Research Ethics & Informed Consent Policy

Food Innovation, Function and Sustainability (FIFS) requires research involving humans, animals or other activities requiring ethical oversight to be conducted in accordance with appropriate ethical standards and applicable institutional and regulatory requirements.

Human Participant Research

Research involving human participants, including clinical, nutritional, consumer and sensory studies where ethical approval is required, must have received approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or review board before the research was conducted.

Authors should provide the name of the approving body and relevant approval or reference number in the manuscript, where applicable.

Informed Consent

Where applicable, informed consent must be obtained from research participants before participation in the study. Authors should state in the manuscript that appropriate informed consent was obtained.

Where identifiable personal information, images or other identifiable material is included in a publication, appropriate consent for publication must also be obtained.

Animal Research

Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements and relevant animal-welfare regulations. Appropriate ethical approval should be obtained before commencing the research and reported in the manuscript.

Research Not Requiring Formal Ethical Approval

Where formal ethical approval is not required for a particular study, authors should comply with applicable institutional and legal requirements and provide an appropriate statement where relevant.

Editorial Assessment

Editors may request documentation or additional information concerning ethical approval, informed consent or research procedures where necessary.

FIFS reserves the right to reject a manuscript or take appropriate post-publication action where serious concerns arise regarding the ethical conduct or reporting of research.