Announcements

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

Conference: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2023)

Date: 29 May–2 June 2023
Place: London, UK

Machines (ISSN: 2075-1702) will be attending ICRA 2023 as an exhibitor. This meeting will take place from 29 May to 2 June 2023 in London, UK.

The largest and most prestigious event of the year in the robotics and automation calendar, the 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) will bring together the world's top academics, researchers, and industry representatives. With the conference taking place in the UK for the first time, London will provide the perfect backdrop to this world-class event.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Machines;
• Sensors;
• Actuators;
• Applied Sciences;
• Electronics;
• Robotics;
• Systems;
• JSAN;
• Technologies;
• Inventions;
• Designs;
• Drones;
• JMMP;
• Telecom;
• AI;
• Automation.

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 the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.icra2023.org/.

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

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

Recently, Clarivate™ revealed its 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers™—individuals at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations.

The scientists who were selected into this year’s list of Highly Cited Researchers have published highly cited papers in the 11-year period from January 2011 to December 2021, with citation frequency in the top 1% of academic subjects and the same year of publication in the Web of Science™ database. Based on Web of Science Citation data, 6,938 researchers from across the globe who have demonstrated a disproportionate level of significant and broad influence in their chosen field or fields over the last decade have been awarded Highly Cited Researcher 2022 designations. The list is truly global, spanning 69 countries or regions and spread across a diverse range of research sciences and social sciences.

According to statistics, 3 members of the Editorial Board of Drones (ISSN: 2504-446X) have been selected into the list of Highly Cited Researchers of Clarivate in 2022. They are being recognized for their high-quality scientific research achievements and outstanding contributions to professional fields. The Drones journal office sincerely congratulates all elected Editorial Board Members and hopes that they continue to have an academically productive relationship with the journal.

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

Drones (ISSN: 2504-446X, IF 5.532) is pleased to present the Editor’s Choice Articles in 2020. Editor’s Choice Articles are based on the recommendations of the Drones editorial team from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles published in Drones that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or otherwise important in the respective research area. The aim in highlighting and promoting this research is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various topical areas of Drones.

1. “Adaptive Water Sampling Device for Aerial Robots”
by Cengiz Koparan, A. Bulent Koc, Charles V. Privette and Calvin B. Sawyer
Drones 2020, 4(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4010005
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/1/5

2. “Coastal Mapping Using DJI Phantom 4 RTK in Post-Processing Kinematic Mode”
by Yuri Taddia, Francesco Stecchi and Alberto Pellegrinelli
Drones 2020, 4(2), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4020009
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/2/9

3. “Accuracy of 3D Landscape Reconstruction without Ground Control Points Using Different UAS Platforms”
by Margaret Kalacska, Oliver Lucanus, J. Pablo Arroyo-Mora, Étienne Laliberté, Kathryn Elmer, George Leblanc and Andrew Groves
Drones 2020, 4(2), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4020013
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/2/13

4. “Reliable Long-Range Multi-Link Communication for Unmanned Search and Rescue Aircraft Systems in Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operation”
by Johannes Güldenring, Philipp Gorczak, Fabian Eckermann, Manuel Patchou, Janis Tiemann, Fabian Kurtz and Christian Wietfeld
Drones 2020, 4(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4020016
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/2/16

5. “Sharkeye: Real-Time Autonomous Personal Shark Alerting via Aerial Surveillance”
by Robert Gorkin III, Kye Adams, Matthew J. Berryman, Sam Aubin, Wanqing Li, Andrew R. Davis and Johan Barthelemy
Drones 2020, 4(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4020018
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/44

6. “Estimating Tree Height and Volume Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photography and SfM Technology, with Verification of Result Accuracy”
by Shohei Kameyama and Katsuaki Sugiura
Drones 2020, 4(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4020019
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/2/19

7. “A Comprehensive Review of Applications of Drone Technology in the Mining Industry”
by Javad Shahmoradi, Elaheh Talebi, Pedram Roghanchi and Mostafa Hassanalian
Drones 2020, 4(3), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030034
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/3/34

8. “Towards Bio-Inspiration, Development, and Manufacturing of a Flapping-Wing Micro Air Vehicle”
by P. Lane, G. Throneberry, I. Fernandez, M. Hassanalian, R. Vasconcellos and A. Abdelkefi
Drones 2020, 4(3), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030039
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/3/39

9. “UAS-Based Archaeological Remote Sensing: Review, Meta-Analysis and State-of-the-Art”
by Efstathios Adamopoulos and Fulvio Rinaudo
Drones 2020, 4(3), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030046
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/3/46

10. “High Resolution Geospatial Evapotranspiration Mapping of Irrigated Field Crops Using Multispectral and Thermal Infrared Imagery with METRIC Energy Balance Model”
by Abhilash K. Chandel, Behnaz Molaei, Lav R. Khot, R. Troy Peters and Claudio O. Stöckle
Drones 2020, 4(3), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030052
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/3/52

11. “Operational Protocols for the Use of Drones in Marine Animal Research”
by Vincent Raoult, Andrew P. Colefax, Blake M. Allan, Daniele Cagnazzi, Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, Daniel Ierodiaconou, David W. Johnston, Sarah Landeo-Yauri, Mitchell Lyons, Vanessa Pirotta, Gail Schofield and Paul A. Butcher
Drones 2020, 4(4), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4040064
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/4/64

12. “An Evaluation of the Drone Delivery of Adrenaline Auto-Injectors for Anaphylaxis: Pharmacists’ Perceptions, Acceptance, and Concerns”
by September Beck, Tam T. Bui, Andrew Davies, Patrick Courtney, Alex Brown, Jef Geudens and Paul G. Royall
Drones 2020, 4(4), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4040066
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/4/66

13. “Correlation among Earthwork and Cropmark Anomalies within Archaeological Landscape Investigation by Using LiDAR and Multispectral Technologies from UAV”
by Diego Ronchi, Marco Limongiello and Salvatore Barba
Drones 2020, 4(4), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4040072
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/4/4/72

Please check more Editor’s Choice Articles at
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/drones/editors_choice.

Joining the Editorial Board:
If you are an active and experienced researcher in the field of drones and are interested in joining the Editorial Board, please do not hesitate to contact the Drones Editorial Office (drones@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest and enthusiasm for the position.

Drones Editorial Office

Drones (ISSN: 2504-446X, IF: 5.532) is pleased to present the top 10 viewed Editor’s Choice Articles in 2021. Editor’s Choice Articles are based on the recommendations of the Drones editorial team from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles published in Drones that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or otherwise important in the respective research area. The aim of highlighting and promoting this research is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various topical areas of Drones.

1. “The Drone Revolution of Shark Science: A Review”
by Paul A. Butcher, Andrew P. Colefax, Robert A. Gorkin, Stephen M. Kajiura, Naima A. López, Johann Mourier, Cormac R. Purcell, Gregory B. Skomal, James P. Tucker, Andrew J. Walsh, Jane E. Williamson and Vincent Raoult
Drones 2021, 5(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010008
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/1/8

2. “Drone Swarms in Fire Suppression Activities: A Conceptual Framework”
by Elena Ausonio, Patrizia Bagnerini and Marco Ghio
Drones 2021, 5(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010017
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/1/17

3. “A Citizen Science Unmanned Aerial System Data Acquisition Protocol and Deep Learning Techniques for the Automatic Detection and Mapping of Marine Litter Concentrations in the Coastal Zone”
by Apostolos Papakonstantinou, Marios Batsaris, Spyros Spondylidis and Konstantinos Topouzelis
Drones 2021, 5(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010006
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/1/6

4. “Biomimetic Drones Inspired by Dragonflies Will Require a Systems Based Approach and Insights from Biology”
by Javaan Chahl, Nasim Chitsaz, Blake McIvor, Titilayo Ogunwa, Jia-Ming Kok, Timothy McIntyre and Ermira Abdullah
Drones 2021, 5(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020024
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/24

5. “Development of a Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Extended Flight Endurance”
by Yauhei Chu, Chunleung Ho, Yoonjo Lee and Boyang Li
Drones 2021, 5(2), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020044
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/44

6. “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildland Fires: Sensing, Perception, Cooperation and Assistance”
by Moulay A. Akhloufi, Andy Couturier and Nicolás A. Castro
Drones 2021, 5(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010015
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/1/15

7. “Multiscale Object Detection from Drone Imagery Using Ensemble Transfer Learning”
by Rahee Walambe, Aboli Marathe and Ketan Kotecha
Drones 2021, 5(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5030066
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/3/66

8. “Flying Free: A Research Overview of Deep Learning in Drone Navigation Autonomy”
by Thomas Lee, Susan Mckeever and Jane Courtney
Drones 2021, 5(2), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020052
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/52

9. “Visual SLAM for Indoor Livestock and Farming Using a Small Drone with a Monocular Camera: A Feasibility Study”
by Sander Krul, Christos Pantos, Mihai Frangulea and João Valente
Drones 2021, 5(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020041
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/41

10. “Quantifying the Effects of Vibration on Medicines in Transit Caused by Fixed-Wing and Multi-Copter Drones”
by Andrew Oakey, Tim Waters, Wanqing Zhu, Paul G. Royall, Tom Cherrett, Patrick Courtney, Dennis Majoe and Nickolay Jelev
Drones 2021, 5(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010022
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/1/22

Please check more Editor’s Choice Articles at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/drones/editors_choice.

Joining the Editorial Board:
If you are an active and experienced researcher in the field of drones and are interested in joining the Editorial Board, please do not hesitate to contact the Drones Editorial Office (drones@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest and enthusiasm for the position.

Drones Editorial Office

MDPI will be attending the 2023 INT’L Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS ‘23), held in Warsaw, Poland, from 6 to 9 June 2023. ICUAS ‘23 aims to bring together different groups of qualified representatives worldwide, as well as funding agencies, industry, academia, end-users, and practitioners, to discuss the current state of unmanned aviation and the roadmap to its full utilization in civilian and public domains. The conference is open to scholars and specialists from academia and the engineering profession. During this conference, MDPI will welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Drones;
• Applied Sciences;
• Applied Mechanics;
• Aerospace;
• Imaging;
• JSAN;
• Micromachines;
• Smart Cities.

If you plan on attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have.

For more information about the conference, please see the following link: http://www.uasconferences.com/2023_icuas/.

Conference: The 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference
Date: 16–18 November 2022
Place: Beijing, China

Sensors (ISSN: 1424-8220) will be attending the 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference as an exhibitor. This meeting will take place from 16 to 18 November in Beijing, China.

The China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC) is an open academic exchange platform. It aims to strengthen academic innovation and promote the cooperation and exchange of satellite navigation systems, strengthen technological innovation and promote the engineering construction of satellite navigation systems, strengthen theoretical innovation and promote the progress of satellite navigation theories, and strengthen application innovation and promote the scientific development of satellite navigation industry. The conference has been successfully held for 12 years and has produced a large number of excellent results in academic, technical, theoretical, application, and talent aspects.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Sensors;
• Remote Sensing;
• Atmosphere;
• Aerospace;
• Technologies;
• Drones;
• Signals;
• Smart Cities;
• AI;
• Geomatics.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us (booth #B18). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference and virtual booth, please visit the following website: https://www.beidou.org/annualmeeting.html.