Announcements

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Michel Baguette has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Biogeography and Macroecology” in Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Michel Baguette, who shared his vision for the Section with us, as well as his views of the research area.

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?

My experience as Editor of Diversity was excellent, so I did not hesitate to increase my investment in the journal by accepting the invitation to serve as Editor-in-Chief for the Section “Biogeography and Macroecology”.

2. What is your vision for the journal?

I am convinced that the quality and the impact of Diversity will continue to increase because of its editorial policy, which aims for a transparent, fast and constructive review process. In addition, I like that the journal provides various original support mechanisms to authors, which allow them to advertise their scientific work. I think it is a good incentive to publish in Diversity.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

Biogeography and macroecology are research fields that strongly benefit from the big data revolution: it is now possible to collect and analyze huge data sets that provide new information on the patterns of biological diversity on Earth and its regulatory processes. Using this information, it is possible to build predictive models of biodiversity changes according to various environmental stressors, which can then be tested experimentally. It is an exciting leap of knowledge.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?

The generalization of open access restores a fair distribution of knowledge to all citizens of the world. Academic research is largely funded by public money. It is thus expected that scientific results are available to everyone. However, an ideal model is yet to be developed: research funders need to help laboratories bear the costs of open access, which might be possible by foregoing the very expensive subscriptions to journals published by a handful of publishers.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Michel Baguette to his new role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we wish him every success in his research and in the development of the journal.

Diversity Editorial Office

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. José L. Tella has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Biodiversity Loss and Dynamics” in Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. José L. Tella, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his view of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?

I did not hesitate to accept the invitation to serve as Editor-in-Chief for Diversity, as my previous experiences with this journal as an author, Editorial Board Member, and Guest Editor were very satisfactory.

2. What is your vision for the journal?

I firmly believe that the recognition and impact of Diversity will grow rapidly, as more researchers become aware of the speed, rigor, and transparency of the journal's peer review process, and of the help that the journal offers for authors, reviewers, and editors.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

Unfortunately, the increasing anthropization of the world will continue to impact its biodiversity in multiple ways. The study of these impacts will continue to grow, perhaps exponentially, since we need to know them precisely to try to mitigate them.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?

Open Access is key since it allows free access to readers and the dissemination of scientific skills and information all over the world. However, many research groups cannot afford APC costs. I hope that the rapid increase in open access journals will lead to a significant reduction in APCs. Meanwhile, publishers should make open access publication much more accessible, especially for authors from countries where access to research funding is very limited.

We wish Prof. Dr. José L. Tella every success in his research and in the development of the journal.

Diversity Editorial Office

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

This program will 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 with novel ideas for new Diversity 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 Diversity (ISSN: 1424-2818), from other well-established research institutes or laboratories, etc.

Early Career Scientist’s Responsibilities:

• Providing a CV, including a list of publications;
• Proposing a Special Issue title and a short introduction;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue;
• Reviewing and making decisions for submissions under the mentorship of our editorial board members.

Mentor’s Responsibilities:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Co-editing the Special Issue with younger scholars and performing quality control of the publications in the SI;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue.

Certificates and Awards:

After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors, and the younger scholars will be prioritized as candidates for the Diversity Young Investigator Awards in future editions.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Diversity Editorial Office (diversity@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, Diversity will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

Diversity Editorial Office

Diversity is recruiting Editorial Board Members who would like to be involved in one of the five Sections: “Biodiversity Conservation”, “Chemical Diversity and Chemical Ecology”, “Biogeography and Macroecology”, “Biodiversity Loss & Dynamics”, and “Diversity Review”. If you are interested in serving on the Editorial Board, or have potential candidates to recommend, please reach out to us.

Applicants for Editorial Board positions may nominate a specific Section in which they feel their expertise lies or may nominate themselves as an Editorial Board Member for the entire journal.  

Diversity (ISSN: 1424-2818; Impact Factor: 2.465) is a fully open access journal on the science of biodiversity from molecules and genes to populations, species, and ecosystems. It is indexed by the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science), Scopus (CiteScore in 2020: 2.2), and other important databases.

As an Editorial Board member, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Pre-screening submissions and making decisions on whether they should be rejected or accepted for processing;
• Editing a Special Issue on a topic related to your research;
• Recommending timely topics and suggesting potential Guest Editors;
• Publishing/inviting/recommending one paper free of charge per year;
• Identifying appropriate conferences for the promotion of Diversity;
• Promoting the journal.

To apply or request further information, please contact the Diversity Editorial Office (diversity@mdpi.com). We look forward to hearing from you soon.

We are pleased to announce that five new scholars have recently been appointed Editorial Board Members (EBMs) for the journal Diversity (ISSN: 1424-2818).

We wish them every success both in their research and in the development of the journal.

Further details about the Editorial Board can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity/editors.

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