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Editorial policy

The Food and Nutrition Bulletin is intended to make available policy analyses, state-of-the-art summaries, and original scientific articles relating to multidisciplinary efforts to alleviate the problems of hunger and malnutrition in the developing world. It is not intended for the publication of scientific articles of principal interest only to individuals in a single discipline or within a single country or region. Notices of relevant books and other publications will be published if they are received for review. The Bulletin is also a vehicle for notices of forthcoming international meetings that satisfy the above criteria and for summaries of such meetings.

The Food and Nutrition Bulletin also serves as the principal outlet for the publication of reports of working groups and other activities of the UN ACC Sub-committee on Nutrition (SCN) and its Advisory Group on Nutrition. The SCN itself is a focal point for coordinating activities of FAO, WHO, UNICEF, the UNU, UNESCO, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, the World Food Council, the United Nations Environment Programme, and other bodies of the United Nations system that have an interest in food and nutrition.

Submissions. Unsolicited manuscripts of articles of the type published in this and previous issues may be sent to the editor at the Boston office address given above. They must be typed, double-spaced, with complete references and must include original copy for any figures used (see the “Note for contributors” in the back of this issue).

Any disciplinary or conceptual approach relevant to problems of world hunger and malnutrition is welcome, and controversy over some of the articles is anticipated. Letters to the editor are encouraged and will be printed if judged to have an adequate basis and to be of sufficient general interest.

Peer review. The Bulletin is a peer-reviewed journal. Every article submitted first receives editorial review. If it is consistent with the editorial policy and is not obviously deficient in some way, it is sent to two or sometimes three experienced and knowledgeable reviewers. Occasionally a paper may be returned to the authors by the editor with suggestions for improvement before it is submitted to the reviewers.

If two reviewers agree that the paper should be published in the Bulletin, it is accepted and either sent immediately for copy-editing or returned to the authors for consideration of suggestions from the reviewers and the editor. If both reviewers agree that the paper should not be accepted, the editor writes a personal letter to the authors explaining the reason and enclosing the comments of the reviewers anonymously. If the reviewers do not agree with each other, either the paper is sent to a third reviewer or a decision is taken by the editor. In these cases, the authors are usually given a chance to respond to the reviewers’ comments.

Disclaimer. It is expressly understood that articles published in the Bulletin do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations University, the UN ACC Sub-committee on Nutrition, or any United Nations organization. The views expressed and the accuracy of the information on which they are based are the responsibility of the authors. Some articles in the Bulletin are reports of various international committees and working groups and do represent the consensus of the individuals involved; whether or not they also represent the opinions or policies of the sponsoring organizations is expressly stated.

The United Nations University (UNU) is an organ of the United Nations established by the General Assembly in 1972 to be an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training, and the dissemination of knowledge related to the pressing global problems of human survival, development, and welfare. Its activities focus mainly on peace and conflict resolution, development in a changing world, and science and technology in relation to human welfare. The University operates through a worldwide network of research and postgraduate training centres, with its planning and coordinating headquarters in Tokyo. The United Nations University Press, the publishing division of the UNU, publishes scholarly books and periodicals in the social sciences, humanities, and pure and applied natural sciences related to the University’s research.