Animals and Responsible Research and Innovation: From the Lab to the Meat Production Unit

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aspires to bridge food and animal studies, and food science and technology with critical policy studies and science and technology studies (STS) by focusing on responsible research and innovation (RRI) processes in food production and provision, food technology, and food biotechnology. RRI has been a strong emerging trend in the field of science and technology policy as well as in innovation studies. Drawn from philosophy and STS, RRI emphasizes inclusion, engagement, and reflexivity in the making of research policies, research objects, as well as in developing areas and processes of innovation. Conceived as a policy pathway to secure deliberation and democratization of research and innovation in real time, RRI could help to mitigate possible harms and vulnerabilities triggered by technological fixes and big science. The aim of this Special Issue is fourfold: A: to explore the role of scientific hubris in shaping greedy and irresponsible patterns of food research and modes of production; B: to study the role of material and expertise politics of animal husbandry, as well as traditional and indigenous knowledges in shaping food systems; C: to provide a normative understanding and contribute to the critical policy studies of food research and production by addressing the importance of value-ladenness of technoscientific configurations in relation to animal research and animal-based food production; D: to explore meat replacement markets and technology and the normative bases of these innovations.

This Special Issue welcomes submissions concerning several research areas that, among others, comprise:

• Epistemological challenges as challenges of responsible research;
• Models, prediction, and uncertainty;
• Traditional knowledge, farming, and the role of scientific research;
• Governance of research and production of animal-based food;
• Animal research and open science: transparency, inclusion, equity;
• Animals as stakeholders: model organisms, traditional breeds, individuals and herds, and the food system;
• Meat replacements, in vitro meat, alternative protein technology and biotechnology;
• Epidemics, pandemics, and animal husbandry: the challenge of responsibility;
• Technologies and reconfigurations of responsibility;
• Responsible innovation and animal ethics (rights, utilitarian approaches, care ethics, virtue ethics, phenomenology, etc.);
• Animals as models and the assetization of scientific research;
• From responsible research to responsible consumption.

Dr. Aristidis S. Veskoukis
Dr. Sophia Efstathiou
Dr. Stathis Arapostathis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• responsible research and innovation (RRI)
• animal research
• animal ethics
• food production