Announcements

MDPI Books recently released Book Builder, a new online tool to conveniently arrange, design and produce an eBook from any content published in MDPI journals. Book Builder offers two functions: on the one hand (1) Selections, available to every registered user of MDPI; on the other hand (2) Special Issue Reprints, which can be used exclusively by Guest Editors of Special Issues.

Selections

In just a matter of a few clicks, all users are now able to assemble books from MDPI articles and receive instantaneous feedback in the form of a fully produced and compiled book (PDF), which can be downloaded or ordered as print copy. Selections can include any paper published with MDPI, picking and combining content from different journals and special issues.

This way, the user may for example choose to compile an ebook focusing around a particular topic, or assemble articles from a group of others.

We invite you to make yourself familiar with the new tool! The Book Builder can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/books/book_builder.

Special Issue Reprints

The Book Builder allows Guest Editors of MDPI journals to create a reprint from a successfully completed Special Issue or Topical Collection in book format. If you are a Guest Editor for an MDPI journal, you can use the new tool  to create an PDF document which includes all articles published in the Special Issue as well as a book cover and table of contents.

For Special Issues containing a minimum of 5 articles, the Guest Editor can request its publication on the MDPI Book platform. Published reprints are assigned an ISBN and DOI.

In addition to the PDF copy of the Reprint Book, as a token of our gratitude, MDPI offers every Guest Editor one (1) complimentary print copy (via print-on-demand). All contributors benefit from a discount on orders of any additional print copies, to share with colleagues or libraries or others.

Why choose MDPI Books?

In line with our organization's values, MDPI Books publishes all content in open access, promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge in a globalized world. MDPI Books encompasses all the benefits of open access—high availability and visibility, as well as wide and rapid dissemination. MDPI Books are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License, meaning as an author you retain the copyright for your work. In addition, with MDPI Books you can complement the digital version of your work with a high-quality printed counterpart.

If you are interested in editing a book volume or series, or have a monograph manuscript to be considered for publication, please submit your proposal online and look at our Information for Authors.

Contact: Laura Wagner, MDPI Books Manager (email)

In June of this year, MDPI will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this significant milestone, we have created a 25th Anniversary page on our website that evokes the development of our company over the past quarter-century.

MDPI has been a pioneer of Open Access publishing ever since the concept was first created.

In a wide-ranging interview, our CEO Delia Mihaila reflects on the company’s 25th anniversary and its contribution to the world of scientific publishing.

Delia considers how MDPI has evolved since starting life in 1996 as a visionary ‘project’ run out of an apartment in Basel, Switzerland, by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin. A chemist who was passionate about the long-term preservation of rare chemical sample, Dr. Lin was determined to help scholars publish their findings as quickly as possible and make their research results available to as wide a readership as possible worldwide. That determination remains unchanged 25 years later.

Today, MDPI is an international organization with over 4,000 employees based on three continents and in ten countries, and ranks among the world's top four academic publishers.

MDPI's mission is to accelerate access to new scientific research, delivering insight faster for researchers worldwide. Read more here about the company's remarkable success story and what the Open Access publishing model can offer the global scientific community.

At MDPI, we strive to make your online publication process seamless and efficient. To achieve this, our team is continuously developing tools and features to make the user experience useful and convenient.

As the number of academic papers continues to grow, so does the need to analyze and work with them on a large scale. This prompted us to design a new feature aimed at helping researchers find journals that are relevant to their publication by matching their abstract topic. In this regard, we designed a similarity model that automatically identifies the most suitable academic journals for your paper.

We are pleased to introduce Journal Selector, a new feature that measures similarity in academic contexts. By simply entering the title and/or abstract into our Journal Selector, the author will see a list of the most related scientific journals published by MDPI. This method helps authors select the correct journals for their papers, highlighting the time of publication and citability.

The methodology is known as representation learning, where words are represented as vectors in hyperspace. Representation helps us differentiate between different concepts within articles, and in turn, helps us identify similarities between them.

We used an advanced machine learning model to better capture the semantic meanings of words. This helps the algorithm make better predictions by leveraging scientific text representation. In turn, this ensures high precision, helping authors decide which journal they should submit their paper to.

The goal is to support authors to publish their work in the most suitable journal for their research, as fast as possible, accelerating their career progress.

Contact: Andrea Perlato, Head of Data Analytics, MDPI (email)

IJERPH’s success story is continued during the year 2020. Its stable position as a top-quality journal in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) combined with a steady increasing submission rate with 23,365 new submission in 2020 and a five-year-in-a-row increase in impact factor rank place IJERPH as the most informative journal in environmental and public health research.

In 2020, we received 23,365 new submissions, with an annual growth of 85.88% and published 9440 papers, an increase of 78.28%. The median processing time (from submission to publication online) was 39 days in 2020. A total of 627 new editorial board members have joined us, and the number of editorial board members increased to 1440. There are also 695 topics editors and 506 reviewer board members who newly joined, with increasing rates of 288% and 158%, respectively. We now have 15,228 subscribers in total.

IJERPH has been expanding its scope with seven new sections: Traumas; Nursing; Adolescents; Disabilities; Reproductive Health; Sport and Health; and Skin Health and with its intensively cited COVID-19-related articles, the journal will continue to attract more and more authors from all over the world who appreciate its very efficient peer review and publishing processes.

High Altimetric Papers

Global Health
Airborne Transmission Route of COVID-19: Why 2 Meters/6 Feet of Inter-Personal Distance Could Not Be Enough
Leonardo Setti et al.

Exercise and Health
Wearing of Cloth or Disposable Surgical Face Masks has no Effect on Vigorous Exercise Performance in Healthy Individuals
Keely Shaw et al.

Environmental Health
Global to USA County Scale Analysis of Weather, Urban Density, Mobility, Homestay, and Mask Use on COVID-19
Sajad Jamshidi et al.

Mental Health
Nutritional Factors, Physical Health and Immigrant Status Are Associated with Anxiety Disorders among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Findings from Baseline Data of The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)
Karen M. Davison et al.

Mental Health
Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China
Cuiyan Wang et al.

Collections/Special Issues

IJERPH runs Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics. The aim is to build a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by guest editors who are experts in the subject and oversee the editorial process for papers. Papers published in a Special Issue will be collected together on a dedicated page of the journal website.

Hot Special Issues

Adult Psychiatry
Sports and Health
Occupational Health Psychology
Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sports
Rethinking Work in the Digital Era to Protect the Environment and Promote Health

Open Calls

Topical Collection "Aging and Public Health"
edited by Matthew Lee Smith and Marcia G. Ory

Topical Collection "2nd Edition of Achieving Environmental Health Equity: Great Expectations"
edited by Timothy E. Ford and Margaret J. Eggers

Topical Collection "COVID-19 Research"
edited by Paul B. Tchounwou

Read full list of call for papers: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues

On behalf of the editorial team, we would like to express our gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief of IJERPH, all Section Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members, as well as to the Guest Editors of Special Issues, Topic Board Members, and Reviewer Board Members, all of whom have ensured the continued success of the journal through their hard work and diligence.

In 2021, IJERPH will continue to contribute to academic exchange and sharing of knowledge.

MDPI is proud to adopt the principles of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) to support building equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications.

The C4DISC represents organizations and individuals working in scholarly communications and is focused on addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within the publishing industry.

MDPI’s Managing Editors encourage the Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors to appoint diverse expert Editorial Boards. This is also reflective in our multi-national and inclusive workplace. We are proud to create equal opportunities without regard to gender, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, disability, political beliefs, religion, or socio-economic status. There is no place for discrimination in our workplace and editors of MDPI journals are to uphold these principles in high regard.

Representatives from C4DISC meet monthly, and have started to implement initiatives to shed light and improve on the lack of diversity in scholarly communications. Some of the initiatives include developing a joint statement of principles; conducting market research; providing training resources, best practices, toolkits, and documentation for our collective memberships; and establishing outreach programs, curricula, events, and publications.

The Coalition is committed to:

• eliminating barriers to participation, extending equitable opportunities across all stakeholders, and ensuring that our practices and policies promote equitable treatment and do not allow, condone, or result in discrimination;
• creating and maintaining an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences;
• promoting diversity in all staff, volunteers, and audiences, including full participation in programs, policy formulation, and decision-making;
• raising awareness about career opportunities in our industries to groups who are currently underrepresented in the workforce;
• supporting our members in achieving diversity and inclusion within their organizations.

At MDPI we have slightly revised the layout for articles to be published in the 2021 Volume, starting at the end of December 2020. As of today, the article templates available for download on ‘Instructions for Authors’ pages have been updated.

The most noticeable change can be found on the first page of the article, where a left-hand column has been created to include the following front matter elements: (i) the recommended citation style for the article, (ii) the publishing history, (iii) as well as the Creative Commons Attribution license used (iv) a standard note regarding affiliations. At the same time, the extra spacing on the left means the authors’ affiliations are now more clearly set apart than before. Other front matter key elements such as journal logo, article type, article title, authors, abstract and keywords remain unchanged.

The blank column on the left runs through all pages in an article; as a result, the main text is slightly more condensed, which improve reader friendliness for smaller screens. Small figures/tables are aligned on the left with standard indenture, while large figures/tables are centered and covering the full width of the page. The revised layout was applied in the article pictured below, to serve as an example:

1) Information is displayed in the left information bar.

2) In the main text, there is a blank column on the left.

3) Small tables/figures are aligned on the left, large tables/figures are centered.

We are pleased to acknowledge that many academic editors who have made an impact on MDPI journals as editorial board members, editors-in-chief, or section editors, are recognized as 2020 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate.

Highly Cited Researchers highlights the top 1% of researchers, by citations, in one or more of the 22 fields used in Clarivate Analytics Essential Science Indicators. We offer our congratulations to 279 academic editors of MDPI journals who were recognized as the most influential scholars in their fields in 2020.

The full list of 2020 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed on https://recognition.webofsciencegroup.com/awards/highly-cited/2020/

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

We would like to advise you that the schedule of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health—Public Health Issues in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic (ECERPH-3) has been updated:

Time Schedule
Deadline for Abstract Submission: 10 December 2020
Notification of Acceptance: 17 December 2020
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 4 January 2021
Conference Open: 11–25 January 2021

We need to look at the pandemic from many sides, and we think we have covered many important aspects with your help in the different sessions of this conference. We aim to have a discussion relating to infectious disease, global health, mental health, reproductive health, occupational health, and environmental exposure, etc. We hope to encourage discovery across the discipline as we cover the following broad themes in sessions A–K, as listed below:

Session A: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Session B: Environmental Exposures and Health
Session C: Mental Health
Session D: Children’s Health
Session E: Women’s Health
Session F: Exercise and Health
Session G: Health Economics
Session H: Occupational Safety and Health
Session I: Public Health Statistics and Risk Assessment
Session J: Oral Health (Newly added session)
Session K: Posters (Newly added session)

We proudly invite the global community of scholars to join ECERPH-3 to present their latest public health research and development and share novel ideas on COVID-19 topics. Thanks to the flexibility of our innovative electronic platform, you are welcome both to upload and present your work and to attend the conference completely free of charge. We have also created a Special Issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/IECERPH-3) for selected conference papers in our journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601, IF 2.849, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). Papers submitted to this Special Issue, if accepted for publication, will receive a 20% discount on the Article Processing Charges.

We would like to invite those of you who have not yet submitted an abstract to do so up until 10 December 2020. Please refer to https://ecerph-3.sciforum.net/ for the Instructions for Authors.

We are looking forward to receiving your research papers and to welcoming you to this 3rd International Electronic Conference on Environmental Research and Public Health.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Conference Secretariat
Ms. Cici Zhou
Ms. Rainy Han
E-Mail: ecerph@mdpi.com

IJERPH is recruiting Editorial Board members for the following eighteen new sections:

• Health Economics
• Climate Change and Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Mental Health
• Digital Health
• Children’s Health
• Health Communication
• Public Health Statistics and Risk Assessment
• Environmental Microbiology
• Oral Health
• Exercise and Health
• Traumas
• Nursing
• Adolescents
• Skin Health
• Disabilities
• Reproductive Health
• Sport and Health

These sections will expand the Editorial Board and cover areas that are less represented by the current team. If you are interested in this position or know of potential candidates to recommend, please contact us by 31 December 2020.

IJERPH (ISSN 1660-4601) covers Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Public Health, Environmental Health, Occupational Hygiene, Health Economic and Global Health Research, and related topics. It was awarded a 2019 Journal Impact Factor of 2.849. The website of IJERPH can be accessed here.

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

– To make decisions on whether a manuscript can be accepted or not based on the reports we collect;
– To edit a Special Issue on a topic related to your research interests when it is convenient for you;
– To promote IJERPH and increase its visibility at related academic conferences.

To apply or request further information, please contact the IJERPH Editorial Office (ijerph@mdpi.com).

We are pleased to announce that the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health received an updated Journal Impact Factor of 2.849 in the recent release of the Journal Citation Reports®. The journal's 5-Year Impact Factor is 3.127. IJERPH now ranks 58/193 (Q2) in the category “Public, Environmental, and Occupational Health” (SCIE edition), 32/170 (Q1) in “Public, Environmental, and Occupational Health” (SSCI edition), and 105/265 (Q2) in “Environmental Sciences”.

Evolution of Impact Factor, Citations, and Publications for IJERPH:

Source: data according to Journal Citation Reports®, 2019 release, a Clarivate Analytics product.