Antioxidant chemistry and mechanisms
Natural and synthetic antioxidants, reaction kinetics, radical scavenging, electron or hydrogen transfer, inhibition of oxidation, chemical characterization and structure–activity relationships.
JAA Aims and scope
Aims and scope
Antioxidant science, redox mechanisms and their applications.
The Journal of Antioxidant Activity (JAA) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for research on antioxidant activity, oxidative stress, redox mechanisms and antioxidant defense. It covers chemical and analytical research, biological mechanisms, and applications in natural products, food, nutrition, pharmacology, toxicology and medicine when the antioxidant or redox question is central.
- Abbreviation
- JAA
- ISSN
- 2471-2140
- Publisher
- Open Access Pub
- Scope test
- A substantive antioxidant or redox question
Aim
JAA publishes original studies and critical syntheses that advance understanding of antioxidants, their chemical and biological actions, cellular defense systems, and the causes and consequences of disturbed redox regulation. The journal connects fundamental science with food, nutritional, pharmacological and biomedical applications supported by appropriate evidence.
Antioxidant activity, antioxidant capacity, radical scavenging, oxidative stress and redox signaling are related but distinct concepts. Activity and capacity depend on the system and endpoint measured; reactive oxygen and nitrogen species also participate in physiological signaling. A change in a redox marker alone does not establish damage, benefit or a causal mechanism.
The journal's evidence boundary
Research on supplementation, aging, immunity, disease prevention and treatment can fit when an antioxidant or redox question is substantive. Claims must match the methods, population or model, endpoints and limitations of the study. An in vitro antioxidant value alone cannot establish clinical efficacy, human safety or a dietary recommendation.
Scientific domains and applications
The core comprises antioxidant chemistry, redox biology and measurement science. Natural products, food, nutrition and biomedical applications fit when they address a substantive question within that core.
Redox biology and oxidative stress
Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, redox signaling, antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic defense, mitochondrial systems, oxidative damage and repair, and disease-related mechanisms or biomarkers.
Measurement and methodology
Development, validation and justified comparison of antioxidant or redox measurements, including DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, ORAC and biological approaches. Contributions may address specificity, interference, calibration, standardization or reproducibility.
Natural products and phytochemistry
Medicinal plants, extracts, phytochemicals, polyphenols and other natural antioxidants; extraction and solvent or pH effects; identification, standardization, dose–response and relationships between composition and activity.
Food and nutritional antioxidants
Food chemistry, oxidation control, processing and storage, functional ingredients, dietary exposure, supplementation, absorption and metabolism. Experimental, intervention and observational studies should address a substantive antioxidant or redox question.
Pharmacology and biomedical research
Antioxidant candidates, drug-related oxidative effects, toxicological mechanisms, redox interventions, and preclinical or clinical studies of efficacy and safety. Mentioning oxidative stress incidentally does not establish subject fit.
Evidence appropriate to the claim
Evidence may be chemical or analytical, computational, cellular or biochemical, animal or preclinical, human or clinical, and population or observational. A rigorous chemical study does not need a clinical experiment to be useful, and a human study need not repeat a laboratory scavenging assay to fit JAA. Each must support its own antioxidant or redox question.
- Chemical and analytical
- State the assay, endpoint, concentration, conditions, units and relevant reference standards. Scavenging, reducing capacity and oxidation inhibition are not interchangeable measures and do not establish absorption or health benefit.
- Computational
- Describe the model, assumptions and input data; report appropriate validation, uncertainty and limits of applicability. Distinguish predictions from experimentally established effects: computational predictions alone do not demonstrate biological activity or clinical benefit.
- Cellular and biochemical
- Define the system, exposure and appropriate controls, including probe interference or viability where relevant. A change in a signal or marker requires interpretation in that system; it is not automatically evidence of reduced oxidative damage.
- Mechanistic
- Claims about a redox pathway, enzyme or molecular target need evidence that distinguishes mechanism from association and addresses plausible alternatives. Mechanistic experiments are needed when a mechanism is claimed, not as a universal condition for all articles.
- Animal and preclinical
- Use appropriate models, dose and exposure information, relevant outcomes and welfare approval. Findings support conclusions within the model and can motivate further investigation; they do not alone establish human efficacy or safety.
- Human and clinical
- Match the intervention, comparator and prespecified outcomes to the question; address adverse effects, bias and uncertainty. Clinical trials require registration and applicable ethics and consent. Biomarker changes alone do not establish a clinical benefit.
- Population and observational
- Define dietary exposure, antioxidant status or the redox-related question and address confounding, measurement error and selection bias. Associations and changes in biomarkers do not by themselves establish causation or treatment recommendations.
What JAA looks for in a manuscript
A suitable submission combines subject relevance with a clear scientific contribution and methods appropriate to its design. Relevant analytical, comparative, replication or negative-result studies can contribute without demonstrating a new biological mechanism.
Across study designs
- A substantive antioxidant, oxidative-stress or redox question
- A defined objective and contribution to knowledge
- Appropriate design, endpoints, comparisons and analysis
- Transparent methods, uncertainty and limitations
- Ethics, consent and data-availability information where applicable
- Conclusions proportionate to the reported evidence
Where activity is measured
- A named assay and clearly defined endpoint
- Relevant standards, calibration, units and interference checks
- Material identity and extraction or exposure conditions
- Appropriate controls, replication and statistical analysis
- Dose–response and chemical characterization where relevant
- Explanation of what multiple assays measure and why results differ
A meaningful contribution beyond a screening value
Reporting that an extract has DPPH or ABTS activity is not sufficient on its own. A submission should answer a justified question through sound characterization, validated comparison, method improvement, mechanistic investigation, reproducibility testing or another substantive contribution. Reviews instead require a clear synthesis question, a transparent evidence base and critical interpretation.
Weak fit and outside scope
Subject fit and scientific quality are separate decisions. A natural-product, nutrition or clinical study is not excluded because of its material or setting; its contribution must be substantively connected to antioxidant or redox science.
Outside the scientific remit
- Consumer-wellness advertising, supplement promotion or purely commercial comparisons
- General nutrition, pharmacology or clinical reports with only incidental redox relevance
- Composition or agronomic work with no substantive antioxidant or redox question
- Unfalsifiable explanations or non-scientific claims presented as antioxidant mechanisms
Insufficient evidence or contribution
- Screening values without a justified question, adequate controls or substantive analysis
- Activity measurements that cannot be interpreted or reproduced from the methods
- Mechanistic conclusions drawn only from association
- Clinical, immunity, aging or disease-prevention benefits inferred solely from chemical assays
Earlier publication in the journal does not guarantee that a new manuscript meets these expectations. Historical records remain part of the archive; current submissions are assessed on their own question, methods and evidence.
Interdisciplinary fit
JAA considers interdisciplinary work when antioxidant activity, oxidative stress, redox regulation or antioxidant defense is a substantive part of the research question or synthesis. An antioxidant ingredient or a peripheral assay alone does not establish fit. A laboratory assay is not mandatory for every study design.
- Analytical chemistry
- Natural-products chemistry
- Phytochemistry
- Redox biology
- Biochemistry
- Molecular and cell biology
- Pharmacology
- Toxicology
- Food and process science
- Nutrition and metabolism
- Clinical and translational research
- Epidemiology
Article formats and study designs
JAA's submission formats cover original research, evidence synthesis, methods, shorter reports and scholarly discussion. Clinical trials and observational studies describe research designs; the article format depends on the contribution being reported.
Original ResearchAnalytical, experimental, computational, preclinical, clinical or observational studies with a substantive antioxidant or redox question. This includes appropriately designed clinical trials.
Reviews and Evidence SynthesisCritical reviews, mini-reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses that address a defined question and explain how the evidence was selected and interpreted.
Methods and ProtocolsAssays, analytical approaches and tools supported by validation or benchmarking appropriate to their intended use; and study protocols with a clear rationale, complete planned methodology and analysis.
Short Reports and NotesShort communications, data notes and technical notes with sufficient methods, data and interpretation to support their contribution.
Case ReportsClinical observations with substantive antioxidant or redox relevance, appropriate consent and proportionate conclusions. A case report cannot establish general treatment efficacy.
Scholarly DiscussionPerspectives, commentaries and opinion pieces that critically address antioxidant or redox science and distinguish interpretation from established evidence.
Conference proceedings are also listed among the journal's submission formats; contributions must meet the same subject-fit and evidence expectations. The archive additionally contains Editorial, Letter and In Brief records. Historical labels do not automatically indicate an open submission category.
Consult the Instructions for Authors for preparation requirements and the editorial office for format-specific arrangements.
Assess fit and prepare the manuscript
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Use the page that answers the next decision; the complete preparation and policy requirements are not repeated here.
JAA Author pathway
Prepare a scope-aligned manuscript
Review the preparation requirements and provide the files, methods and declarations appropriate to the article and study design.