Submissions

Author Guidelines

1. Scope and Types of Articles

Penelitian Gizi dan Makanan (The Journal of Nutrition and Food Research) welcomes scholarly manuscripts relevant to nutrition and food research, including original research, scientific analyses of secondary data, policy analyses, and scholarly reviews addressing current developments, research findings, and emerging issues in nutrition and food science.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, must not have been previously published in another scholarly publication, and must not be under consideration for publication by another journal. Manuscripts previously made available as preprints may be considered in accordance with the journal's policies, provided that the existence of the preprint is disclosed at submission.

The journal considers the following types of articles:

1. Original Research Article: Reports empirical research using clearly described methods, appropriate analyses, and findings that contribute to scientific knowledge.

2. Secondary Data Analysis: Presents new analyses of previously collected data, explaining the data source, authorization for data use, analytical methods, and the novel contribution of the research.

3. Policy Analysis: Examines policies, programs, regulations, or interventions related to nutrition and food research using an explicit analytical framework and credible sources of evidence.

4. Review Article: Provides a critical synthesis of relevant scientific literature, including narrative reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

Manuscripts are assessed according to their relevance to the journal's scope, originality, scientific quality, methodological appropriateness, research integrity, and potential contribution to the field.

2. Language and General Manuscript Requirements

Manuscripts may be written in Indonesian or English. The language must be clear, accurate, and appropriate for scholarly communication.

The general manuscript requirements are as follows:

• Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word format (.docx).

• Paper size must be A4.

• The font must be Arial, 10 pt.

• Line spacing must be single-spaced.

• Manuscripts should generally be 10–20 pages in length, including tables, figures, and references.

• Formatting should be simple and consistent to facilitate editorial processing.

• Page numbers must be included consecutively.

• Measurements should follow the International System of Units (SI), where applicable.

• Terminology, abbreviations, symbols, and scientific notation must be used consistently.

Authors are encouraged to cite relevant primary sources and recent scientific literature, particularly publications from the preceding five years. Older publications may be cited when they represent fundamental references, established methods, or scientifically relevant sources.

3. Manuscript Submission and Peer Review

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's Online Journal System (OJS), following the submission instructions provided on the journal's website.

Each submission undergoes an initial editorial screening to assess its scope, completeness, preliminary scientific quality, and compliance with the journal's policies. Manuscripts that meet the initial requirements may proceed to double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers.

Under the double-blind peer-review system, authors' identities are concealed from reviewers, and reviewers' identities are concealed from authors throughout the review process.

To support anonymous review, authors must upload the following files:

1. Title Page: Contains the manuscript title, names and affiliations of all authors, corresponding author information, and other required identifying details.

2. Main Manuscript: Contains the complete manuscript without author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, or other information that directly identifies the authors.

3. Supplementary Files: Includes supporting documents, reporting checklists, research instruments, or other relevant materials, where applicable.

The final acceptance or rejection decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized editor, taking into account the peer-review reports, scientific quality, and journal policies. Compliance with technical requirements does not guarantee manuscript acceptance.

4. Title and Author Information

4.1. Title

The title must be concise, informative, and representative of the main focus of the study. Titles must be provided in both Indonesian and English, with a maximum of 14 words for each version.

Titles should avoid uncommon abbreviations, overly broad expressions, and wording that does not accurately reflect the content of the manuscript.

4.2. Author Information

Author information must be provided on the separate Title Page and entered into the OJS submission metadata.

The required information includes:

• Full name of each author, without academic degrees or professional titles.

• Institutional affiliation of each author, including the department or unit where relevant.

• City and country of each institution.

• Email address of the corresponding author.

• Corresponding author's telephone or mobile number, where required for editorial communication.

• ORCID iD for each author, where available.

The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the editorial office, obtaining the agreement of all co-authors, and providing information related to the editorial process.

All authors must approve the submitted manuscript and agree on the authorship order before submission. Changes to authorship, including adding, removing, or reordering authors after submission, must be supported by a clear justification and written agreement from all affected parties, in accordance with the journal's policies.

5. Abstract and Keywords

5.1. Abstract

Every manuscript must include an abstract in both Indonesian and English. Each abstract must contain 150–250 words, written as a single, concise, informative paragraph.

For original research articles, the abstract should cover the following elements:

• Background: The scientific context or problem motivating the study.

• Objective: The primary aim of the research.

• Methods: The study design, population or sample, measurements, and main analytical approach.

• Results: The principal findings addressing the research objective, including important numerical results where relevant.

• Conclusion: The main conclusion supported by the findings.

These elements should be integrated into one paragraph rather than presented as separate bullet points. The abstract must accurately reflect the manuscript and must not contain claims unsupported by the study results.

For policy analyses and review articles, the abstract may be adapted to the nature of the study but must still describe its objective, approach, main findings or synthesis, and conclusion.

Abstracts should not contain citations, tables, figures, or unexplained abbreviations.

5.2. Keywords

Each abstract must be accompanied by 3–5 keywords in Indonesian and 3–5 keywords in English.

Keywords should represent the main topics, variables, populations, methods, or concepts discussed in the manuscript. Authors are encouraged to use standardized terminology or controlled vocabularies relevant to nutrition and health research where available.

Keywords must appear immediately after the abstract and be separated by semicolons.

6. Article Structure and Organization

6.1. Original Research Articles

Original research articles should follow the structure below.

a. Introduction

The Introduction should explain the background and significance of the research problem, the current state of knowledge based on relevant literature, the research gap, and the study objectives or hypotheses. It should clearly establish why the research is necessary.

b. Methods

The Methods section must describe how the study was conducted in sufficient detail to allow readers to assess the validity and appropriateness of the procedures. Relevant information includes:

• Study design and research approach.

• Study setting, location, and period.

• Population, sample, or participants.

• Inclusion and exclusion criteria, where applicable.

• Sampling procedures and sample-size calculations, where relevant.

• Variables, operational definitions, instruments, and measurement procedures.

• Data collection and management procedures.

• Data analysis methods and statistical tests.

• Statistical software and version, where relevant.

• Ethical approval and participant protection procedures, where applicable.

The methods must be clearly presented and consistent with the research objectives. Previously published methods must be appropriately cited, while new methods or important modifications must be described adequately.

c. Results

The Results section must present the principal findings systematically and in accordance with the study objectives. Findings should be reported objectively, without interpretation or speculation that belongs in the Discussion section.

Tables and figures should be used to clarify the findings. Information already presented adequately in tables or figures should not be repeated in full in the narrative.

Statistical results should be reported accurately, including effect estimates, confidence intervals, and other relevant statistical measures where appropriate to the study design.

d. Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the principal findings, compare them with previous studies, explain possible mechanisms or reasons underlying the results, and describe their scientific and practical implications.

This section should also address the strengths and limitations of the study, potential sources of bias, and implications for future research, policy, or practice in nutrition and food research.

Interpretations must be proportionate to the available evidence. Authors must not make causal claims when the study design supports only associations or relationships.

e. Conclusion

The Conclusion must be concise, written in narrative form, and directly address the study objectives. It must be based on the reported findings rather than solely on statistical significance or individual tables.

The Conclusion must not introduce new findings or make generalizations unsupported by the data.

f. Recommendations, where applicable

Recommendations may be included when relevant to the study findings. They must be specific, realistic, and supported by the results and limitations of the research.

6.2. Secondary Data Analysis

Secondary data analysis articles should follow the general structure of original research articles and provide additional information concerning:

• The origin and characteristics of the dataset.

• The original purpose of data collection, where known.

• Data access rights, permissions, and restrictions.

• Data selection and processing procedures.

• Differences between the present analysis and previous publications using the same or related datasets.

• The novel scientific contribution resulting from the analysis.

Authors must ensure that data use complies with applicable ethical requirements, participant consent, and data-access agreements.

6.3. Policy Analysis

Policy analysis articles must explain the policy problem, analytical context and objectives, documentary or evidentiary sources, analytical framework, source-selection methods, and procedures used in the analysis.

The results must present systematic, evidence-based arguments. The Discussion should explain policy implications, analytical limitations, and recommendations relevant to the findings.

6.4. Review Articles

Review articles must provide a critical synthesis of relevant scientific literature rather than merely summarizing individual publications.

For narrative reviews, authors should describe the scope of the review, the basis for selecting the literature, and the approach used for synthesis.

For systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the manuscript must clearly describe the search methods, databases, search strategies, eligibility criteria, study-selection process, data extraction, risk-of-bias assessment, and synthesis methods.

Authors conducting systematic reviews are encouraged to follow the PRISMA guidelines and provide the relevant checklist and flow diagram where applicable. A review protocol or registration number may be reported when available.

7. Tables, Figures, Graphs, and Supplementary Materials

Tables, figures, and graphs must be relevant to the manuscript, numbered consecutively, and cited in the text.

7.1. Tables

• Table numbers and titles must be placed above each table.

• Titles must be concise but sufficiently descriptive.

• Tables must be submitted in an editable format rather than as images.

• Each column must have a clear heading.

• Abbreviations, symbols, data sources, and statistical notes must be explained in table footnotes.

• Data in tables must be consistent with the narrative Results section.

7.2. Figures and Graphs

• Figure numbers and captions must be placed below each figure.

• Figures must be of sufficient quality for publication.

• Graphs must include clear titles or captions, axis labels, units, legends, and symbols.

• Color may be used when it improves interpretation, but figures should remain understandable when printed in grayscale where feasible.

• Figures or materials obtained from other sources must be properly attributed, and permission must be obtained where required.

7.3. Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials may be submitted when necessary to support transparency, reproducibility, or understanding of the research.

These materials may include research instruments, reporting checklists, additional tables, protocols, or other relevant supporting documents. Supplementary materials must be cited in the manuscript and must not disclose confidential information or infringe third-party rights.

8. Abbreviations, Symbols, and Units

Abbreviations must be defined at first use, except for widely recognized abbreviations that do not create ambiguity.

Scientific names, technical terminology, statistical notation, and symbols must be used consistently. Measurements should follow relevant scientific standards, particularly the International System of Units (SI).

Authors must ensure that numerical values, units, percentages, and statistical results are reported consistently. Decimal notation must be appropriate to the language of the manuscript and applied uniformly throughout the article.

9. Research Ethics and Ethical Statements

Research involving human participants, personal data, health data, animals, or other materials requiring ethical oversight must comply with applicable ethical standards and regulations.

Where ethical committee approval is required, authors must identify the approving committee or institution, provide the approval number, and report other relevant information in the Methods section.

Informed consent must be obtained where applicable. Authors must also describe measures taken to protect participant confidentiality, privacy, and safety in accordance with the nature of the research.

For studies that do not require ethical approval, authors must provide an explanation when requested by the editor. The editorial team may request supporting documentation to verify ethical compliance.

10. Authorship and Author Contributions

All authors must meet appropriate authorship criteria, make substantive contributions to the research or manuscript, approve the final version, and accept responsibility for the integrity of their contributions.

Honorary authorship and the omission of contributors who qualify for authorship are not permitted.

Authors are encouraged to provide an Author Contributions Statement using the CRediT taxonomy where appropriate. Each author's contribution must be accurately described and agreed upon by all authors.

Changes to authorship after submission must follow the journal's procedures and be supported by written agreement from all affected parties.

11. Funding and Competing Interests

Manuscripts must include a statement identifying all sources of research funding, including the name of the funding organization and grant number, where available.

Authors must describe the funder's role in study design, data collection and analysis, interpretation of findings, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funder had no involvement in these activities, this must be explicitly stated.

All authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial competing interests.

If no competing interests exist, authors may use the following statement:

"The authors declare that they have no competing interests relevant to this work."

Funding and competing-interest declarations must be provided separately and accurately reflect the circumstances of the research.

12. Research Data Availability

Authors must provide a Data Availability Statement explaining whether the data supporting the findings are accessible, where they can be accessed, or why they cannot be shared.

If data are deposited in a repository, authors are encouraged to provide the repository name, persistent link, dataset DOI, or another identifier where available.

Data containing personal, confidential, or restricted information must not be disclosed inappropriately. In such cases, authors must explain the applicable access restrictions.

13. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors must comply with the journal's Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy when using generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation, research design, data processing, analysis, visualization, or other scholarly activities.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their manuscripts.

Substantive AI use in manuscript preparation must be disclosed in a separate declaration immediately before the References. When AI forms part of the research methodology, its use must be described in the Methods section in sufficient detail to support transparency and reproducibility.

AI must not be used to fabricate data, generate false references, manipulate primary research images, or misrepresent research findings. Authors must also ensure that the use of AI does not compromise confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property rights, or research ethics.

Authors are required to read and comply with the journal's full Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy before submitting a manuscript.

14. Acknowledgments

The Acknowledgments section should recognize individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided technical, administrative, facility-related, or other assistance but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

Authors should obtain permission from individuals named in the Acknowledgments where appropriate.

Research funding must be reported in the Funding Statement and should not be disclosed solely in the Acknowledgments section.

15. References and Citations

The journal uses a numbered citation system based on the order in which sources first appear in the text, following the Vancouver/NLM style.

The following requirements apply:

1. All sources cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and every reference in the list must be cited in the text.

2. Reference numbers must appear as superscript numerals after the relevant statements, following the journal's prescribed format.

3. Consecutive references may be combined using a hyphen between the first and last reference numbers. Example: ¹⁻³.

4. References must be listed in order of first appearance in the text, not alphabetically.

5. Journal titles must be abbreviated according to the official NLM Catalog/Index Medicus abbreviation where available.

6. For references with more than six authors, list the first six authors followed by et al., in accordance with the journal's format.

7. DOIs must be included where available, using the persistent-link format, for example, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

8. Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of author names, titles, publication years, volumes, issues, page numbers, DOIs, and other bibliographic information.

9. Relevant primary sources and verifiable scientific publications are strongly encouraged. Unverifiable sources should be avoided.

15.1. Journal Articles

Format:

Author surname Initials. Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue) page–last page. DOI.

Example:

Ernawati F, Saidin M. Determinan status anemia siswa SLTA di DKI Jakarta. Penel Gizi Makan. 2008;31:82-87.

15.2. Articles with More Than Six Authors

Format:

First six authors, followed by et al. Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue) page–last page. DOI.

15.3. Organization as Author

Format:

Organization name. Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue) page–last page. DOI.

15.4. Books

Format:

Author surname Initials. Book title. Edition, if not the first edition. City of publication: Publisher; Year.

Example:

Bower JA. Statistical methods for food science: introductory procedures for the food practitioner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2009.

15.5. Book Chapters

Format:

Author surname Initials. Chapter title. In: Editor surname Initials, editor. Book title. City of publication: Publisher; Year. p. first page–last page.

15.6. Conference Proceedings

Format:

Author name(s). Article title. In: Editor name(s), editor(s). Proceedings title; conference dates; conference location. City of publication: Publisher; Year. p. first page–last page.

15.7. Research Reports and Government Reports

Format:

Author or organization. Report title. City of publication: Publishing institution; Year. Report number, if available.

15.8. Theses and Dissertations

Format:

Author surname Initials. Thesis or dissertation title [thesis or dissertation]. City: Institution; Year.

15.9. Electronic Journal Articles

Format:

Author name(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;volume(issue) range or article number. DOI or URL.

15.10. Websites and Web Pages

Format:

Author or organization. Page title [Internet]. Website name; publication or update date, if available [cited Day Month Year]. URL.

Electronic sources must come from credible, verifiable websites and provide sufficient bibliographic information for identification. DOI links are preferred where available.

These examples illustrate the required reference formats. Authors must adapt punctuation, abbreviations, and bibliographic details to the source type and apply the style consistently throughout the manuscript.

16. Research Reporting Guidelines

Authors are encouraged to follow reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design to improve the transparency and completeness of research reporting.

Examples include:

• CONSORT: Randomized controlled trials.

• STROBE: Observational studies.

• PRISMA: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

• STARD: Diagnostic accuracy studies.

• COREQ or SRQR: Qualitative research.

• ARRIVE: Animal research.

• SAGER: Reporting sex and gender variables where relevant.

Reporting checklists and flow diagrams may be requested as supplementary files according to the study design and editorial requirements.

Reporting guidelines help improve completeness but do not replace assessment of methodological validity, data quality, or ethical compliance.

17. Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access

Authors must comply with the journal's policies on copyright, publication licensing, author self-archiving, and open access.

Published articles are made openly available in accordance with the journal's Open Access Policy. The applicable license for the final published article, reuse permissions, and self-archiving requirements are described in the journal's Copyright and Licensing Policy.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that third-party materials included in their manuscripts have obtained the necessary permissions where required.

18. Plagiarism Screening and Publication Ethics

All manuscripts may undergo similarity screening and editorial assessment for originality and compliance with publication ethics.

Authors must ensure that manuscripts do not contain plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, image manipulation, or other publication ethics violations.

Suspected misconduct will be handled in accordance with the journal's Plagiarism Screening Policy and Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct Policy.

19. Editorial Procedures

The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit manuscripts for language, formatting, and layout, provided that such changes do not alter the scientific meaning or substantive content of the article.

Substantive changes that may affect the scientific content will be discussed with the authors as appropriate.

Accepted manuscripts may undergo copyediting, typesetting, proof correction, and other production procedures before online publication.

Editorial decisions are based on scientific quality, relevance, research integrity, peer-review outcomes, and journal policies. Compliance with formatting requirements or payment of publication charges does not guarantee manuscript acceptance.

21. Related Journal Policies

These guidelines should be read together with the journal's other policies, including:

• Peer Review Process.

• Authorship and Contributorship Policy

• Publication Ethics.

• Plagiarism Screening Policy.

• Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct.

• Conflict of Interest Policy.

• Copyright, Licensing, and Author Self-Archiving Policy.

• Open Access Policy.

• Author Fees and Article Processing Charges Policy.

• Post-Publication Discussion Policy.

• Article Withdrawal Policy.

Authors are responsible for reading and complying with the applicable policies before submitting manuscripts to Penelitian Gizi dan Makanan (The Journal of Nutrition and Food Research).