Announcements

Conference:  SigmaPhi 2026
Organization: European Physical Society
Date: 6–10 July 2026
Place: Kolymvari Chania, Crete, Greece

The conference covers the full spectrum of Statistical Physics through four major themes: Foundations and Theoretical Aspects, Applications to Physical Systems, Applications to Non-Physical Systems and Statistical Mechanics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Topics include mathematical aspects and methods, formalism, rigorous results, exact solutions, connections with the methods of high energy physics, string theory, black-hole entropy, cosmological theories, quantum systems, soft condensed matter, liquid crystals, plasmas, fluids, surfaces and interfaces, disordered and glassy systems, percolation, spin glasses, structural glasses, applied networks, biophysics, genomics, environments, climate and earth models, artificial neural networks using physics principles, neural networks as spin systems, Hopfield models, Boltzmann machines and machine learning.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Entropy;
• Plasma;
• Fluids;
• International Journal of Topology (IJT);
• Surfaces;
• AppliedMath;
• Condensed Matter;
• Particles;
• Modern Mathematical Physics;
• Atoms;
• Symmetry;
• Fractal Fractional;
• Quantum Reports;
• Physics;
• Complexities;
• Dynamics;
• Magnetism;
• Foundations;
• Mathematics;
• Axioms.

If you attend this conference, please feel free to visit our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

Impact Factors measure how often articles in scientific journals are cited—specifically, the average number of citations received in a given year by articles published in that journal over the previous two years, as tracked in the Web of Science. For researchers, the number answers a practical question: how often is work published in this journal being picked up and built upon?

The metric is assigned to the journal as a whole, not to individual articles. A high Impact Factor tells you something useful about a journal's place in its field; it tells you less about any single paper within it.

For a complementary, article-level view, MDPI lists an Altmetric score on each article page. Where the Impact Factor tracks academic citations, the Altmetric score captures broader online attention: how an article is being shared, discussed, and referenced beyond the journal literature. Together, they offer two different ways of asking the same question: is this research reaching people?

With 2025 CiteScores from Scopus published a few weeks ago, Clarivate has now released this year's Journal Impact Factors in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

254 MDPI Journals Saw a Rise in Impact Factor

This year's JCR include 330 MDPI journals across a wide range of disciplines. Of these, 231 journals are placed in the top 50% (Q1 or Q2) of their respective subject categories, a result that spans fields as different as materials science, public health, environmental studies, and mathematics. 78 journals hold a top-quartile position (Q1), and 33 journals have a JIF of 5.0 or above.

• 330 journals earned a Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
• 29 journals earned a first JIF
• 254 journals had an increase in JIF
• 71% of ranked journals are in Q1 or Q2

For the full metrics on any MDPI journal, visit our Web of Science journals overview page or a journal's individual statistics page.

29 MDPI Journals Received Their First Journal Impact Factor

A first Impact Factor is a confirmation for an emerging journal. It marks the point at which a journal has been publishing long enough, and cited broadly enough, to enter the formal record of scientific influence. For the research communities those journals serve, it signals that the work being published is being read and built upon.

This year, 29 MDPI journals received a Journal Impact Factor for the first time, across a range of emerging and established research areas. Each represents years of editorial development and peer review—recognized in 2026 for the first time in the JCR.

This is also part of a longer shift in how science gets indexed. When the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) launched in 2016, 24 MDPI journals were included. By 2024 that number had grown to over 200, reflecting a broader change in the visibility of open access publishing within major citation tracking systems, not just at MDPI but across the sector.

Open Access with Impact

MDPI journals have received a total of 25.2 million citations in Web of Science. That figure matters less as a measure of MDPI's reach and more as a measure of what happens when research is freely available: it gets found, read, and used. Open access is only meaningful if the work actually travels and citations are one indicator that it does.

More than 4.6 million authors have published with MDPI. That breadth, across disciplines, institutions, and geographies, is what makes open access at this scale worth doing.

Thank You to the MDPI Scholarly Community

These results belong to the people who do the actual work: the Editors-in-Chief who set the standards, the Editorial Board Members and reviewers who hold them, and the authors who choose open access for their research. The numbers in the Journal Citation Reports are the downstream effect of decisions made at the desk, in the review, and at submission. Thank you for making them.

Data: 2025 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports™ (Clarivate, 2026)

Conference: Analysis, Topology and Applications 2026 (ATA2026)
Date: 1–4 July 2026
Location: Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia

MDPI will be attending Analysis, Topology and Applications 2026 as an exhibitor. We welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

This conference will be held from 1 to 4 July 2026, at the Gimnasium Hall in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia. It welcomes contributions on all topics pertaining to analysis, topology, and their applications, along with other subjects aligned with these main themes. The event is co-organized by several Serbian academic institutions and supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Axioms;
• International Journal of Topology;
• AppliedMath;
• Mathematics;
• Analytics;
• Geometry.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about this conference, please visit the following website: https://ftn.kg.ac.rs/konferencije/ATA2026/index.php.

MDPI will participate in the upcoming 4th Joint Conference on Statistics and Data Science, which will be held from 11 to 13 July 2026 in Guiyang, China.

Since its inception, the Joint Conference on Statistics and Data Science has successfully held three sessions. From its inaugural meeting in Beijing to the in-depth discussions in Kunming, and then to the dynamic development in Hangzhou, each edition has reflected the rapid progress of statistics and data science, as well as the dedication and insight of countless colleagues in the field.

This conference will explore the latest research trends in statistics and data science, share cutting-edge theories and practical applications, foster an innovative academic environment, and promote vibrant intellectual exchange to jointly address complex and evolving scientific and technological challenges. The program will feature plenary lectures, invited talks, and contributed presentations, along with a variety of additional activities, showcasing new ideas, technologies, and developments in statistics and data science from multiple perspectives.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Mathematics;
• AppliedMath;
• Axioms;
• Analytics;
• Data;
• Fractal Fract;
• Stats.

If you are planning to attend the above conference, we warmly invite you to visit our booth and engage with our representatives. We look forward to meeting you in person and assisting with any questions or queries that you may have. For more details about the conference, please visit the official website.

The 2025 CiteScore metrics have been officially released by Scopus, and the results confirm what has become a consistent pattern for MDPI's journal portfolio: broad recognition across disciplines, steady improvement across the majority of ranked titles, and a growing presence at the top of subject category rankings.

CiteScore, published annually by Elsevier's Scopus database, measures the average citations received by articles published in a journal over a four-year window. As a complement to the Journal Impact Factor, which uses a two-year window based on the Web of Science database, CiteScore provides an alternative, long-term perspective on citation performance.

The 365 MDPI journals in Scopus (as of May 2026) are indexed across a wide range of subject categories, ensuring that open access research remains highly discoverable to a global readership through one of the most widely used platforms in academic publishing.

Data Summary (2025 CiteScores)

• New Additions: 41 MDPI journals received a CiteScore for the first time.
• Trending Upward: 234 of 322 previously ranked journals (73%) saw an increase in their CiteScore compared to last year.
• High Visibility: 314 journals (86%) rank in Q1 or Q2 in at least one subject category.
• Elite Performance: 42 journals rank in the top 10% of their subject categories.

Portfolio Performance

Among the 322 journals that held a CiteScore in 2024, 234 saw an increase this year. Quartile improvements outnumbered declines across the portfolio, with 52 journals moving to a higher quartile and only 20 seeing a decline. Furthermore, no previously ranked journals were removed. The 42 journals now ranked in the top 10% of their subject categories are drawn from a strong foundation of 178 journals holding a Q1 position.

With the large majority of our indexed portfolio ranked in the top half of research fields, researchers can confidently choose MDPI to meet funder mandates for high-quality, fully compliant Open Access publishing.

Exceptional Achievements for Foods and Life

Notably, both Foods and Life achieved a 99th percentile ranking in their respective subject categories for the 2025 CiteScores. This outstanding placement positions them as leading journals in their fields and highlights the high visibility and global impact of the open access research they publish.

Journal Metrics and Beyond

Journal-level metrics describe outlets, not individual articles. An increasing number of funders and institutions—including signatories of DORA and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment—now explicitly encourage evaluation at the article level rather than by the journal in which research appears. MDPI supports this direction: we report CiteScore alongside the Journal Impact Factor, Journal Citation Indicator, and article-level usage data because no single number captures the full reach and contribution of published research.

Thank You

These results reflect the sustained effort of thousands of editors-in-chief, editorial board members, reviewers, and authors across every field MDPI serves. The metrics are the outcome; the work is yours.

Name: Prof. Dr. Darjan Karabašević
Affiliations: ¹ Faculty of Applied Management, Economics and Finance in Belgrade, University Business Academy in Novi Sad, Jevrejska 24, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; ² College of Global Business, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea
Interests: multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM); decision support systems (DSSs); computational intelligence; decision-making theory; informatics; management

Considering that Axioms (ISSN: 2075-1680) is celebrating its 15th anniversary, we are pleased to announce a Special Issue in the Logic section dedicated to attracting high-quality papers related to recent advances and future directions of mathematical logic, multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM), and computational intelligence (CI).

Special Issue: “15th Anniversary of Axioms: Logic”
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Darjan Karabašević
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Darjan Karabašević, who shared his vision for the journal with us:

1. What developments in your field of expertise excite you currently?
Since we are in a very important period of development where classical mathematical models gain new value through application in intelligent systems and analysis of complex real-world problems, current research focus is directed on the application of decision theory, decision support systems, computational intelligence, soft computing, application of mathematical logic, fuzzy systems, neutrosophic sets, and artificial intelligence. Today, the emphasis is no longer only on the development of theoretical models, but also on concrete application in management, economics, etc. So, the focus is also on practical applicability. Accordingly, new directions are interesting within fuzzy sets, plithogenic approaches, and the development of integrated hybrid MCDM models with the aim of better modeling uncertainty and human reasoning.
In the future and in the following period, the focus will also be on explainable AI, primarily due to the need for AI systems to be transparent, interpretable, and mathematically based. In this context, I see a great application and role in terms of axiomatic and logical approaches.

2. What topics in your field of expertise do you believe will gain importance in the future?
It is ungrateful to talk about this topic in a period of extremely dynamic development. However, in the coming years, the development of research in mathematics, logic, and AI will be evident. In particular, I think of uncertainty modeling, intelligent decision-making systems, data-driven decision-making models, explainable and trustworthy AI, etc. When it comes to decision theory and decision support systems, the perspective will continue to focus on the development of robust models that can facilitate and support decision-making and decision-making processes in complex environments.
I would like to point out in this part that interdisciplinarity is important and will be crucial for the further development of the field. Research will not be focused only on one area but will connect several areas.

3. The journal has an upcoming 15th anniversary. What is your vision for its development?
During the previous years, Axioms managed to profile itself and build a good international position in terms of mathematics, applied mathematics and logic. Since, in the previous part, we discussed interdisciplinarity, Axioms recognizes this, and interdisciplinary research is often published. In perspective, the further development of Axioms is aimed at strengthening its role in terms of its theoretical mathematical foundations in relation to artificial intelligence, optimization problems, and decision support systems. Precisely in this sense, some of my proposals in the past as an Academic Editor were to establish a section that would deal exclusively with decision-making theory. We still need to continue with high-quality Special Issues, in order to attract profiled researchers who are experts in their field. Also, further improvement of the review process in terms of quality and focus on scientific relevance of the published results will certainly contribute to the journal’s further development and growth.

4. What do you think about the development of open access in the publishing field?
The open access (OA) model, without a doubt, has contributed significantly to the accessibility, visibility, and proliferation of scientific research at the global level. Today, precisely because of OA, many researchers acquire new knowledge faster, which has a direct impact on scientific development. OA is especially important for researchers from developing countries, enabling easier access to relevant information.
The OA approach undoubtedly increases the publisher's responsibility to preserve the high quality of the review process in accordance with academic standards. In my opinion, long-term success depends primarily not only on the availability of content, but also on the quality of published research and scientific integrity, in general.

5. What advice would you offer to young researchers?
When it comes to young researchers, all my students and PhD students, I advise critical thinking, a quality theoretical basis, and openness to interdisciplinary approaches and new technologies. Today, it is not enough to simply follow trends, but also to develop original ideas and approaches and connect them across different research areas. International cooperation, participation in the academic community, and maintaining high-quality research should not be neglected. The three key components for a scientific career are certainly patience, dedication, and continuity. Finally, the focus should be placed on the quality of research rather than solely on the number of published results, emphasizing the qualitative aspect of scientific research over its quantitative dimension.

Quantum metrology has long promised measurement precision beyond classical limits. Yet as quantum technologies move closer to real-world applications, a deeper question emerges: what kind of entanglement is actually useful?

Few researchers have shaped this field more profoundly than Prof. Augusto Smerzi, whose pioneering work on quantum phase estimation and quantum Fisher information has helped define the modern foundations of quantum-enhanced sensing.

As a plenary speaker at the 1st International Conference on Modern Mathematical Physics (ICMMP 2026), to be held in Hangzhou, China, from 30 October to 3 November 2026, Prof. Augusto Smerzi will join leading researchers from across quantum information, field theory, AMO physics, and mathematical physics for discussions on the future of modern theoretical physics.

Ahead of the conference, we invited Prof. Smerzi to share his perspectives on quantum metrology, the challenges facing young researchers, and why scientific understanding matters more than publication itself.

Speaker introduction:

Session 3. Quantum Information and Quantum Metrology
Presentation title: “Unveiling Useful Entanglement: Quantum Advantage in Sensing and Metrology”

1. You have helped bring the theoretical limits of quantum sensing — from the standard quantum limit to the Heisenberg bound — into experimental practice. What is the next major milestone for quantum metrology that you believe will arrive in the next five years?

I think the next milestone is to move from beautiful demonstrations to useful quantum sensors. We already know that entanglement can improve sensitivity in principle. The hard question is whether this advantage survives in real conditions: noise, losses, finite time, imperfect control, and limited information.

In the next five years I expect important progress in quantum-enhanced clocks, sensing applied to bio-physical and health monitoring sensors, and distributed sensor networks.

For me, the real success will be when quantum metrology will evolve from the theoretical quantum information framework to become a practical way to design better sensors.

2. Since joining Shenzhen Technology University, you have mentored and collaborated with young Chinese researchers. What impressions have they left on you, and what advice would you give to those who wish to pursue a career in quantum science?

My impression is very positive. I have met young Chinese researchers who are extremely motivated, technically strong, and willing to work very hard. They are also very aware that quantum science is not only an academic subject, but a frontier technology with real strategic importance.

My advice I give to all my students, regardless of whether they are Chinese or not, is to build a deep foundation. One needs a solid understanding of quantum mechanics, many-body physics, and experimental reality.

My second advice is: do not confuse publication with understanding. Publications are important, of course. They are how we communicate results. But the deepest result of science is not the paper itself. It is a clearer understanding of something that was not clear before. A good paper should be the natural consequence of this understanding. So, I would tell young researchers: do not start only from the question “Where can I publish this?”, start with the question “What is the real problem, and what can I understand that others have not yet understood?”

I would also emphasize communication. Science is not only doing good work; it also explains why the work matters. Young researchers should learn to write clearly, give clear talks, and become comfortable communicating in presence of large audiences. This is not a secondary skill. It is part of becoming an independent scientist.

Finally, I would encourage young scientists to be ambitious, but not only in the conventional way. Do not be afraid to explore directions where few people are going. Many important discoveries begin as strange questions. Curiosity, courage, and patience are still essential in science.

3. In your experience, what role do international conferences play in fostering collaborations that lead to real scientific breakthroughs?

International conferences are very important because science is not made only by papers. Papers communicate results, but conferences create trust, intuition, and sometimes friendship. Very often, a real collaboration starts from a simple conversation after a talk or during a coffee break.

For me, the best conferences are not only places where people present finished work. They are places where new questions are born. Sometimes the most important outcome of a conference is not a result, but a new direction.

4. Your plenary talk at ICMMP 2026 in Hangzhou is titled “Unveiling Useful Entanglement”. What do you hope the audience will take away from your talk?

The main message is simple: not all entanglement is equally useful. Entanglement is one of the most beautiful and mysterious features of quantum mechanics, but for quantum technologies we must ask a further operational question: what can this entanglement do?

In quantum metrology, useful entanglement is entanglement that helps us distinguish physical signals better. It allows a sensor to extract more information from the same system, or to reach a precision that would be impossible with separable states.

In my talk I will discuss how this usefulness can be identified and measured, especially through quantities such as the quantum Fisher information. I hope the audience will take away the idea that entanglement is not only an abstract mathematical property. It becomes truly meaningful when it gives us a new capability.

5. What is your one-sentence wish for this first International Conference on Modern Mathematical Physics?

My wish is that this conference becomes a place where deep mathematical ideas, physical intuition, and scientific curiosity meet, and where young researchers feel encouraged to explore questions that are not yet on the standard map.

Meet Prof. Augusto Smerzi at ICMMP 2026

Join us in Hangzhou this October to explore the latest developments in quantum metrology, entanglement theory, and modern mathematical physics together with leading researchers from around the world.

Conference location: Hangzhou, China
Conference date: 30 October–3 November 2026

Submit your work by 10 July 2026: https://sciforum.net/user/submission/create/1507.
Register now for early bird prices: https://sciforum.net/event/ICMMP2026?section=#registration.
Conference website: https://sciforum.net/event/ICMMP2026.

For any inquiries, please contact us at icmmp2026@mdpi.com.

To keep you abreast of advancements in mathematics and applied mathematics, Axioms (ISSN: 2075-1680) is pleased to present a selection of highly cited papers published in 2025.

1. “A 4 × 4 Matrix Spectral Problem Involving Four Potentials and Its Combined Integrable Hierarchy”
by Wen-Xiu Ma and Ya-Dong Zhong
Axioms 2025, 14(8), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14080594
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/8/594

2. “Fuzzy Clustering Based on Activity Sequence and Cycle Time in Process Mining”
by Onur Dogan and Hunaıda Avvad
Axioms 2025, 14(5), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14050351  
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/5/351

3. “A Brief Study on the k-Dimensional Repunit Sequence”
by Eudes A. Costa, Paula M. M. C. Catarino, Paulo J. M. Vasco and Francisco R. V. Alves
Axioms 2025, 14(2), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14020109
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/2/109

4. “Hopf Bifurcations in a Mathematical Model for Economic Growth, Corruption, and Unemployment: Computation of Economic Limit Cycles”
by Ogochukwu Ifeacho and Gilberto González-Parra
Axioms 2025, 14(3), 173; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14030173  
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/3/173

5. “Fractal Continuum Maxwell Creep Model”
by Andriy Kryvko, Claudia del C. Gutiérrez-Torres, José Alfredo Jiménez-Bernal, Orlando Susarrey-Huerta, Eduardo Reyes de Luna and Didier Samayoa
Axioms 2025, 14(1), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14010033
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/1/33

6. “Initial Value Estimation of Uncertain Differential Equations Based on Residuals with Application in Financial Market”
by Waichon Lio and Yang Liu
Axioms 2025, 14(2), 133; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14020133  
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/2/133

7. “Discrete Physics-Informed Training for Projection-Based Reduced-Order Models with Neural Networks”
by Nicolas Sibuet, Sebastian Ares de Parga, Jose Raul Bravo and Riccardo Rossi
Axioms 2025, 14(5), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14050385  
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/5/385

8. “Complex Riemannian Spacetime: Removal of Black Hole Singularities and Black Hole Paradoxes”
by John W. Moffat
Axioms 2025, 14(6), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14060440
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/6/440

9. “Fusion of Recurrence Plots and Gramian Angular Fields with Bayesian Optimization for Enhanced Time-Series Classification”
by Maria Mariani, Prince Appiah and Osei Tweneboah
Axioms 2025, 14(7), 528; https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms14070528
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/7/528