Seeds: What Happened in 2023?

As Editor-in-Chief of Seeds, I would like to thank the Authors, Reviewers, Editorial Board Members, Academic Editors, Assistant Editors and all the Staff involved in Seeds for their effort and dedication, which has helped to establish Seeds as a scientific journal in the field of Seed Biology and Technology.

A glance at the achievements in 2023

Since the launch of Seeds in September 2021 [1], the journal has consolidated its position in the context of significant editorial competition. Today, this Editorial offers a brief view of the steps taken in the right direction, as well as some lessons on how and why we must improve.

In 2023, we published the second volume, including four issues. Issue 1 was delivered in March, in which 13 articles were published (11 research articles, 1 communication, and 1 review). Issue 2, released in June, contained five research articles. Issue 3, delivered in September, contained 10 papers (5 research articles, 1 communication, and 4 reviews). The last issue was published in December with seven articles (five research articles and two reviews). In total, during 2023, Seeds published 35 articles: 26 research articles (74.3%), 7 reviews (20%), and 2 communications (5.7%). In the aforementioned 35 articles, different topics related to Seed Biology and Technology were discussed. The journal’s focus on Seed Biology and Technology was pursued this year. Authors from different nationalities have covered a great variety of topics, including “seed dormancy and seed germination”, “seed conservation and seed viability”, “use of seed extracts as bio-stimulants”, “priming techniques to improve seed germination”, “seed morphology and adaptation to environment”, and “response to environmental stress and seed and seedling vigour”, among others.

Currently, we can find scientific journals for every imaginable topic, so launching a new journal is a risk that requires effort and dedication to achieve its consolidation. In 2023, Seeds was indexed in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Members of our Editorial Advisory Board helped to mould the journal’s scope and promoted it in social networks. At present, the Editorial Board accounts for 43 experts in the field of Seed Biology and Technology, belonging to 15 different countries and representing four continents, the majority of them being from Europe, with 29 researchers. Credit has also to be given to the many professionals who worked as peer-reviewers and kindly spent their time and experience performing the peer-reviews of submitted manuscripts.

Currently, there are four Special Issues open, and all of them have a deadline in 2024:

• “Seed Priming Approaches that Achieve Environmental Stress Tolerance”, edited by Jose A. Hernández, Pedro Díaz-Vivancos and Gregorio Barba-Espín, with 10 published papers.
• “Application of Imaging and Artificial Intelligence in Seed Research”, edited by Ewa Ropelewska and Kadir Sabanci, with two published papers.
• “Seed Germination Ecophysiology of Invasive Species”, edited by Lina Podda, with one published paper.
• “Parameters of Seed Germination in Wild Plant Species”, edited by Božena Šerá, with three published papers.

Perspectives for 2024

We are happy to receive correspondence from those authors who would like feedback on whether their proposed research would be suitable for publication in Seeds. We also welcome suggestions on additional topics that our contributors think the journal should cover. For 2024, Seeds already plans to launch the first Issue of Volume 3, including seven articles (six research papers and one review).

It is our ambition to maintain this prominence and to grow even further in the forthcoming years.

Our commitment to quality is a priority. All members of the Editorial Board, together with peer-reviewers, have to ensure that the publications included in the different volumes meet the standards of Seeds. These actions will allow Seeds to receive more citations and achieve a reasonable impact index focusing on the topics “seed science”, “seed technology”, and “seed biology”. These topics will include multi-disciplinary aspects (physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, dormancy, and omics) and technological approaches (seed priming, seed production, and seed establishment, among others). We are also aware that Seeds lacks promotion at Congresses and Scientific Meetings. Therefore, it would be appreciated if all scientists involved in Seeds could publicize this journal at these events in the future.

We intend to continue bringing together the disciplines involved in the broad topic of seed biology and technology, covering different aspects, including physiological, biochemical, molecular, and omics approaches. Our aim is the publication of original articles that make a breakthrough in the seed biology and technology field.

Finally, I want to reiterate my gratitude to all those who have contributed to the life of the journal Seeds and that we remain open to any idea or suggestion that may be useful for improving both the promotion and the quality of the journal.