Food Protection Trends - November/December 2021 - 621

would probably be happy to pay DOI costs. Melody asked about the
primary differences between JFP and FPT content and readers? David
Tharp describes it as technical research versus more application-focused
research/study. Cathy indicated also a higher source of social science
research along with validation methods. More opportunity for preliminary
findings, publications of surveys of food safety culture and strategies.
Recommendations to the Executive Board:
1.
2.
Recommendation to Board: Prepare a checklist for authors preparing
a paper to assist in paper preparation and submission. Add the
checklist form to the end of the author guide.
Recommend mimicking for FPT the adoption of the current ASM
style guide in a manner similar to that implemented by the Journal
of Food Protection, with specific reference to the formatting of
references and other bibliographic material.
3.
4.
Recommend approval of Laura Strawn as Vice Chair of the FPT
Management Committee.
Move forward to add DOIs to all FPT papers published starting in
2022.
Next Meeting Date: July 31-August 3, 2022, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Meeting Adjourned: 2:55 p.m. Eastern Time.
Chairperson: Byron Chaves.
Journal of Food Protection Management Committee
Members Present: Fred Breidt (Chair), Matthew Moore (Vice Chair),
Karuna Kharel (Student Liaison), Joshua Gurtler, Lauren Jackson, Elliot
Ryser, and Panagiotis Skandamis (Scientific Editors), Byron Chaves (FPT
Management Committee Chair), Andy Hwang, Armitra Jackson Davis,
Bala Kottapalli, Barbara Ingham, Angela Fraser, Jeffrey LeJeune, Edith
Wilkin, Jovana Kovacevic, Marion Castle, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona,
Sanjay Gummalla, and Patricia Rule.
New Members Present: Sanjay Gummalla, Armitra Jackson Davis,
John Luchansky, and Anett Winkler.
Outgoing Members Present: Peter ben Embarek and Ynes Ortega.
Board/Staff Present: Michelle Danyluk, Emilio Esteban, Kali Kniel,
Didi Loynachan, Dina Siedenburg, Donna Bahun, David Tharp, and
Lisa Hovey.
Visitors: Judy Luther.
Number of Attendees: 33.
Meeting Called to Order: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, June 3,
2021.
Minutes Recording Secretary: Matt Moore.
Old Business: The meeting was called to order, and Matt was designated
as the recording secretary. Four members who will be leaving
the committee were highlighted and thanked for their service. Four new
members who will be joining the committee were named and welcomed
and introduced. The previous meetings' minutes were introduced with no
objections. Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona motioned to approve, and Byron
Chaves-Elizondo seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
Panos gave the Scientific Editors' Report. He presented numbers for
volume 82 (2019) and 83 (2020). Previous efforts to increase the number
of mini-reviews and general interest papers were highlighted. Panos also
highlighted the numbers associated with accelerating the time between
submission and publication of articles online; which is a continuing
trend. The geographical distribution of authors of published works was
presented, along with the distribution of editors (179), which includes 65
countries other than the U.S. represented. The commitment to a diverse
editorial board and authorship was stated. The frequency and distribution
of submissions was highlighted, and contained a bimodal distribution that
was likely a reflection of the different stages of revision different manuscripts
received. The current volume (84) was presented. There was a
roughly stable amount of submissions compared to previous years. The
need to increase the number of submissions was highlighted, as well as
the goal to attract higher impact submissions. A trend of increasing pages
per submission was also noted. Publication award winners for this year
were then presented. A number of questions and discussion about the
findings of the report were addressed. There was a drop in rejection rate
in 2020 compared to a higher rate in 2021. This was thought to be attributable
to an increasing number of papers with regional focus that lacked
scientific depth end up getting rejected. It is likely too early to discern
if this is a formal trend. Another thought could be that the effects of the
pandemic were also contributing to this trend. A question was raised as to
if the reasons for rejection were recorded, which they are not currently.
Didi then provided the Administrative Editor's Report. An effort was
made to reach out to selected presenters from the 2020 meeting to write
research articles about their presentations. Print subscriptions and overall
subscriber numbers were both down relative to 2019, and the pandemic
was thought to be partially responsible for this. Subscriptions to JFP
online was down among institutions but up among individuals. The concerted
effort to increase selected reviews was mentioned with respect to
potentially aiding in increasing the impact factor of the journal. Didi then
announced that she will be retiring, and there was a universal expression
of thanks and appreciation from the members of the committee for her
numerous years of service to IAFP and JFP.
New Business: After many years of exemplary service, Elliot Ryser
announced that he will be stepping down as Scientific Editor at the end of
the calendar year 2021 as he retires. The committee expressed its unanimous
appreciation and thanks for his many years of service to JFP and
IAFP, as well as for his mentorship of many junior members of IAFP and
JFP. Two open positions for Scientific Editor were then addressed. Joshua
Gurtler announced that he will renew his appointment as Scientific
Editor, thus addressing one of the positions. With one position still open,
a search committee will need to be formed that contains JFP Management
Committee members, an IAFP Executive Board member, the Chair
of the JFP Management Committee and a Scientific Editor. The goal will
be to have someone identified by November 2021.
Panos then announced the inaugural editorial board meeting that
happened earlier this year, which went well, with about 100 in attendance.
The effort to identify potentially meritorious manuscripts was mentioned,
as well as the effort to increase submissions by identifying promising abstracts
to the meeting and inviting those presenters to submit to JFP. The
issue and policy regarding pre-prints was discussed, with the ultimate
decision to accept works that were posted as pre-prints so long as that is
referenced. Ethics issues were also discussed as there have been some
instances where authors were listed who did not know they were authors
on a work. The need for IRB and/or animal ethical committee approval
was also discussed. A reminder that papers should not be critiqued
primarily on grammar unless it is so bad that one cannot understand what
is trying to be stated was made. Topics related to increasing the impact of
the journal were discussed, as well as the issue with submissions that are
on topics that have limited scope (natural antimicrobials with only in vitro
work; very regionally focused work, etc.). Thus, the criteria to increase the
impact of the journal and manuscripts considered was discussed. Next,
the increasing need to publish open access works was discussed in the
context of its likely aiding exposure/accessibility and thus increasing impact
factor. The increased number of requests to waive publication fees.
While the goal of making JFP accessible and affordable was expressed,
there are some financial constraints to the degree to which these fees
can be waived. This was noted as something to keep in mind for the
future.
Judy Luther then provided a JFP strategy update. The support and
effort to make JFP open access was discussed. This is a major transition
to move from subscription to open access. Many journals like this need to
partner with big publishers, and this is what will be needed by JFP. The
Executive Board has approved exploring this route and identifying a big
publisher, and Didi and Judy are in talks with a number of the big publishers
to better understand what the implications will be for IAFP and JFP.
An increasing trend in many regions (EU, university library systems dropping
subscription models) to require work to be published open access
was noted. There is an increasing pressure to streamline publication and
shorten time to publication all while reducing costs; big publishers are the
only ones with the resources to adequately respond to these pressures.
A number of questions were then raised. It is unclear what the role of the
JFP Management Committee will be going forward if JFP partners with a
major publisher. There likely will still be a role for the committee, however
November/December Food Protection Trends 621
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Food Protection Trends - November/December 2021

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