Advances in Nutrition: responding to need in the nutrition world

Advances in Nutrition has been shortlisted for the ALPSP Award for Best New Journal 2013. Here in a guest post, the publisher, Karen King, reflects on the publication’s launch and its unique characteristics.

Founding Editor Dr. Suttie speaks with a student 

following the “Meet the Editors” Q&A at 

ASN’s Scientific Sessions in 2012

“Advances in Nutrition publishes reviews, commentaries, and program and policy updates that highlight the significance of recent nutrition research and illustrate the central role of nutrition in the promotion of health and prevention of disease.

The launch of this bi-monthly online journal was an exciting undertaking, encouraged by the following factors:

• ASN leaders and officers recognized there was demand for a high-profile publication that would gather, synthesize, and explain the rapidly evolving state of knowledge in all facets of nutrition science. 
• Interest in nutrition from investigators and practitioners in trans-disciplinary fields such as internal medicine, biochemistry, public health and epidemiology was growing dramatically. 
• The acknowledgment that a new journal would build on ASN member expertise, offer additional opportunities for member involvement and directly align with ASN’s mission and strategic plan.

After conducting focus groups and market research, the vision for the content and the pipeline for securing manuscripts was further clarified.

The willingness of authors, reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board (led by Founding Editor John W. Suttie, PhD, a preeminent scientist) was instrumental in tipping the decision to move forward to “yes.”

Advances in Nutrition publishes a range of manuscripts, including material that would probably not have a home in other ASN journals, including:

• Thematic review series (Nutrition and the Genome) 
• Reports from the agencies (Institute of Medicine (US): Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols) 
• Nutrient information sheets (Vitamin E) 
• ASN Scientific Sessions symposia summaries and reviews (Food Insecurity and Health Along the Life Span)

In addition to the recently announced Impact Factor of 3.245, increasing usage and rising subscriptions, the success of the journal is evident in the influence wielded by the reviews. The translational objectives set forth during the publication’s launch are being met with flourish.

The most read articles from Advances feature topics facing people every day when they sit down to a meal:

1. Glen D. Lawrence. Dietary Fats and Health: Dietary Recommendations in the Context of Scientific Evidence. Adv Nutr May 2013; 4: 294-302.
2. James M. Rippe, Theodore J. Angelopoulos. Sucrose, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Fructose, Their Metabolism and Potential Health Effects: What Do We Really Know? Adv Nutr March 2013; 4: 236-245.
3. Mitchell M. Kanter, Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Maria Luz Fernandez, Kasey C. Vickers, David L. Katz. Exploring the Factors That Affect Blood Cholesterol and Heart Disease Risk: Is Dietary Cholesterol as Bad for You as History Leads Us to Believe? Adv Nutr September 2012; 3: 711-717

“We are proud that the hard work we put into launching this review journal in an extremely competitive market has been recognized by peers, and we are confident that Advances fills the gap we first identified,” says ASN Executive Officer Dr. John Courtney.

Karen King is Vice President of Publications for the American Society for Nutrition, and has worked in academic and scholarly publishing for over 20 years. At ASN, she guided the publications division through many years of growth and technological advancement. Innovations have included the adoption of electronic publishing with the launch of the online version of The Journal of Nutrition (1997), the acquisition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition as a result of a merger with the American Society for Clinical Nutrition (2006), and the launch of a new, online-only international reviews journal, Advances in Nutrition (November 2010).


The ALPSP Awards finalists will be given the opportunity to showcase their journal or innovation in a rapid fire session at the ALPSP International Conference on Wednesday 11 September.

The winners will be announced at the Conference Awards Dinner on 12 September. Book now to secure your place.