Announcements

Name: Mediterranean Life Sciences Union Annual Meeting (MedLIFE-24)
Date: 8–10 December 2024
Place: Congress Center of Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey/Hybrid
Submission deadline: 31 August 2024
Website: https://2024.med-life.org/index.php

It is a pleasure and an honor to invite you to attend the Mediterranean Life Sciences Union Annual Meeting (MedLIFE-24), which will be held in person and online from 8 to 10 December 2024, at the Congress Center of Istanbul Technical University. Researchers from all fields of life sciences, both in the Mediterranean area and throughout the world, are invited to present and discuss their most recent research discoveries at MedLIFE-24 and to publish their findings in the MedLIFE-24 proceedings.

After the remarkable successes of the Mediterranean Geosciences Union Annual Meetings (MedGU-21 in Istanbul, MedGU-22 in Marrakech, and MedGU-23 in Istanbul) that were aimed mainly at highlighting the contributions of the Earth Sciences community in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it became obvious that there is a need to expand this global scale initiative to create extensive and comprehensive international annual meetings for other science unions in order to connect researchers and enable them to present and discuss their most recent findings.

With this objective in mind and as a continuation of the tremendous success of the MedGU Annual Meetings, which have attracted overwhelming interest with over 4000 abstract submissions from 95 countries, MedLIFE-24 will be organized to provide a forum for life scientists from the Mediterranean region and all over the world. Researchers, particularly those in the early stages of their careers, can be informed about the latest studies and discuss their latest unpublished findings with experts from the wide-ranging fields of life sciences.

Connecting and communicating the impact of life science research on sustainability is critical for shaping and influencing the future of life sciences, including training next-generation life scientists, accelerating scientific innovation, and advancing our understanding of life, the planet, and beyond. In this regard, life sciences should continue to play their specific role in achieving the SDGs. For example, the life sciences have been used in the health, medicine, and pharmaceutical industries to improve people’s quality of life. In addition, several SDGs directly or indirectly address the water–food–energy nexus, which has been a focal point for life scientists throughout history. Life scientists are, therefore, critical to delivering the SDGs. Their vast knowledge of the function and interactions of living organisms and their environments, together with their ability to translate this knowledge into tools to inform policy and practice, may help to enlighten many important areas and inform many key aspects of sustainable development.

In this context, MedLIFE-24 seeks to highlight and strengthen the synergies and links between various domains of life science and the UN SDGs. For example, SDG 3, “ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being”, is one of the 17 goals and targets that is especially pertinent to life science. It represents the core of efforts towards sustainability in the field. Given their traditional focus on “purposive” research, life scientists have adopted and continue to pursue integrative approaches, for example, by complementing perspectives from natural and technical disciplines with those from the environmental and social sciences. They can thus offer expertise in integrating knowledge from the natural, technical, and social sciences to provide solutions for many of the global challenges posed by sustainable development.

MedLIFE-24, through engagement by life scientists in academia, research, industry, government, and civil society, working across sectors and in close partnership with other disciplines (e.g., engineering, earth science, environmental sciences, and social sciences), can inform many key aspects of sustainable development. MedLIFE-24 will host initiatives that allow life scientists to conduct transdisciplinary research with stakeholders. This could contribute to the development of theory since integrating academic and experiential knowledge from practitioners is crucial to achieving the transformation towards sustainability.

During MedLIFE-24, prominent speakers will be invited to give Plenaries. Moreover, we are planning a rich Conference Program, including regular and Special Sessions, a Social Program, and an Excursion to Cappadocia, where participants can take a little time out to explore the wonders of Turkey and discover new experiences and sensations.

As with the previous MedGU Annual Meetings (see SpringerLink), the research findings presented at MedLIFE-24 will be published in the conference proceedings by Springer in the IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable Development ASTI Book Series (indexed in Scopus/SCImago) and in Special Issues; this is in order to encourage greater scientific cooperation and to open doors to new and enriching collaborations between life scientists on opposite shores of the Mediterranean and from all over the world.

MedLIFE-24 is looking forward to welcoming you to Istanbul. Your participation, in person or virtually, will support MedLIFE’s mission of ensuring a sustainable future for humanity in the region and the planet.

Join us for a memorable experience!

The MedLIFE-24 Steering & Organizing Committees

Animals (ISSN: 2076-2615), in collaboration with Universidad Zaragoza, Spain, is hosting an author training session to offer valuable insights into the world of open access publishing. This session will provide authors with a comprehensive understanding of MDPI's publishing process, current Special Issues, and opportunities tailored for different author groups. Esteemed academic editors will guide the session, ensuring participants gain the knowledge needed to maximize their publishing potential.

Date: 2 July 2024
Time: 12:00–13:30
Venue: Zoom
Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6317193046127/WN_WX_dc9XgS7eEywwiOhFGfQ

Schedule:

 MDPI speakers:

We are pleased to inform you that Animals (ISSN: 2076-2615) has received a heightened CiteScore of 4.9.

CiteScore provides transparent metrics that enable well-informed publishing strategy, library collection development, and the benchmarking of journal performance. It is now a standard citation metric alongside SNIP and SJR that gives an up-to-date view of a journal’s impact.

The 2023 CiteScore provides an assessment of the scientific influence of journals in the 2020 to 2023 period.

This is a reflection of the excellent performance, support, and dedication of all journal editors, reviewers, authors, and readers.

Animals’ CiteScore ranks as follows:

• Q1 (14 out of 194) in the “General Veterinary” category;
• Q1 (64 out of 490) in the “Animal Science and Zoology” category.

For more journal statistics, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/Animals/stats.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the journal.

Animals Editorial Office

It is our great pleasure to announce that MDPI will be attending the joint Congress for the Australian Association of Animal Science (AAAS) and the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production (AAAP). Focusing on recent and future developments in animal science, this congress combines the 35th biennial AAAS conference and the 20th AAAP Congress into one meeting. This event will take place from 9 to 12 July 2024, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

This congress aims to bring together the brightest minds in animal science from the Asia and Australasia regions to discuss recent developments and research findings in the field. The theme of the congress is “Embracing Disruption as an Opportunity for Animal Science”. Topics of discussion will include animal genetics, breeding, nutrition, health, behavior, and welfare across a wide variety of species. We encourage participants to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations that highlight their original research, innovative technologies, and best practices.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Animals;
• Veterinary Sciences;
• Applied Biosciences;
• Dairy;
• CIMB;
• Ruminants;
• JZBG;
• Agriculture;
• Pets.

If you are considering attending this conference, we encourage you to visit our booth #5 and speak to our representatives. We are eager to meet you in person and assist you with any queries you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit the official website at https://www.aaap2024.com/.

MDPI is pleased to announce the inclusion of 237 journals in the 2024 release of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and share the key results (see above).

This year, journals covered in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) received category ranks together with journals in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Overall, 139 MDPI journals indexed in ESCI are included in the new unified rankings for the first time.

Enhanced Comparability of Data

According to Clarivate, "the creation of unified category rankings [provides] a simpler and more complete category view for the evaluation of journal performance. [...] The category-first approach simplifies journal performance assessment with a holistic view of all journals in each subject category."

We are thrilled to announce that 72% of our ranked MDPI journals (171 of 237) are above average, in Q1 or Q2. Twenty-nine of our journals received their first Impact Factor this year, accounting for more than 5% of the journals accepted into the Web of Science last year.

MDPI Journals Ranked in JCR

The following data includes all MDPI journals indexed in SCIE, SSCI, ESCI and AHCI.

Source: 2023 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2024)

About MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 440 fully open access titles.

On UNESCO’s 2024 Oceans Day, MDPI encourages the scientific community to increase the accessibility of ocean research to accelerate ocean conservation.

Basel, Switzerland, June 7, 2024: MDPI, a leading open access (OA) publisher, is proud to announce its active support for World Oceans Day 2024, celebrated under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade framework. MDPI’s CEO, Stefan Tochev hopes that “the latest ocean research can be made freely accessible to help empower scientists and communities at large to save our oceans,” under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade until 2030.

Open Access: A Catalyst for Ocean Action

MDPI’s presence at the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference 2024 highlights our unwavering commitment to using OA to advance ocean science, support research communities, and promote sustainable ocean management.

"Our involvement in the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference underscores MDPI's commitment to the underfunded Ocean SDG. By promoting OA to scientific articles and books on SDGs, we aim to inspire critical actions," said Tochev. "Our initiatives, like the World Sustainability Award and Emerging Sustainability Award, further demonstrate our dedication to advancing sustainability.”

Showcasing MDPI’s Contributions to Ocean Research

Over the past three years, MDPI has published 30,000 papers focused on ocean research and related topics. Key MDPI journals contributing to this body of work include:

• Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (4.9k papers)
• Remote Sensing (2.6k papers)
• Sustainability (2k papers)
• International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) (1.7k papers)
• Marine Drugs (1.5k papers)
• Water (1.5k papers)

These publications highlight MDPI’s contributions to ocean science, reinforcing our role in the broader sustainability agenda by promoting blue innovation and economy.

Additionally, MDPI has launched Oceans, an international, peer-reviewed forum specifically aimed at publishing studies related to all branches of oceanography with an emphasis on the functioning of the ocean and the sustainable use of its resources and ecosystem services.

Affirming MDPI’s Commitment to Ocean Science

MDPI’s commitment to OA is pivotal in addressing critical global challenges, from climate change to ocean sustainability. Our efforts resonate with Outcome 4 of the UNESCO Ocean Decade action roadmap: an accessible ocean with open and equitable access to data, information, technology, and innovation. By aligning with UNESCO’s goals, MDPI continues to contribute to shaping a sustainable future for our oceans, reinforcing our position as a forward-thinking publisher dedicated to environmental stewardship and scientific excellence.

For more information, contact Rui Duarte at rui.duarte@mdpi.com or +41764313242.

About MDPI

95% of authors rate MDPI’s publication process as excellent or good, setting a new benchmark in scientific publishing – reveals 2023 Annual Report. 

Basel, Switzerland, June 4, 2024: MDPI, the leading open access (OA) publisher, proudly announces the release of its 2023 Annual Report, detailing remarkable achievements and reaffirming its leadership in advancing OA publishing. In 2023, MDPI received 655,065 submissions, of which 285,244 articles were published. The company now commands a 17% market share in gold open access articles, with a median publication time of six weeks.

Stefan Tochev, MDPI's CEO, stated, "As a pioneer in open access publishing, MDPI has long been a game-changer in the scholarly community, serving millions of authors around the world to ensure the latest research is freely available. Reflecting on our incredible journey at MDPI, 2023 has been marked by growth in paper submissions, ambitious projects and initiatives aimed at improving our internal processes and delivering top-notch services to our scientists."

MDPI's 2023 Annual Report highlights several key achievements:

• 17% market share in gold open access articles across all disciplines.
• Record satisfaction rates: 95% of authors, 82% of reviewers, and 85% of guest editors.
• Enhanced editorial standards and feedback processes.
• Increased reach and impact with 54 new MDPI journal inclusions in Scopus, 29 in Web of Science, and 77 in DOAJ.

MDPI’s unwavering commitment to advancing OA has transformed the landscape of scholarly publishing, making high-quality research freely accessible to the global scientific community. The continuous improvement in our editorial standards and feedback processes underscores MDPI’s dedication to ensuring academic integrity and excellence.

Global Reach and Collaboration

MDPI’s global footprint continues to expand, with authors from diverse regions: 37% from Asia/Pacific, 36% from Europe, 15% from the Americas, and 12% from other parts of the world. The company’s fully OA platform attracted nearly 14 million monthly visitors in 2023, reflecting its widespread influence in the scientific community.

Commitment to Partnerships

With over 800 institutional partners, MDPI continues to demonstrate its dedication to providing reliable and collaborative publishing services. The introduction of a transparent flat-fee model highlights MDPI's ongoing efforts to enhance affordability and support to the academic community. For more details read our 2023 Annual Report.

For more information, contact Rui Duarte at rui.duarte@mdpi.com or +41764313242.

About MDPI

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Animals 2023 Most Popular Cover Selection. The winners will receive CHF 200 and a certification. The winners are detailed below, in no particular order.

Congratulations to the winners for their excellent research.

We are pleased to announce MDPI’s Transfer Service.

This service provides a convenient method of transferring your manuscript file, along with any reviewer comments, to another journal within our publishing portfolio.

We are committed to helping authors find the right home for their research, and we will provide authors with guidance and technical support through all stages of the transfer process. Authors will be able to choose to transfer in the following two situations:

1. Select alternative journals on submission.

2. Authors are encouraged to transfer manuscripts to other MDPI journals.

More details about the Transfer Service can be found at the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/authors/transfer-service