Announcements

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as the scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal last year.

We are honored to present the winners in the “Physical Sciences” category, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

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

Entropy:

• “Classical (Local and Contextual) Probability Model for Bohm–Bell Type Experiments: No-Signaling as Independence of Random Variables”
  By Andrei Khrennikov and Alexander Alodjants
  Entropy 2019, 21(2), 157; doi 10.3390/e21020157
• “Nonlinear Information Bottleneck”
  By Artemy Kolchinsky, Brendan D. Tracey and David H. Wolpert
  Entropy 2019, 21(12), 1181; doi 10.3390/e21121181
• “Dynamic Maximum Entropy Reduction”
  By Václav Klika, Michal Pavelka, Petr Vágner and Miroslav Grmela
  Entropy 2019, 21(7), 715; doi 10.3390/e21070715
• “Topological Information Data Analysis”
  By Pierre Baudot, Monica Tapia, Daniel Bennequin and Jean-Marc Goaillard
  Entropy 2019, 21(9), 869; doi 10.3390/e21090869

Universe:

• “Nonsingular Black Holes in ƒ (R) Theories”
  By Gonzalo J. Olmo and Diego Rubiera-Garcia
  Universe 2015, 1(2), 173-185; doi 10.3390/universe1020173
• “Is It No Longer Necessary to Test Cosmologies with Type Ia Supernovae?”
  By Ram Gopal Vishwakarma and Jayant V. Narlikar
  Universe 2018, 4(6), 73; doi 10.3390/universe4060073
• “A Universe that Does Not Know the Time”
  By João Magueijo and Lee Smolin
  Universe 2019, 5(3), 84 ; doi 10.3390/universe5030084
• “Seeing Black Holes: From the Computer to the Telescope”
  By Jean-Pierre Luminet
  Universe 2018, 4(8), 86; doi 10.3390/universe4080086

“Revival of Charge Density Waves and Charge Density Fluctuations in Cuprate High-Temperature Superconductors”
by Carlo Di Castro
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040070
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/70

“Superconductivity in La₂O₂M₄S₆ -Type Bi-based Compounds: A Review on Element Substitution Effects”
by Rajveer Jha et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5020027
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/2/27

“Extremely Overdoped Superconducting Cuprates via High Pressure Oxygenation Methods”
by Linda Sederholm et al.
Condens. Matter 2021, 6(4), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat6040050
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/6/4/50

“Using In-Situ Laboratory and Synchrotron-Based X-ray Diffraction for Lithium-Ion Batteries Characterization: A Review on Recent Developments”
by Alice V. Llewellyn et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040075
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/75

“Fabry-Perot Cavity Leaky Wave Antennas with Tunable Features for Terahertz Applications”
by Silvia Tofani et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5010011
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/1/11

“A Versatile THz Source from High-Brightness Electron Beams: Generation and Characterization”
by Enrica Chiadroni et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5020040
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/2/40

“SrTiO₃—Glimpses of an Inexhaustible Source of Novel Solid State Phenomena”
by Wolfgang Kleemann et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040058
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/58

“From SrTiO₃ to Cuprates and Back to SrTiO₃: A Way Along Alex Müller’s Scientific Career”
by Annette Bussmann-Holder et al.
Condens. Matter 2021, 6(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat6010002
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/6/1/2

“Singular Mean-Field States: A Brief Review of Recent Results”
by Elad Shamriz et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5010020
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/1/20

“THz Pulsed Imaging in Biomedical Applications”
by Annalisa D’Arco et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(2), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5020025
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/2/25

“A Dual-Species Bose-Einstein Condensate with Attractive Interspecies Interactions”
by Alessia Burchianti et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5010021
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/1/21

“Polaronic States and Superconductivity in WO_3-x”
by Ekhard K. H. Salje
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5020032
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/2/32

“Perovskite Crystals: Unique Pseudo-Jahn–Teller Origin of Ferroelectricity, Multiferroicity, Permittivity, Flexoelectricity, and Polar Nanoregions”
by Isaac B. Bersuker et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040068
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/68

“BCS-BEC Crossover and Pairing Fluctuations in a Two Band Superfluid/Superconductor: A T Matrix Approach”
by Hiroyuki Tajima et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5010010
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/1/10

“Measuring the Electron–Phonon Interaction in Two-Dimensional Superconductors with He-Atom Scattering”
by Giorgio Benedek et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040079
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/79

“Temperature-Independent Cuprate Pseudogap from Planar Oxygen NMR”
by Jakob Nachtigal et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040066
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040066

“Structural Phase Diagram of LaO_1−xF_xBiSSe: Suppression of the Structural Phase Transition by Partial F Substitutions”
by Kazuhisa Hoshi et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(4), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5040081
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/4/81

“Ostwald Growth Rate in Controlled Covid-19 Epidemic Spreading as in Arrested Growth in Quantum Complex Matter”
by Antonio Bianconi et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5020023
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/2/23

“Resonant Quantum Kicked Rotor as A Continuous-Time Quantum Walk”
by Michele Delvecchio et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5010004
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/1/4

“Broadband Anisotropic Optical Properties of the Terahertz Generator HMQ-TMS Organic Crystal”
by Annalisa D’Arco et al.
Condens. Matter 2020, 5(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat5030047
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3896/5/3/47

We are pleased to announce that Condensed Matter (ISSN: 2410-3896) has received an increased CiteScore of 3.1 (an increase of 40.9% compared with the previous year) in the latest released 2021 CiteScore™ values, published by Elsevier in June 2022. For full details of the current CiteScore release, please see the journal’s source profile.

We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all the authors, editors, and reviewers for their contributions. We are grateful for their excellent work that has helped us to achieve this milestone!

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)

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