Announcements

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)

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

This program intends to 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 who have novel ideas for new Special Issues of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (ISSN 2224-2708) will act as Guest Editors under the mentorship of an experienced scientist; this mentor could be a member of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks Editorial Board or may be from other well-established research institutes or laboratories.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Providing a CV that includes a list of publications;
• Proposing a Special Issue title and preparing 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.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Co-editing Special Issues with younger scholars and performing quality control for the publications in the SI;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have 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.

To apply, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks Editorial Office (jsan@mdpi.com) or complete and submit the form at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journalproposal/sendproposalspecialissue/jsan. We will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail after receiving your application. After the Special Issue closes, our office will provide certificates to all mentors and scholars who complete the program.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks continues to welcome all Special Issue proposals based on hot research topics as usual.

Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks Editorial Office

1. “A Review on IEEE 802.11p for Intelligent Transportation Systems”
Arena, Fabio, Giovanni Pau, and Alessandro Severino
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/2/22

2. “Comparison of Management and Orchestration Solutions for the 5G Era”
Trakadas, Panagiotis, Panagiotis Karkazis, Helen C. Leligou, Theodore Zahariadis, Felipe Vicens, Arturo Zurita, Pol Alemany, Thomas Soenen, Carlos Parada, Jose Bonnet, Eleni Fotopoulou, Anastasios Zafeiropoulos, Evgenia Kapassa, Marios Touloupou, and Dimosthenis Kyriazis
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/1/4

3. “Advancement of Routing Protocols and Applications of Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN)—A Survey”
Haque, Khandaker F., K. H. Kabir, and Ahmed Abdelgawad
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/2/19

4. “The Use of Meta-Surfaces in Vehicular Networks”
Masini, Barbara M., Cristiano M. Silva, and Ali Balador
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/1/15

5. “Experimental Measurements of a Joint 5G-VLC Communication for Future Vehicular Networks”
Marabissi, Dania, Lorenzo Mucchi, Stefano Caputo, Francesca Nizzi, Tommaso Pecorella, Romano Fantacci, Tassadaq Nawaz, Marco Seminara, and Jacopo Catani
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/3/32

6. “A Review of Techniques for Implementing Elliptic Curve Point Multiplication on Hardware”
Verri Lucca, Arielle, Guilherme A. Mariano Sborz, Valderi R.Q. Leithardt, Marko Beko, Cesar Albenes Zeferino, and Wemerson D. Parreira
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/10/1/3

7. “Improving Quality-Of-Service in LoRa Low-Power Wide-Area Networks through Optimized Radio Resource Management”
Sallum, Eduardo, Nuno Pereira, Mário Alves, and Max Santos
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/1/10

8. “Emerging Trends in Optimal Structural Health Monitoring System Design: From Sensor Placement to System Evaluation”
Barthorpe, Robert J., and Keith Worden
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/3/31

9. “The Design and Calibration of Instrumented Particles for Assessing Water Infrastructure Hazards”
Al-Obaidi, Khaldoon, Yi Xu, and Manousos Valyrakis
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/3/36

10. “A Cloud Based Disaster Management System”
Cheikhrouhou, Omar, Anis Koubaa, and Anis Zarrad
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/9/1/6

1. “Secure and Reliable IoT Networks Using Fog Computing with Software-Defined Networking and Blockchain”
Muthanna, Ammar, Abdelhamied A. Ateya, Abdukodir Khakimov, Irina Gudkova, Abdelrahman Abuarqoub, Konstantin Samouylov, and Andrey Koucheryavy
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/1/15

2. “A Mechanism for Securing IoT-enabled Applications at the Fog Layer”
Abbas, Nadeem, Muhammad Asim, Noshina Tariq, Thar Baker, and Sohail Abbas
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/1/16

3. “IoT-Based Solid Waste Management Solutions: A Survey”
Pardini, Kellow, Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues, Sergei A. Kozlov, Neeraj Kumar, and Vasco Furtado
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/1/5

4. “A Comprehensive Study of Security and Privacy Guidelines, Threats, and Countermeasures: An IoT Perspective”
Abdul-Ghani, Hezam A., and Dimitri Konstantas
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/2/22

5. “Moving Towards Body-to-Body Sensor Networks for Ubiquitous Applications: A Survey”
Meharouech, Amira, Jocelyne Elias, and Ahmed Mehaoua
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/2/27

6. “IoT-Enabled Gas Sensors: Technologies, Applications, and Opportunities”
Gomes, João B.A., Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues, Ricardo A.L. Rabêlo, Neeraj Kumar, and Sergey Kozlov
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/4/57

7. “Smart Agriculture Using IoT Multi-Sensors: A Novel Watering Management System”
Khoa, Tran A., Mai M. Man, Tan-Y Nguyen, VanDung Nguyen, and Nguyen H. Nam
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/3/45

8. “Hybrid TOA/RSS Range-Based Localization with Self-Calibration in Asynchronous Wireless Networks”
Coluccia, Angelo, and Alessio Fascista
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/2/31

9. “Framework of an IoT-based Industrial Data Management for Smart Manufacturing”
Saqlain, Muhammad, Minghao Piao, Youngbok Shim, and Jong Y. Lee
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2224-2708/8/2/25

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.

In order to specifically develop different research areas and achieve greater journal improvement, we are pleased to announce the establishment of the following six new sections:

• “Actuators, Sensors and Devices”;
• “Communications and Networking”;
• “Network Security and Privacy”;
• “Big Data, Computing and Artificial Intelligence”;
• “Network Services and Applications”;
• “Wireless Control Networks”.

The Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (JSAN, ISSN: 2224-2708) is recruiting corresponding Section Editorial Board Members (Section EBMs) for these new sections.

The main responsibilities of Section Editorial Board Members are as follows:

• Conducting initial checks and making decisions on new submissions related to your research interests;
• Optionally suggesting hot topics for Special Issues, and editing a Special Issue on a topic related to your research interests (the Editorial Office will provide support by taking care of the whole editorial process);
• Providing conference/society cooperation recommendations, or promoting the section via conferences or your own network;
• Providing feedback and suggestions for improving the journal.

Features of JSAN are as follows:

1. JSAN has been indexed by the Web of Science “Emerging Sources Citation Index” and Scopus. The current CiteScore in Scopus is 6.2.
2. JSAN is an online, open access journal, and published papers will receive high publicity.
3. A first decision is provided to authors approximately 18 days after submission.

If you are interested in becoming a Section Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (JSAN), please send your application, including a full academic CV, to the Editorial Office (jsan@mdpi.com).

It is our great pleasure to share that the second Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (JSAN) Editorial Board Online Meeting was held on 16 September 2021, conducted by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Lei Shu.

During the meeting, Prof. Lei Shu introduced the Journal Status, Section Proposals and Development Plan, including the latest achievements and next targets of JSAN.

In the meeting, the Editorial Board Members Prof. Jaime Lloret, Prof. Dr. Jamil Yusuf Khan, Prof. Dr. Ioannis Chatzigiannakis, and Dr. Jordi Mongay Batalla provided valuable suggestions for journal development about article processing fees, journal scope, section topics, development timeline, and so on.

In recent years, the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (ISSN 2224-2708) made great progress; the new official CiteScore (2020 Scopus data) of JSAN has increased to 6.2! The journal also ranks as Q1 in the "Instrumentation" (8/128), "Computer Networks and Communications" (59/334), and "Control and Optimization" (12/111) categories.

The Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) of JSAN (based on JCR report 2020) is 0.76, and it ranks as Q2 in the “Telecommunications” category (46/105).

In 2020, the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) of JSAN also increased to 0.522, ranking as Q2 in the "Instrumentation", "Computer Networks and Communications" and "Control and Optimization" categories.

Up to now, the total number of publications of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks is 358, wherein 98 articles have been cited 10 times or more.

Next, the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks plans to develop more sections including Actuators, Sensors and Devices; Communications and Networking; Network Security and Privacy; Big Data, Computing and Artificial Intelligence; Network Services and Applications; Wireless Control Networks. The corresponding Sections Editorial Board Members will also be announced online soon.

This Editorial Board Online Meeting is a great step for the development of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks; more progress and achievements will be discussed in the next Editorial Board Meeting!

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.