Journal Summary 2024 from Editor in Chief

AIMS Agriculture and Food continues to grow and improve. I would like to thank the authors who submitted 425 manuscripts during 2024 and to the dedicated Reviewers, to the Editorial Board, and to the Managing Team of the journal for their hard work during 2024. The combined efforts of the authors and our teams have yielded 60 new published scientific papers and has made 2024 yet another successful year for Aims Agriculture and Food. The published papers consisted of 45 research publications, 12 review papers, 2 editorials and one note. In previous years I shared with you our commitments to enhancing the quality of the published papers and to improving the review process. In 2024 we continued to meet these objectives andwe published only manuscripts that had successfully passed our rigor and careful review process. During 2024, the average time from submission to first decision was 50 days and the average time from submission to final decision was 84 days. We remain committed to both continuously enhancing the quality and competitiveness of our journal as well as to improve the efficiency of the review process. Our published authors come from developing and developed countries and their submitted manuscripts have addressed in 2024 a broad spectrum of topics and challenges related to Agriculture and Food. The metrics of our published papers continue to improve and reflect the success of the authors and the reviewers. The latest Citescore of our journal in Scopus is 3.7, the latest Impact Factor in ESCI-Web of Science is 1.9, and the ranking of our journal continues to improve. AIMS Agriculture and Food is well positioned by JCI ranking. For example, our journal is ranked 113/173 in the Food Science and Technology category, and it is ranked 44/126 in the Agronomy category. Ranking by Citescore in the Food Science category is 169/389. During 2024 we have issued eight Special Issues/Topical Sections addressing different aspects and challenges of the interface between food and agriculture. The beginning of a new year is a good time for all of us to challenge our agriculture- and food-related goals and objectives. It is also time to assess the extent to which our goals from the previous year or even years have been met and, accordingly, to design out path for the coming 12 months and beyond. Scanning the scope of recent investments and efforts in research and development reveals that significant monetary and brain power is focused on developing new revolutionary horizons. Developing new and alternative sources for animal-derived proteins has become a major objective in recent years. However, although these new research avenues seem to be attractive, and even lucrative, we should not be distracted by the glory of new scientific discoveries or re-discoveries and realize that most of our past-years agriculture- and food-related goals and challenges have not been met. We must also challenge the hypothesis and promise that alternative food materials are likely to enhance our capabilities in successfully meeting our agriculture- and food-related challenges and gaps. In many respects, the gap between where we should have been and where we are today has widened. If we are truthful to our overall goal of providing the world's population with sufficient nutritious and safe food, we need to face our realities and direct our efforts and resources accordingly. Like in past years, our main unmet challenges are in the areas of food security, food safety, and in reducing the generation of agriculture- and food waste. Sadly, more than 700 million people continue to face different extent of hunger. About 29% of the global population are severely or moderately food insecure. According to the FAO, we are far from achieving the goals of Zero Hunger and success in meeting the 2030 deadline of the Zero Hunger campaign is highly questionable, to put it mildly. We continue to waste and lose between 25–40% of the food that we grow and produce. Progress in significantly reducing food waste and loss has been marginal and it seems that we are focused more on developing applications for the waste that we generate rather than on preventing waste generation. Food safety continues to be a challenge in both developing and developed parts of the world. It has been reported that almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year. About 40% of the foodborne disease burden is carried by children under the age of 5 years, with 125,000 deaths every year. It is thus clear that a significant effort is required to develop effective tools, concepts, and approaches to successfully meet our shared goals and objectives. Our journal is unique in its broad spectrum spanning from the field to the consumption of the final food products. Our journal is well positioned to become an effective platform for sharing information and discussing advances in addressing and meeting the afore-stated global challenges. I would like to invite our past published authors and new ones to utilize our journal as an effective means to publish and promote their research in a way that will collectively advance our ability to better feed the world with sufficient, healthy, nutritious, and safe food. I wish all of us a highly productive and peaceful 2025.

Moshe Rosenberg, D.Sc., Editor in Chief

Professor Emeritus

Department of Food Science and Technology

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616

U.S.A