Announcements

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Forests 2020 Best Paper Award. All papers published in the year 2020 (1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020) in Forests (ISSN: 1999-4907) were considered for the award. After a thorough evaluation of the originality and significance of the papers, citations, and downloads, the four winning papers have been selected.

Two Articles:

1. “Coastal Pine-Oak Glacial Refugia in the Mediterranean Basin: A Biogeographic Approach Based on Charcoal Analysis and Spatial Modelling”
by Gaetano Di Pasquale, Antonio Saracino, Luciano Bosso, Danilo Russo, Adriana Moroni, Giuliano Bonanomi and Emilia Allevato
Forests 2020, 11(6), 673; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11060673

2. “A Survey in Natural Forest Ecosystems of Vietnam Reveals High Diversity of both New and Described Phytophthora Taxa including P. ramorum”
by Thomas Jung, Bruno Scanu, Clive M. Brasier, Joan Webber, Ivan Milenković, Tamara Corcobado, Michal Tomšovský, Matěj Pánek, József Bakonyi, Cristiana Maia, Aneta Bačová, Milica Raco, Helen Rees, Ana Pérez-Sierra and Marília Horta Jung
Forests 2020, 11(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010093

Two Reviews:

1. “Living in Drylands: Functional Adaptations of Trees and Shrubs to Cope with High Temperatures and Water Scarcity”
by José Javier Peguero-Pina, Alberto Vilagrosa, David Alonso-Forn, Juan Pedro Ferrio, Domingo Sancho-Knapik and Eustaquio Gil-Pelegrín
Forests 2020, 11(10), 1028; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11101028

2. “Advances and Promises of Epigenetics for Forest Trees“
by Joana Amaral, Zoé Ribeyre, Julien Vigneaud, Mamadou Dia Sow, Régis Fichot, Christian Messier, Gloria Pinto, Philippe Nolet and Stéphane Maury
Forests 2020, 11(9), 976; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11090976

Each winner (corresponding author) will receive CHF 500 and a chance to publish a paper in Forests free of charge (Article Processing Charge: CHF 2000) in 2022. On behalf of the assessment committee, we would like to congratulate the winners on their accomplishment. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the nominated research groups of the above exceptional papers for their contributions to Forests and the Award Committee for voting and helping with this award.

Prof. Dr. Timothy A. Martin, Editor-in-Chief, on behalf of the Forests 2020 Best Paper Award Evaluation Committee

We are happy to announce the establishment of the new Section “Urban Forestry” in Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). The Section is currently recruiting an Editor-in-Chief.

The Section “Urban Forestry” aims to publish articles on original research based on green infrastructure at multiple scales, from the neighborhood, to metropolitan areas, to the regional landscape. The scope includes urban parks, street trees, landscaped boulevards, gardens, rivers and coastal promenades, greenways, river corridors, wetlands, nature preserves, shelter belts of trees, and working trees at former industrial sites. Further information about the Section may be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/sections/urban_forestry.

The Section Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the following:

• Defining the aims and scope of the Section;
• Advising on the strategic development of the Section;
• Ensuring that the published content is of high quality;
• Nominating/inviting Guest Editors and optionally providing them with the authority to make final acceptance decisions about submitted articles;
• Nominating/inviting contributors;
• Nominating and leading the Section Editorial Board;
• Promoting the journal at scientific conferences or through other venues;
• Conducting preliminary checks of submissions and making the final decision as to whether a paper can be accepted for publication following peer review and author revisions (when it suits your schedule).

To apply for this position, please contact the Forests Editorial Office (forests@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.

Forests Editorial Office

On behalf of the Section Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Timothy A. Martin, and in recognition of our reviewers’ outstanding contributions to Forests (ISSN: 1999-4907), we are pleased to announce an award for reviewers who have demonstrated excellent dedication, professionalism, and timeliness in their work.

Although anonymous peer-review is one of the cornerstones of publishing high-quality, comprehensive manuscripts devoted to the advancement of science and engineering research, it is also often one of the most underappreciated. The Forests editorial team is extremely grateful to reviewers for the time, energy, and dedication that they freely provide to support their peers.

Who is eligible for this award?
All of the reviewers for Forests in 2022 will be automatically included.

What will the winners receive?
There will be four awardees this year. Each of the winners will receive the following:

• CHF 500;
• A certificate;
• An opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in 2023.

When will the winners be announced?
The winners will be announced in February 2023 on the journal website.

How can I meet the eligibility criteria?
If you have not yet reviewed papers for the journal, but would like to do so, you can register as a reviewer at: https://susy.mdpi.com/volunteer/profile/edit.

The winners will be announced on 28 February 2023 on the journal’s website. For further details, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/Forests/awards.

We are pleased to announce the two awardees for the 2022 Forests Travel Awards, Mr. Eko Setio Wibowo and Ms. Melissa Latella.

Each of the awardees will receive the following benefits:

• CHF 600 (Swiss francs);
• A certificate.

For more information about the Forests awards, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/awards.

It is a pleasure to announce the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Forests (IECF2022)—Exploring New Discoveries and New Directions in Forests. The conference has been organized by the MDPI open-access journal Forests (impact factor 2.634) and will be held online from 15 to 31 October 2022.

The conference will provide an opportunity to share new ideas, technologies, and innovations in the broad area of forest sciences with the global community of scientists in the field of forestry.

Forests are crucial for the health of our planet, as also highlighted in the recent COP26 meeting, and all stakeholders, beginning with forest scientists, must focus their attention on the overall sustainability of the forestry sector. Alongside timber production, forests provide several fundamental ecosystem services, such as biodiversity conservation, soil protection, recreation, landscape, food supply, and carbon stocking, without forgetting the value in terms of aesthetics, education, spiritualism, art, and identity that forests possess. It is up to us to manage forests in the best possible way, allowing them to continue to carry out all of these crucial roles. The global pandemic has further increased, if possible, the importance of forests, highlighting their relevance to human health.

Taking into account the abovementioned factors, the role of forest research is fundamental, and only through sharing knowledge and competence among the different sectors of forest science will it be possible to achieve the ambitious but crucial goal of Sustainable Forest Management.

Therefore, we invite you to join us with your work and be part of this exciting experience.

The topics of the conference include:

1. Forest Ecology and Management;
2. Forest Ecophysiology and Genetics;
3. Wood Science, Production Chains, Fuelwood and Trade;
4. Forest Operations and Engineering;
5. Forest and Urban Forest Sustainability;
6. Forest Inventory, Quantitative Methods and Remote Sensing;
7. Forest Wildfires and Other Natural Hazards;
8. Forest Economics, Policy and Social Science;
9. Forest Climate Regulation.

For the IECF2022, participation and attendance are FREE of charge. Hopefully, this means it will be an inclusive and sustainable conference due to the lack of taxes, travel costs, or other related expenditures. All you need is a computer and access to the Internet. This online event will bring together researchers from all over the world. However, this conference represents a commitment to a “physical” meeting, which we hope will be held in the very near future.

We warmly invite our colleagues from across the world to actively take part in this important and inspiring event by presenting their latest work.

Event Awards

To acknowledge the support of the conference’s esteemed authors and recognize their outstanding scientific accomplishments, we are pleased to launch the Best Paper Award and the Best Poster Award.

The winners will receive the following:

• 350 Swiss francs;
• A certificate;
• Opportunities to publish one paper in Forests with a 50% discount before 31 December 2023.

For more information on IECF, please visit the conference website (https://sciforum.net/event/IECF2022) or contact us by email (iecf2022@mdpi.com).

The Forests Editorial Board and editorial team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy given by reviewers in assessing the manuscripts submitted to the journal. With their great support, many interesting papers of high quality have been published in Forests (ISSN: 1999-4907) and a quick peer review process is maintained. In order to acknowledge our reviewers, the editorial team has dedicated an award to reviewers in gratitude for their exceptional dedication, professionalism, and timeliness in reviewing manuscripts for Forests.

The following four referees will be awarded the Forests 2021 Outstanding Reviewer prize on the basis of the quantity, timeliness, and quality of their reviews in 2021. Each of them will receive CHF 500, a certificate, and a 50% discount on APC for their outstanding review work. We are very pleased to acknowledge the following referees:

If you are interested in reviewing articles for Forests, please register your contact details, including your ORCID identifier, institutional affiliation, a short CV, and 5–6 keywords in line with your expertise at the following link: https://susy.mdpi.com/volunteer_reviewer/step/1. The managing editors will send you a notification once approved.

Prof. Dr. Timothy A. Martin
Editor-in-Chief

We are pleased to announce that Forests is now inviting nominations for the Forests 2021 Early Career Investigator Award. This prize will be awarded to two early career investigators in recognition of their excellence in the fields covered by Forests (ISSN: 1999-4907). All nominations will be assessed by an evaluation committee, which will be led by the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Timothy A. Martin.

The prize:

• An official certificate;
• CHF 1000 (Swiss francs);
• The option to publish two papers, after peer review, in Forests, with a 50% discount on the article processing charge.

Eligibility and requirements:

• Must have received a Ph.D. degree on, or after, 1 January 2017;
• Must have produced ground-breaking research and made a significant contribution to the advancement of Forests;
• Candidates must be nominated by senior scientists;
• Exemptions to the five years since Ph.D. criterion will be permitted for career interruptions, including caring responsibilities, disability, disaster management and recovery (excluding the COVID-19 pandemic), medical conditions, parental leave, and unemployment. If you would like to apply for an exemption, please submit a statement that clearly describes the nature and duration of the disruption. Please include the name of a senior researcher who can verify the statement.

List of documents for nomination:

• Detailed curriculum vitae, including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
• Scanned copy of the candidate’s doctorate certificate;
• Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists;
• Statement of career interruption (if applicable).

Schedule:

• Nomination deadline: 31 August 2022;
• Winner announcement: 31 October 2022.

How to submit nominations?

• The nominations must be submitted online.

If you, or anyone you know, are qualified for the award, please apply at your earliest convenience. Please do not hesitate to contact us at forests@mdpi.com with any questions.

Find more details and to apply for the award, please visit the following website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/awards.

It is our pleasure to announce that we are now inviting applications for the Forests 2021 Best Ph.D. Thesis Award (award: CHF 500). This prize will be awarded to two Ph.D. students who are expecting to graduate or participate in a graduation thesis soon. If you are interested in applying for this award, please submit your application and relevant documents via the following link, by 31 May 2022: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/awards/submit/1477.

The winners of this award will be announced on the journal website on 31 July 2022. For more details about Forests awards, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/awards.

Forests Editorial Office

“Editor’s Choice” articles are papers that have been specially collated by our Editor-in-Chief. All have had a significant influence on the scientific community.

Recently, the Editorial Office selected another 10 papers from among the most downloaded publications in Volume 12, Issues 7–9. The following papers were selected:

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the research groups behind these exceptional papers for their contribution to Forests (ISSN: 1999-4907). We would be very appreciative if you shared these selected papers among your colleagues or through your network.

If you want to learn more about the contributions published in “Editor’s Choice”, please follow this link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/editors_choice.

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.