Announcements

Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.

We invite you to view the event recording:

During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:

• Peer Review Week 2022
• Research Integrity
• What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
• 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
• How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
• Inviting Great Peer Reviewers

In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.

You can find the Podcast here.

We hope you enjoy the contents!

MDPI will be attending the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, from 13 to 16 November 2022.

The 2022 Joint Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), Entomological Society of Canada (ESC), and the Entomological Society of British Columbia (ESBC). The theme for the Joint Meeting is “Entomology as Inspiration: Insects through Art, Science, and Culture”.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Agriculture (leading journal);
• Insects (leading journal);
• Crops;
• Agronomy;
• Animals;
• Biology;
• JZBG.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth: #616. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.entsoc.org/events/annual-meeting, or contact the Insects Editorial Office at insects@mdpi.com.

1. “Plant Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis and Transcriptional Regulation in Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stress Conditions”
by Rahmatullah Jan et al.
Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 968; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050968
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/5/968

2. “Intercropping—A Low Input Agricultural Strategy for Food and Environmental Security”
by Sagar Maitra et al.
Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020343
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/2/343

3. “Factors That Influence Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agricultural Soils as Well as Their Representation in Simulation Models: A Review”
by Cong Wang et al.
Agronomy 2021; 11(4), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040770
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/4/770

4. “Plant Growth Stimulation by Microbial Consortia”
by Gustavo Santoyo et al.
Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020219
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/2/219

5. “Biochar and Its Broad Impacts in Soil Quality and Fertility, Nutrient Leaching and Crop Productivity: A Review”
by Hiba M. Alkharabsheh et al.
Agronomy 2021; 11(5), 993; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050993
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/5/993

6. “From Smart Farming towards Agriculture 5.0: A Review on Crop Data Management”
by Verónica Saiz-Rubio et al.
Agronomy 2020, 10(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020207
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/2/207

7. “Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture: Sentinel-2 Improved Features and Applications”
By Joel Segarra et al.
Agronomy 2020, 10(5), 641; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10050641
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/5/641 

8. “Insights into the Physiological and Biochemical Impacts of Salt Stress on Plant Growth and Development”
by Muhammad Adnan Shahid et al.
Agronomy 2020, 10(7), 938; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10070938
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/7/938

9. “Is Phytomelatonin a New Plant Hormone?”
by Marino B. Arnao et al.
Agronomy 2020, 10(1), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010095
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/1/95

10. “Using YOLOv3 Algorithm with Pre- and Post-Processing for Apple Detection in Fruit-Harvesting Robot”
by Anna Kuznetsova et al.
Agronomy 2020, 10(7), 1016; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10071016
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/7/1016

To develop different research areas and continue to attract high-quality papers, Agronomy (ISSN: 2073-4395) is recruiting Section Editors-in-Chief (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy/sections). At present, the following Sections have not yet found suitable scholars to lead them:

• “Water Use and Irrigation”;
• “Precision and Digital Agriculture”;
• “Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience”;
• “Plant-Crop Biology and Biochemistry”.

We are now recruiting Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiC) for these Sections. If you are an active researcher in one of the aforementioned fields and are passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, please do not hesitate to contact us at: agronomy@mdpi.com. You can find more information on our homepage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy.

The Section Editor-in-Chief has the following responsibilities:

• Making decisions on whether a manuscript can be accepted based on the reports we collect;
• Reviewing a small number of papers per year and managing the Section together with other journal editors;
• Promoting Agronomy and increasing its visibility at related academic conferences.

Agronomy is an international, scientific, peer-reviewed, open access journal published monthly online by MDPI. The Spanish Society of Plant Physiology (SEFV) is affiliated with Agronomy and their members receive a discount on the article processing charges.

We believe that by combining our rigorous editorial policies with your expertise, we can build a high-quality journal. We thank you in advance for your interest and look forward to collaborating with you in the future.

Agronomy Editorial Office

We welcome you to the 18th meeting of the EUCARPIA Biometrics in Plant Breeding, organized by the GQE-Le Moulon Research Unit (INRAE, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS and AgroParisTech), which will take place from 21 to 23 September 2022 in Paris-Saclay University Campus, France. More information and a preliminary program will be available soon. Below is a first glimpse into the main scientific topics of the meeting:

• Gene–environment interaction and crop growth modeling;
• Multi-omics data integration;
• Deep learning;
• Non-additive genetic effects;
• Diversity management;
• High-throughput phenotyping.

Leading scientists in all these areas have been invited to present inspiring lectures. We also welcome contributions from participants on these topics. The meeting will provide great opportunities for discussions with leading experts and to meet researchers and breeders from a variety of companies and research institutes. The conference will be preceded by the Satellite Workshop on Phenomic Selection, which will also be held at ENS Paris-Saclay.

For more information, you can access the conference website at the following link: https://eucarpiabiom22.sciencesconf.org.

We look forward to seeing you in France in September 2022!

Seminar name: Joint Seminar of the FAO CIHEAM Networks on Pasture and Forage Crops and on Sheep and Goat Nutrition
Date: 27–29 September 2022
Place: Catania, Italy
Link: https://faociheam2022.org/

The Mediterranean Basin is highly affected by climate change, while certain countries still need to increase livestock production in order to achieve food self-sufficiency. Producing better is an urgent issue.

In this respect, ruminants have an asset: they can be fed on plants, plant parts, and agroindustrial byproducts that are not directly recoverable for humans.

Mediterranean landscapes are composed of an agro-silvo-pastoral mosaic, which offers opportunities for interactions between livestock production, agriculture, and natural areas. Mediterranean grasslands are an important source of forage; cultivated forage, possibly associated with perennial or annual crops, provides high-quality feed for periods of high nutrient requirements; agroindustry produces a variety of typical byproducts which may be included in ruminant diets.

This joint seminar on ruminant nutrition and Mediterranean pastures and forage crops subnetworks aims at exploring various opportunities in terms of novel or underexploited local feed resources, which could be valued better in the future and used to secure small ruminant feeding systems and boost animal production. Joining these two subnetworks gives the opportunity to consider the question from two complementary points of view, thus encouraging system approaches.

The 2021 citation metrics have been released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re pleased to announce the following results for MDPI journals:

For more information on Impact Factors and what it means to index academic journals, please visit our related blog posts.

* Journals given their first Impact Factor in 2022

Source: 2021 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2022)

The 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture will highlight significant research and applications in precision agriculture and showcase emerging technologies and information management for agriculture. Oral and poster presentations and exhibits will be taking place to foster discussion and the exchange of the latest findings in precision agriculture. Sessions will present information on key topics for scientists, crop consultants, advisors, extension personnel, agronomists, producers, and other practitioners.

The ISPA aims to:

• Organize and conduct international conferences related to precision agriculture, such as the International Conference on Precision Agriculture, European Conference on Precision Agriculture, and other related events;
• Develop and maintain a web portal to communicate the latest developments in precision agriculture;
• Maintain a member list server to connect with society members;
• Publish regular ISPA e-newsletters for members and other subscribers;
• Provide members with opportunities for publication of original scientific research in the society’s sponsored, peer-reviewed journal (International Journal of Precision Agriculture).

We look forward to seeing you in Minneapolis from 26 to 29 June 2022!

Social Media Handles:
Twitter: @IntoSoPA
LinkedIn: International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA)

The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!

We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:

● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.

The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:

Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who so generously dedicate their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer-review process.

We are proud to recognize winners for the year 2021 in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding contributions among extensive competition by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners on their achievement.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Biology:

• Enrico Vito Perrino, CIHEAM, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy
• Dhirendra Kumar, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, USA
• Carlos A. Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Yuri Shavrukov, Flinders University, Australia
• Bipin Gaihre, Mayo Clinic, USA

Brain Sciences:

• Craig D. Workman, University of Iowa, USA
• Vivian Ciaramitaro, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
• Yang Zhang, University of Minnesota, USA

Cells:

• Bonam Srinivasa Reddy, Université de Paris, France
• Homma Takujiro, Yamagata University, Japan
• Hwang, In Koo, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Kobeissy Firas, University of Florida, USA
• Rebelo, Sandra, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Diversity:

• Günter Gollmann, University of Vienna, Austria
• Stephan Koblmüller, University of Graz, Austria
• Emiliano Mori, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Italy

Horticulturae:

• Joshua D. Klein, Agricultural Research Organization—The Volcani Center, Israel
• Ana Cristina S Figueiredo, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Insects:

• Carmelo Peter Bonsignore, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy
• Klaus H. Hoffmann, University of Bayreuth, Germany
• Ivan Milosavljević, University of California, USA

Metabolites:

• Remigiusz Bachor, University of Wrocław, Poland
• Nguyen Phuoc Long, Inje University College of Medicine, South Korea
• Chi Chen, University of Minnesota, USA

Nutrients:

• Jadwiga Hamułka, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
• Grace Campbell, University of Sydney, Australia
• Nicholas Norwitz, Harvard Medical School, USA
• Stefan Kabisch, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Germany
• Luis Rodrigo, University of Oviedo, Spain

Veterinary Sciences:

• Carlos Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Arvind Sharma, The University of Queensland, Australia