We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the Journal of Fungi Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who hold a PhD in a related field) to gain experience in editing a Special Issue for an MDPI journal under the mentorship of our knowledgeable Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists.

The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience and cultivate their ability to edit scientific research. Within this program, the mentor will hold the title of Guest Editor (GE), while the mentee will be recognized as the Guest Editor Assistant (GEA).

The mentee’s responsibilities include the following:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Special Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Special Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of the Guest Editors;
• Providing opinions and suggestions to the mentor to assist them with making their final decisions; the mentee cannot make decisions during paper processing and will not be listed in the published papers as an Academic Editor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include the following:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Undertaking editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to the mentee if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing regular video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions, with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:

After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Journal of Fungi Editorial Office (jof@mdpi.com), and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, Journal of Fungi (JoF, ISSN: 2309-608X) will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.