The first issue of Food Policy was published in November 1975. For the journal’s 50th anniversary, the editors plan to dedicate the November 2025 volume to a special issue featuring two main types of contributions. One will be original review papers of food policy-relevant literatures, with details described in the companion Call for Proposals for Review Papers.
The other contribution will be short (no more than 1,000 word) Policy Comments that summarize the policy impacts (on the non-profit, private, or public sector) of research published in Food Policy. The journal introduced the Policy Comment (which offers brief, non-technical contributions) as a new contribution type earlier this year. (See our May 2024 editorial introducing Policy Comments for more background.)

The objective of this collection of Policy Comments is to highlight the many ways in which food policy research generates real world impacts, using papers published in Food Policy as a lens. Food Policy’s editors have long prioritized empirical studies informing international food policy debates from any of the social sciences. In this collection, we aim to curate a collection of statements showcasing how such research can make an identifiable difference in the world.

The Policy Comment may report on impacts generated from the results reported in a single Food Policy article or in a broader program of work of which the Food Policy article was just one output but with a direct tie to the policy impacts reported. Policy Comments for this special issue should make clear the (non-profit, private, public sector) policy question(s) explored, the central findings of the published research, and how the research informed and influenced subsequent policy, firm, consumer, civil society, producer or policymaker behavior. This is not a forum for original, formal impact evaluation results. Our expectation is of a narrative, supported by the best available evidence, of how and why published research helped inform (or avert) policy change, and with what consequences.

Policy Comments do not include an abstract. They are typically restricted to no more than ten references and one figure or table.
Submit via the journal’s portal no later than April 1, 2025. All reviews will go through full peer review. An invitation to submit is not a commitment to publish.