Editorial Policy
The Journal follows the guidelines for code of conduct recommended by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All papers submitted to Food Technology and Biotechnology are handled according to the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. Before submission, authors should read the Journal's Instructions to authors.
Authors are encouraged to read the European Association of Science Editors guidelines.
For the research on humans or animals, the authors are advised to follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
Peer review
All contributions, including submissions for special issues, are evaluated according to the criteria of originality and quality of their scientific content. All manuscripts are first assessed by the Editor-in-Chief and can be rejected without reviewing if not considered of sufficient interest or novelty, too preliminary or out of scope of the Journal. If the manuscript is considered suitable for further evaluation, it is first sent to the Field editor. All submissions that pass this preliminary screening go through single blind peer review. The final decision is then made based on the reviewers' comments. Non-scientific submissions, i.e. editorials and viewpoints, are evaluated by editors or members of editorial board for originality and receive lignuistic and technical editing.
The revised version is evaluated by the Field editor and/or reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief brings a decision about final acceptance based on their suggestions. If necessary, further revision can be asked for to fulfil all the requirements of the reviewers. Before acceptance for publication, each manuscript is run through iThenticate plagiarism detection software to verify the originality and ensure the quality of the written work.
Before printing, a linguistic, metrological and technical revision is made, at which stage the authors are asked to make the final corrections. The final version is then sent to the printer's office and the authors receive the galley proof for final check before printing. After printing, all manuscripts are posted online as pdf files in the final form, indexed in databases and deposited in CrossRef with the assigned doi numbers.
Confidentiality
Editors handle all papers submitted to Food Technology and Biotechnology in strict confidence. With the exception of reviewers, they do not disclose any information regarding the submissions to third parties, unless in case of a suspected misconduct, where COPE recommendations are followed.
The reviewers are also required to treat the submitted papers confidentially and not to share or distribute the results presented in the papers which they receive for evaluation to third parties. They are encouraged to point out a case of suspected misconduct, but they should act in a confidential manner. The reviewers can also recommend a particular course of action in their confidential comments to the editor, who will then make a decision based on their recommendations, following Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.
Food Technology and Biotechnology conducts a single blind review, i.e. the names of the reviewers are confidential to ensure critical evaluation of the work. The reviewers are asked not to disclose their names or contact details in the comments intended for authors.
Authorship
Authorship has important academic, social, and financial implications. Apart from conferring credit, authorship implies responsibility and accountability for published work. Authors can be individuals or groups of individuals that created a publication based on their idea elaborated into a research with conclusive results. The minimum requirements for authorship are substantial contribution to the work and accountability for the work in both its submitted and then published form. In line with ICMJE recommendations authorship is based on the following 4 criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Apart from being accountable for the parts of the work done, each of the authors should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. The individual contribution of each author must be stated in the cover letter (at the submission) and at later stage in the Declaration of Authorship.
Contribution to the work that does not meet the four criteria of authorship may be credited in the Acknowledgement section. Each of the four criteria alone does not qualify a contributor for authorship, but should be acknowledged. Examples of activities alone, without other contributions, are acquisition of funding, supervision or administrative support, writing assistance, technical or language editing, and proofreading. Corresponding author should request written permission to be acknowledged from the acknowledged individual(s).
All authors should approve the final version of the paper before submitting the paper to Food Technology and Biotechnology. They agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work and they should state and verify with their signatures or the signature of corresponding author in the cover letter that all data is authentic and correct.
Funding sources
Details of all funding sources for the research need to be given. The authors should provide the full official funding agency name(s) and grant number(s). If needed, the relevant agency and grant number can be stated for each author, in which case only authors' initials should be written. Titles of the projects should also be given.
Authorship and AI
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, their use is expanding fast even in research publications. Food Technology and Biotechnology journal joins COPE and other authorities in stating that AI tools cannot be listed as an author of a paper. AI tools cannot meet the requirements for authorship as they cannot take responsibility for the content of the submitted work, cannot affirm the presence or absence of conflict of interest nor manage copyright and license agreements.
Authors who use AI tools in the process of their research, either in writing, production of images and graphics, or collection and/or analysis of data, must transparently disclose in the Materials and Methods section (or other suitable sections) which AI tool and how it was used. Authors bear full responsibility for the content of their manuscript, including the parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics.
Changes in authorship
Changes in authorship after the submission of the paper to Food Technology and Biotechnology can be justified only by the additional work required during the revision. It is not possible after the acceptance of the manuscript for publication. The change in authorship needs to be stated in the cover letter and in the reply to the reviewers, and needs to be accepted and signed by all authors. Change in the order of authors also needs to be stated in the cover letter. All authors should also agree to the change in the order of authors. The change of the order of authors is not possible after the acceptance of manuscript for publication. The corresponding author is responsible for all the changes in the revised version of the paper, including the change in authorship or orders of authors, and should verify it with his/her signature.
Correction of data
All authors should account for the accuracy of the published data. Correction of data should be done before the final printing of the paper. For that reason, the corresponding author receives the galley proof of the paper and is asked to correct it carefully and in timely manner (within 48 h) before publication. If authors find a major mistake or error in the published version of the article, an Erratum will be published in the first available issue and posted online.
Retraction of published papers
If the authors made an honest error or discover the major flaws in their work, they can retract the paper. The online version will then be marked as ’retracted by authors’ and a retraction notice will be added to the CrossRef database. All links to the retracted article will be maintained. If the editors, reviewers or readers notice a case of duplicate or overlapping publication, fraudulent use of data, plagiarism or unethical research, the paper will be, after an internal review by the editor, retracted, in which case the online version will then be marked as ’retracted by editor’ and a retraction notice will be added to the CrossRef database. All links to the retracted article will be maintained. All retractions will be done in accordance with the COPE retraction guidelines.
Ethical considerations
Conflict of interest
Authors should declare any conflict of interest in the cover letter and in the paper, and at a later stage in the statement of Conflict of Interest. When suggesting reviewers, they should pay attention to the fact that the proposal of their colleagues, collaborators or members of their institutions will not be considered during reviewing. Also, the authors should state if they want to exclude a particular reviewer, which will be accepted if the reasons are justifiable. After the acceptance of the paper for publication all authors are obliged to sign the Declaration of Authorship and Statement of Conflict of Interest forms.
According to Journal’s policy, manuscripts are never sent to reviewers from the same institution or (if possible) country as the authors. The reviewers should notify the editors on any conflict of interest which prevents them from reviewing the paper, such as: recent or ongoing collaborations with the authors, inclusion during the preparation of the paper, direct competition, direct dispute with the authors, financial interest, any political, moral, ideological or similar dilemma.
If members of the Editorial or Advisory Board or their close collaborators appear as authors submitting to the journal, they are then excluded from the entire process of evaluation. The reviewers are then chosen in a way to minimize possible bias during the evaluation process. During revision, the editors follow the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.
Research involving human subjects, animals or plants
If the research involves humans or animals, authors are advised to follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
For all tested human subjects, authors should have their informed consent to participate in the study. For subjects under the age of 18, their parents or guardians should give the permission for their participation in the study. If the participant has died, then consent for publication must be sought from the next of kin of the participant. All documentation must be made available on editor's request, and will be treated confidentially. For all tested subjects, a statement detailing compliance with relevant guidelines and/or appropriate permissions or licences must be included in the manuscript.
Research on vertebrates or regulated invertebrates, field studies and other non-experimental research on animals must comply with institutional, national or international guidelines and, where possible, should be approved by an ethics committee. A statement detailing compliance with relevant guidelines and/or appropriate permissions or licences must be included in the manuscript.
Experimental research on plants (either cultivated or wild) including collection of plant material, must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines. Field studies should be conducted in accordance with local legislation, and the manuscript should include a statement specifying the appropriate permissions and/or licences.
Publication misconduct
The Journal follows the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers. Researchers, reviewers, readers or editors of other journals are encouraged to contact the Editorial Office (
Authors bear the sole responsibility for the content of the contribution and all submissions should be accompanied with the signed cover letter in which they declare that they have not violated any internal rules or regulations of their institutions related to the content of the contributions and that they have not submitted the paper somewhere else.
Before acceptance for publication, each manuscript is run through iThenticate plagiarism detection software to verify the originality and ensure the quality of the written work. Authors should take care not to exceed the limit of 20 % of overlapping (no more than 3 % with one source, which must be cited), and even less in the Results and Discussion section, otherwise the paper will be rejected. If these terms are violated, COPE recommendations will be followed and all parties involved will be notified.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
At Food Technology and Biotechnology, we firmly believe in fostering a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion within the scientific community. We recognise that diversity in all its forms – including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, nationality and socioeconomic status – enriches our perspectives, enhances our collective intelligence, and drives innovation. Our editorial decisions are based solely on the merit of the research and its contribution to the advancement of knowledge, without the influence of any individual's personal background or characteristics.
We have aligned our policy with our publisher's EDI policies. Therefore, the website has been upgraded so that website accessibility features have been enabled, in accordance with the web accessibility Directive (EU) 2019/882. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment within our editorial team, with special emphasis on gender equity. We are dedicated to ensuring equity in the publishing process, striving to provide equal opportunities for researchers from all backgrounds to disseminate their work and contribute to the scientific discourse. The journal endorses SAGER guidelines for studies including human participants and animals.
Copyright
Food Technology and Biotechnology applies the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY licence to all published papers, which permits use, distribution, reproduction and archiving in any medium for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited. Appropriate bibliographic citation (authors, manuscript title, journal title, volume, issue, year, page numbers and DOI) should be provided.
Copyright of published papers is retained by the authors, who grant the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Croatia, a licence to publish the manuscript as the original publisher. Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are clearly stated.
Individual users may access, download, copy, display, adapt and translate the manuscripts published in Food Technology and Biotechnology, provided that the authors’ intellectual and moral rights, reputation and integrity are not compromised.
Archiving policy
Authors can archive pre-print (i.e. pre-refereeing) on their personal website, institutional repository or pre-print servers, provided that it is clearly indicated that it is the version submitted to Food Technology and Biotechnology with the link to Journal’s website www.ftb.com.hr.
Authors can archive post-print (i.e. final draft post-refereeing) on their personal website or institutional repository, provided that it is clearly indicated that it is the version accepted for publishing in Food Technology and Biotechnology. DOI number and link to the in press article on the Journal’s website should be provided.
Authors can archive publisher's version/PDF provided that the published source is acknowledged with appropriate bibliographic citation (authors, manuscript title, journal title, volume, issue, year, page numbers and DOI).
All articles are deposited in PubMed Central, Hrčak (Central portal of Croatian scientific journals), DOAJ, J-Gate, Croatian DOI, Croatian web archive and Repository of the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology University of Zagreb.
FTB journal archiving policy is also available at Sherpa Romeo.