, based on the criteria of originality, significance and rigor.

An independent External Panel, composed of former presidents of the Nutrition Society and an internationally leading expert, ranks the short-listed papers and identifies the winner. The winning papers celebrate the breadth and depth of nutrition research globally and have included teams based in Japan, Ethiopia, Spain, Australia and Portugal. In addition to a prize, the winner is invited to make a presentation about their paper at the Nutrition Society Congress in the UK.

Robust nutrition study in China

This year, I visited China to meet with colleagues in Shanghai and Beijing to discuss current nutritional research and opportunities for publication in the BJN.

I was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm, expertise and ambition of the early career researchers whom I was privileged to meet. These excellent young researchers, together with China's sustained investment in laboratories, human cohorts, clinical and other facilities, set China on a path to becoming a global leader in nutrition research.

I expect more excellent research results from my Chinese counterparts. Together, we will push the frontiers of global nutrition research, striving to safeguard the health and well-being of both humans and animals worldwide.

The article is written by John Mathers. He is the editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Nutrition, professor of human nutrition at Newcastle University in the UK, and former president of the Nutrition Society.

Journal Review

With its rigorous academic approach and profound academic foundation, the British Journal of Nutrition (BJN) has become one of the most important journals in global nutrition research.

BJN has published numerous influential research papers, advancing the understanding of the relationship between diet and health. Several studies on dietary patterns, micronutrient deficiencies, and their links to chronic diseases have provided scientific support for the development of public health policies. The journal not only focuses on fundamental nutrition research, but also covers clinical applications and innovative nutritional interventions, profoundly influencing the direction of global nutrition research.

BJN remains committed to exploring the intersection of nutrition, metabolism and immunology. For example, recent studies published on the relationship between gut microbiota and metabolic diseases offer new perspectives for understanding the multidimensional effects of nutrition on health.

With its rigorous peer review system and high-quality academic output, BJN has garnered significant attention from Chinese scholars. We have strong reasons to anticipate deeper collaboration between BJN and Chinese scholars, as well as an increase in high-quality research from China published in BJN.

—— Yu Kang, vice president and chief expert of the Chinese Nutrition Society, and director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.