Call for papers: Fruit in focus
Last updated: 14 Oct, 2021
From the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, to thousands of years pressing grapes into wine, to the role of citrus in combating scurvy on long sea voyages, fruit have played an important role in shaping human history and culture.
Flowering plants and their fruit are biologically important as part of complex ecosystems, not only as a food for a broad diversity of organisms, but also as a critical source of essential nutrients for people around the world. 2021, the UN General Assembly's International Year of Fruit and Vegetables, is the ideal time for researchers to come together to reflect upon and share the importance of fruit to natural ecosystems and society in a special issue of Plants, People, Planet.
Skip to: Guidelines and submission procedure
What we're looking for
For this collection, we seek articles on a wide range of topics related to fruit, including:
Research articles on plants that produce fruit including, but not limited to, topics such as:
- fruit flavour
- fruit development
- plant microbiomes
- plant disease
- fruit breeding trials
- genomic and phenomic diversity across fruit species
- plant responses to environmental conditions or changes
- biogeography of plants and their fruits
- sustainable fruit production
- fruit crop domestication and diversity
- conservation of fruit crop species and their wild relatives
- root-shoot interactions and grafting
Flora Obscura articles on new or unusual species of fruit or plants with interesting biology that produce fruit, potentially as part of a relationship with another species
Perspectives and Opinions on topics related to the authors' expertise; potential examples include:
- symbolisation of fruit in popular media
- the benefits and risks of clonal propagation in fruit crops
- use of crop wild relatives for fruit breeding
- opportunities to engage with society through fruit (such as botanical gardens, cooking, or art)
Review articles on topics related to fruit, including:
- advances and challenges in breeding of fruit crops
- development and state of technologies used for management of fruit crops (such as robotic fruit harvesters, or technological advances in the monitoring / harvesting of fruit crops)
- conservation and management guidelines for wild relatives of fruit crops
The guidelines and article types stipulated above are flexible. However, articles related to these topics should all set research within the context of their wider relevance to people, society, and the planet.
We welcome submissions from the community by 15 March 2022. Please contact the editorial office if you have any questions or a potential manuscript that you would like to discuss.
Best wishes,
Zoë Migicovsky, Elisabeth Forrestel, and Emily Warschefsky
Guidelines and submission procedure
Plants, People, Planet (opens in a new tab), owned by the not-for-profit New Phytologist Foundation, is an Open Access journal that aims to celebrate everything new, innovative and exciting in plant-focused research that is relevant to society and people's daily lives.
Manuscripts submitted for consideration in Plants, People, Planet will be subject to peer review and must meet the aims and scope of the journal (opens in a new tab). Articles should include an engaging 100 word Societal Impact Statement to highlight why the work matters to people, society and the planet.
Before submission, please read the full Author Guidelines (opens in a new tab), which contain information on article types and format, as well as details on how to compile your manuscript. Please contact the editorial office if you have any questions or a potential manuscript that you'd like to discuss.
Submission procedure
Please click the button below to submit your manuscript on ScholarOne Manuscripts (opens in a new tab).