Meat science from 1976: A history of the journal

The journal Meat Science was first published in 1976/77 and it initially comprised 4 issues per year. The first issue contained 4 papers and the first volume (4 issues) contained 27 articles, a mixture of papers and research notes. Its growth/popularity increased, and it has continued to thrive and in 2016 of the 1010 papers processed 292 were accepted. Over 90% of the papers published in the first volume were concerned with muscle biochemistry/meat properties. During the last years of the 20th century, meat products and their properties became a far larger proportion of the submissions as did those concerned with nutrition and safety. More recently there has been a resurgence of papers concerned with meat quality. Over the last 40 years, the journal has reported on the major developments in meat science research and this paper will discuss both the history of the journal, and aspects of meat research as reflected in its publications. Possible future research trends are also discussed.