Nutritional Neuroscience

Edited by:
  • Chandan Prasad
> Harwood Academic. 6/yr. 86 euros

Public Health Nutrition

Edited by:
  • Barrie Margetts
> CABI. 4/yr. £175, $310 (institutional); £48, $80 (special rate for members of The Nutrition Society)
Credit: DAVID NEWTON

Given the cornucopia of nutrition literature, one could justifiably ask if we need yet another journal in this field. Nutrition in the twenty-first century will be based increasingly on creating an interdisciplinary field of epidemiology, structural biology, integrative physiology and molecular pathogenesis. This should ensure that we revolutionize the ways in which we investigate, diagnose and treat nutrition-related health problems.

The late twentieth century has seen a number of fundamental transformations in the study of the brain. Recently, the qualitative approach crucial to understanding nutrition has been embraced by neuroscientists to the extent that the subject may be on the verge of a golden age, in which fields once thought impenetrable can be explored in detail. The publishing venture of Nutritional Neuroscience is an acknowledgement of the growing community of researchers dedicated to studying these very exciting topics from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. The enterprise will play an important part in bridging the gap between neuroscientists and nutritionists by focusing on eating disorders, at the same time as trying to unravel the complex underlying neuroanatomical and pathophysiological processes.

Given the Jeremiahs who prophesy that it is foolish to launch journals in such difficult financial times, the publishing venture of two new nutrition-oriented journals must be congratulated.

Nutritional Neuroscience is a handsome periodical covering an admirably broad range of topics including the effects of the various components of diet, dietary supplements and food additives on neurochemistry, neurobiology and behavioural biology. The neural and hormonal control of food intake, and dietary considerations in the management of neurologic and psychiatric disorders are also covered. It is the first journal to focus specifically on this area, and fills an important niche. The journal therefore merits reading by neuroscientists, nutritionists, neurologists and psychiatrists.

Public Health Nutrition was launched in March last year to cover studies involving nutritional epidemiology, nutrition-related health promotion, evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention studies aimed at improving health, the role of nutrition in high-risk and vulnerable groups as well as population-based research related to primary prevention of illness. This periodical will be valued by nutritionists and dietitians involved in nutritional epidemiology research, primary prevention and public health, together with epidemiologists and health-promotion specialists who are interested in the increasingly recognized role played by nutrition in disease prevention.

This attractive journal has an outstanding editorial board, with members representing 11 countries and committed to supporting, developing and maintaining an international perspective. So far, about half of the articles have come from Europe, the United States and Canada. Interestingly, 39 per cent of articles have been submitted by groups from different countries working in collaboration.

The period from submission to acceptance is generally two to three months, although the lag for actual publication is around five to six months. Public Health Nutrition fulfils the requisites of a high-quality journal and is therefore most welcome.

Web-surfing scientists may also enjoy visiting the electronic address of The Nutrition Society (http://www.nutsoc.org.uk/phnj.htm) to browse through the papers of all of the issues of Public Health Nutrition. Updated regularly, the site is extremely user-friendly.