American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Title	American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Discipline	Nutrition science
Abbreviation	Am. J. Clin. Nutr.
Publisher	American Society for Nutrition
Country	United States
Frequency	Monthly
History	1952–present
Impact	7.045
Impact-year	2021

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is a peer-reviewed monthly medical journal focused on human nutrition, clinical trials, dietary assessment, and metabolic studies. The journal publishes original research, reviews, commentaries, and meta-analyses that intersect with public health, metabolic diseases, endocrinology, and pediatrics. It is published by the American Society for Nutrition and has been a venue for influential work in nutrition science, dietary policy, and clinical practice.

History

The journal was established in 1952 during a period of expansion in postwar biomedical research associated with institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Institutes of Health, and Rockefeller University. Early volumes reflected collaborations among investigators from Tufts University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Minnesota, Cornell University, and University of Chicago. Through the 1960s and 1970s the journal published studies connected to landmark programs at World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Agriculture, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and Food and Agriculture Organization. In subsequent decades the journal documented research tied to clinical centers such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, UCLA, Columbia University Medical Center, and Mount Sinai Health System. Editorial changes across the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s paralleled developments at organizations like American Medical Association, Royal Society of Medicine, European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Scope and Content

The journal covers clinical nutrition topics including randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, metabolic ward studies, and mechanistic investigations undertaken at places such as National Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Salk Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and Imperial College London. Articles often address micronutrient deficiencies studied in settings involving Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded programs, fortification initiatives linked to International Food Policy Research Institute, and interventions evaluated by teams from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, University of Toronto, and Monash University. Content spans pediatric nutrition intersecting with work from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, geriatric nutrition tied to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, sports nutrition with researchers at Australian Institute of Sport, and metabolic nutrition connected to Mount Sinai Hospital investigators. Reviews and meta-analyses frequently engage methodology from groups at Cochrane Collaboration, World Cancer Research Fund, and Global Burden of Disease consortium contributors.

Editorial Process and Abstracting/Indexing

Manuscripts undergo peer review involving subject-matter experts from universities and research institutes including Princeton University, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Washington. Editorial decisions reflect standards aligned with organizations such as International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Committee on Publication Ethics, and indexing services produced by Clarivate Analytics, Elsevier, and PubMed Central. The journal is abstracted and indexed in databases maintained by MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL. Its editorial workflow has adapted to digital platforms associated with publishers like Oxford University Press and Wiley-Blackwell while interacting with submission systems used by institutions such as European Research Council-funded networks and clinical trial registries at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Impact and Reception

The journal's citation metrics have placed it among leading outlets in nutrition and metabolism alongside titles connected with Nature Medicine, The Lancet, BMJ, JAMA, and New England Journal of Medicine for translational research. Articles from the journal have influenced guidelines issued by bodies such as World Health Organization, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and Institute of Medicine. Reception among academic institutions including University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Princeton University, and National University of Singapore reflects its role in debates over dietary fats, sugar policies, micronutrient supplementation, and obesity interventions. Critiques and discussions have occasionally involved investigators associated with Sugar Research Foundation, Gates Foundation, Foods Standards Agency, and advocacy groups such as American Public Health Association.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Prominent papers published in the journal have addressed topics linked to population studies like the Framingham Heart Study, nutrient biomarkers employed in work from EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), and trial results associated with DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). Special issues and supplements have featured consensus reports developed with contributors from World Health Organization, UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and academic consortia including NutriNet-Santé and European Food Safety Authority-affiliated experts. Landmark randomized trials and large cohort analyses published in the journal have been cited by guideline panels at American College of Cardiology, Endocrine Society, European Society of Cardiology, and Society for Endocrinology.

Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board

Editors-in-chief have come from leading centers such as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, and University of California, San Francisco. The editorial board includes clinicians and scientists affiliated with Karolinska Institutet, McMaster University, University of Melbourne, Seoul National University, Peking University Health Science Center, and specialty societies such as American Society for Nutrition, European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, and International Union of Nutritional Sciences. Board membership often features investigators previously associated with grant-making bodies like National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), and philanthropic organizations such as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Category:Nutrition journals