Agriculture & Food Security (BMC) — Author Guideline Skill

Publisher: BioMed Central / Springer Nature · Source: Submission guidelines · Verified: 2026-07 (confirm at source). Gold open access.

Aims & scope

Research on agriculture and food security: crop and livestock production, food systems, nutrition security, policy, sustainability, and the links between agriculture, environment, and food access. Interdisciplinary, development-relevant work welcome.

Article types

Research; Review; Methodology; Short report; Debate; Commentary; Case study.

Manuscript structure (BMC)

Title page → Abstract → Keywords → Background → Methods → Results → Discussion → Conclusions → Declarations → References → Figure legends → Tables.

• Abstract: may be structured (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions) or unstructured, ≤350 words.
• Keywords: 3–10.
• Declarations (mandatory BMC block): Ethics approval and consent to participate; Consent for publication; Availability of data and materials; Competing interests; Funding; Authors' contributions; Acknowledgements. State "Not applicable" where relevant — the section is required.

Reference style

Numbered (Vancouver), BMC style. In-text bracketed numbers [1]; numbered list with article titles and DOIs.

Example:

1. Author AB, Author CD. Title of the article. Agric Food Secur. 2023;12:34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-023-xxxxx

Figures & tables

Figures as separate files ≥300 dpi (line art higher); PDF/EPS/PNG/TIFF; RGB online; each figure/table cited and numbered; editable tables. BMC has no strict length limit but concise is preferred.

Submission checklist

• Abstract ≤350 words · [ ] 3–10 keywords · [ ] Numbered (Vancouver) references with DOIs
• Full BMC Declarations block completed (ethics, consent, data availability, competing interests, funding, contributions)
• Figures as separate files ≥300 dpi · [ ] Cover letter

Also covers — BMC nutrition journals

Same BMC template (numbered Vancouver; mandatory Declarations block). Clinical titles add trial registration and reporting guidelines.

Journal	Abbrev	Scope
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity	INT J BEHAV NUTR PHY	Behavioral nutrition
Lipids in Health and Disease	LIPIDS HEALTH DIS	Lipid/clinical
Journal of Eating Disorders	J EAT DISORD	Clinical
Nutrition Journal	NUTR J	Nutrition research
Nutrition & Metabolism	NUTR METAB	Research
BMC Nutrition	BMC NUTR	Research
Genes and Nutrition	GENES NUTR	Nutrigenomics

Formatting constraints

journal: Agriculture & Food Security (+ BMC nutrition journals)
publisher: BMC / Springer Nature
reference_style: numbered-vancouver
abstract_words: 350
keywords: {min: 3, max: 10}
declarations_block: required   # ethics, consent, data availability, competing interests, funding, contributions
open_access: gold
figure_dpi: {halftone: 300, line_art: 1000}