Announcements

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

This program intends to provide an opportunity for early career scientists to enhance their editing, networking and organizational skills, and to work closely with our journal to gain more editorial experience. Early career scientists who have novel ideas for new Cells Special Issues will act as Guest Editors under the mentorship of an experienced scientist; this mentor could be a member of the Editorial Board of Cells, or from other well-established research institutes or laboratories, etc. 

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Cells Editorial Office (cells@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, Cells will continually welcome all Special Issue proposals based on hot research topics as usual.

Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics, published monthly online by MDPI. The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), Signal Transduction Society (STS), Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are affiliated with Cells, and their members receive discounts on the article processing charges. The Cells editorial team is pleased to announce this open call for Special Issue proposals, which gives a group of authors the possibility to work on an interconnected set of papers on an innovative topic. We would like to solicit high-quality proposals that will be evaluated in a competitive procedure on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Proposals for a Special Issue should have a well-articulated unifying topic and reflect, on an international level, on the best work in a particular research area, either an established or an important emerging area, in which future investigations may be boosted by the publication of a set of excellent papers. Hence, an international group of Guest Editors and a few high-quality planned papers are always encouraged when it comes to proposals.

Proposals for Special Issues need to be sent to the Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com), which will then forward them to the Editor-in-Chief of Cells for evaluation.

Information to be provided in a proposal:

• A 300–500-word summary to rationally explain the significance, novelty, technical advancement, and adherence to the scope of the journal of the proposed topic;
• A few keywords on the topic;
• A plan for obtaining quality papers or a list of at least three planned papers;
• A brief resume of the proposed Guest Editors, together with their information (title, name, email, affiliation, personal website, keywords of interests);
• A proposed submission deadline (we normally run a Special Issue for 8–12 months).

Guest Editor’s role:

• Once the proposal is accepted, the GE will circulate the Call for Papers for the Special Issue and invite submissions;

• The Guest Editor has the opportunity to publish 1 paper free of charge in this Special Issue and invite 10 feature papers to be published with discounts;

• Each submission will undergo a formal peer review process, after which we will ask the GE, the Editor-in-Chief, or a suitable Editorial Board Member to decide whether the paper is acceptable for publication in Cells;
• If five or more papers are published in the Special Issue, the Guest Editor(s) could publish an editorial free of charge;
• If ten or more papers are published in this Special Issue, we can print a Special Issue book and send a hard copy to each Guest Editor.

Editorial Office’s role:

The Editorial Office will take care of setting up the Special Issue website, arrange promotional material, assist with invitations to contribute papers, and take care of administrative tasks associated with peer review, including inviting reviewers, collating reports, contacting authors, and professional production before publication.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you are interested and would like further details and clarifications.

We look forward to receiving your proposals.

Cells Editorial Office

We are now recruiting reviewers for the journal Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409). If you are an active researcher in the field and are passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, do not hesitate to contact the Cells Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com).

Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics, published monthly online by MDPI. The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), Signal Transduction Society (STS), Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are affiliated with Cells, and their members receive discounts on the article processing charges. Cells is indexed in Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, MEDLINE, PMC, CAPlus/SciFinder, and many other databases. The 2020 impact factor is 6.600, and the 5-Year Impact Factor is 6.663.

The benefits of reviewing manuscripts are as follows:

• For each review, you will receive a discount voucher that can be used for reducing the article processing charge (APC) of a future submission to any MDPI journal;
• You will be considered for the journal’s outstanding reviewer award;
• You will receive a personalized reviewer certificate;
• You will have the ability to adjust your review frequency based on your schedule in our system.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or recommendations, do not hesitate to let us know.

We look forward to working with you.

On October 13, 2021, Prof. Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev was honored as one of the 2021 laureates of the “Global Energy” prize in “Non-Conventional Energy” for his outstanding contribution to the development of alternative energy, particularly his design for a system of artificial photosynthesis and his cycle of scientific works on bioenergy and hydrogen energy. The “Global Energy” international energy prize is awarded for outstanding scientific research and scientific–technical developments in the field of energy that promote greater efficiency and environmental security for energy sources on Earth in the interests of all mankind. The “Global Energy” prize stimulates the development of energy in terms of science and underscores the importance of international cooperation as well as public and private investment in the sectors of energy supply, energy saving and energy security. In accordance with data from the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, the “Global Energy” prize figures in the “Top 99” most prestigious and significant international awards. Since 2003, 45 researchers have become the “Global Energy” prize laureates, representing 15 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine and the USA.

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.

Academic editors play a crucial role in leading our journals and ensuring that each article undergoes a robust and timely peer-review. With the launch of Topics this year and addition of Topic Editors to our family of academic editors, we decided it would be a good time to restructure our academic boards, thus providing more clarity and support for each role. MDPI is pleased to announce the launch of a new position—Topical Advisory Panel Member, that will replace the previous position of Topics Board Member. The Topical Advisory Panel will be comprised of early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work.

The main responsibility of the new members of the Topical Advisory Panel is to regularly provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. The responsibilities of the Topical Advisory Panel are available here: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.

Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated, and outstanding members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the field related to the journal;
• Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years, approximately;
• Have at least 6-8 published papers in the last 5 years as first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

If you are interested in this role, please contact the editorial office by email.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Founded in 1996, MDPI was one of the first fully Open Access publisher. Over 25 years MDPI has grown to become the largest Open Access publisher globally, publishing over 160,000 articles across more than 350 journals in 2020. At the core, MDPI was founded in response to a pressing need of fast publication and inclusion. The scholar was set at the centre of the publication process for the first time. Acting as a service provider, rather than a product provider, MDPI exists to help scientists achive their objective to disseminate research results. At MDPI, we believe scientists deserve a better service from the publishing world.

The International Open Access Week (Open Access Week), founded by the SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Alliance and student partners in 2008, has been successfully running for 13 years. As an advocate and pioneer of open access publishing, MDPI actively responds to the call of International Open Access Week. This year’s theme of “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity” highlights the Recommendation’s call for equitable participation from all authors and readers.

For the last 25 years, MDPI has been committed to disseminating open research. Here is a video showing MDPI’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for More than 25 Years.

International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress in the building of more equitable foundations for opening knowledge—discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out. MDPI has always aimed to provide professional and efficient publishing services to scholars around the world.

Our mission is to make scientific research accessible to everyone; this year, we interview and hold discussions with open science ambassadors on how to build an equal and inclusive environment for open science. Academic editors help us collaborate with more institutions to advocate for open access ideas.

Read our anniversary blog post: "Sharing 'Collective Human Knowledge': The Benefits of Open Access Publication"

Besides this, our scientific community is a key driver of our success and MDPI’s remarkable growth. Despite the pandemic, we have prepared online conferences and workshops to gather scholars from different communities.

The Basel Sustainable Publishing online forum provides an equal opportunity for stakeholders and researchers from multi-cultural environments to exchange ideas and eliminate barriers to participation.

Conference date: 25 October 2021, online
Conference website: https://bspf2021.sciforum.net/
Main topics: MDPI discusses the current dilemma of open access science from various perspectives such as governments, libraries, and publishers, and related measures on how to change the status quo of discrimination from a global perspective.

We aim to support equality, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications. We collaborate with universities and key laboratories and have scholarly communications with researchers, teachers, and students on open access workshops.

• 25 October 2021
  Energies journal and Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• 28 October 2021
  Machines journal and State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University

• 29 October 2021
  Processes journal and Beijing Institute of Technology

• 29 October 2021
  Coatings journal and Wuhan University of Technology

MDPI is committed to providing open access and high-quality publishing services for scholars and promoting rapid dissemination of academic achievements. We hope to promote the practices and policies of open access publishing and diversify the dissemination of academic achievements.

Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:

• Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
• Alban Kuriqi;
• Álvaro González-Vila;
• Alessandro Alaimo;
• Alexey Beskopylny;
• Alexander Yu Churyumov;
• Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
• Andrea Mastinu;
• Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
• Anton Rassõlkin;
• Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
• Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
• Artur Słomka;
• Baojie He;
• Bartłomiej Potaniec;
• Bojan Đurin;
• Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
• Carmelo Maria Musarella;
• Chiachung Chen;
• Chiman Kwan;
• Cristian Busu;
• Danil Pimenov;
• Dan-Cristian Dabija;
• Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
• Demetrio Antonio Zema;
• Denis Butusov;
• Elena Lucchi;
• Gaurab Dutta;
• Livia Anastasiu;
• M. R. Safaei.

For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.

MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.

Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.

The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
liliane.auwerter@mdpi.com

In order to specifically develop different research areas and attract more high-quality papers, we are pleased to announce the addition of the following seven new Sections to Cells, which are intended to cover all the disciplines of the fields of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics:

• Reproductive Cells and Development;
• Cellular Metabolism;
• Cell Microenvironment;
• Cell Methods;
• Cellular Biophysics;
• Cell and Gene Therapy;
• Cells of the Cardiovascular System.

Introduction of Section Editors-in-Chief:

Cells is an international, open access, journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics. The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), Signal Transduction Society (STS), Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are affiliated with Cells, and their members receive discounts on the article processing charges. The journal is indexed in Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, MEDLINE, PMC, CAPlus / SciFinder, and many other databases.

We are now recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs) 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 get in touch (cells@mdpi.com). Alternatively, you may wish to submit your work directly via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells.

We look forward to collaborating with you.

Cells Editorial Office