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)

1. “Use of Black Soldier Fly Larvae for Food Waste Treatment and Energy Production in Asian Countries: A Review”
Chul-Hwan Kim et al.
Processes 2021, 9(1), 161; 10.3390/pr9010161
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/1/161

2. “Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment Processes—A Review”
Sharifah Mohammad et al.
Processes 2021, 9(5), 739; 10.3390/pr9050739
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/5/739

3. “Capture and Reuse of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) for a Plastics Circular Economy: A Review”
Laura Pires da Mata Costa et al.
Processes 2021, 9(5), 759; 10.3390/pr9050759
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/5/759

4. “Heat Transfer Coefficient Estimation and Performance Evaluation of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Using Flue Gas”
Xuejun Qian et al.
Processes 2021, 9(6), 939; 10.3390/pr9060939
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/6/939

5. “Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Distribution”
Miriam Sarkis et al.
Processes 2021, 9(3), 457; 10.3390/pr9030457
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/3/457

6. “Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology to a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility: A Case Study”
Brian Byrne et al.
Processes 2021, 9(3), 550; 10.3390/pr9030550
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/3/550

7. “A Review of Data Mining Applications in Semiconductor Manufacturing”
Pedro Espadinha-Cruz et al.
Processes 2021, 9(2), 305; 10.3390/pr9020305
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/2/305

8. “Synthesis of New 1-Aryl-2-(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)ethanone Oxime Ether Derivatives and Investigation of Their Cytotoxic Effects”
Mehmet Abdullah Alagöz et al.
Processes 2021, 9(11), 2019; 10.3390/pr9112019
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/11/2019

9. “Apple Fermented Products: An Overview of Technology, Properties and Health Effects”
Raquel P. F. Guiné et al.
Processes 2021, 9(2), 223; 10.3390/pr9020223
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/2/223

10. “Spray Drying for Direct Compression of Pharmaceuticals”
Nizar Al-Zoubi et al.
Processes 2021, 9(2), 267; 10.3390/pr9020267
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/2/267

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Evangelos Tsotsas has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section "Particle Processes" in the journal Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717).

Prof. Dr. Evangelos Tsotsas has held the Chair of Thermal Process Engineering at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (Germany) since 1994. He obtained his Ph.D. (1985) and habilitation (1990) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and was the Senior Process Specialist at the Dow Chemical Company from 1991 to 1994. Prof. Dr. Tsotsas currently supervises a group of around 25 Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers and has published more than 500 papers in highly regarded journals and proceedings. The main focus of his work is porous and granular media, drying and particle formulation (spray fluidized bed agglomeration, granulation and coating). His group has conducted extensive experimental research in these fields, including work on particle characterization, 3D imaging and process monitoring. Significant achievements of their group include novel discrete models (pore network models for wetting and drying, Monte Carlo methods for particulate processes, thermal DEM, combinations of DEM with CFD and the volume of fluid method) and continuous approaches (such as population balances).

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Evangelos Tsotsas, who shared with us his vision for the Section and his views of the research area and open access publishing:

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

Concerning the Section, particles, because particle-based products can be designed for fascinating end-user properties. Regarding the journal, its visibly increasing ability to reach out with scientific results and steer future development.

2. What is your vision for the Section?

A drive for the further development of particle technology and an open forum for scientific discussion as well as interaction with industry.

3. Who should contribute to this Section, and what can readers expect?

The Section will be thematically, and hopefully also in the readership, broad: from product design to process optimization; from mechanics to transport and reactions in particle systems; from experiments to simulations; and also from chemical and process engineering to many other branches of engineering and science.

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

Future developments will still be based on fundamental results of a generic nature, but applications will stress the crucial goals of sustainability and green transformation in addition to efficient manufacturing.

5. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?

Open access is an opportunity and a challenge. We wish to be fast, big, and open. However, we also wish to keep high standards of quality and discussion of the details. Most importantly, we should be openly accessible not only in academia (i.e., in a closed loop) but in industry and applications, as well as in the use of published results on the ground.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Evangelos Tsotsas in his new role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to his guidance in helping “Particle Processes” reach many more milestones.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Section “Separation Processes” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/sections/separation_processes) in Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717), which aims to provide a specific venue for this field of research.

Keywords: separation; isolation; purification; absorption/adsorption; extraction; precipitation; centrifugation; crystallization; distillation; flocculation; flotation; chelation; filtration; sedimentation; sublimation; precipitation; desalination.

We are now recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs) and Topical Advisory Panel (TAP) Members for this Section. If you are an active researcher in one of the aforementioned fields and are passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, please do not hesitate to get in touch (processes@mdpi.com).

The responsibilities of Processes EBMs include the following:

• Pre-screening and making decisions on new submissions related to their research interests;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue during their term on a topic related to their research interests (or supervising related Special Issues);
• Providing input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Helping to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences;
• Attending board meetings to suggest journal development strategies;
• Reviewing manuscripts.

The responsibilities of the Processes TAP Members include the following:

• Providing regular reviews of manuscripts;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue (SI) in partnership with a senior researcher within two years of appointment and proposing a detailed strategy plan for the SI. The topic of the proposal should be within the scope of the journal. The scope of the Special Issue should be broad enough to attract a reasonable number of submissions but narrow enough to provide a cohesive collection. The Special Issue should cover a small part of the scope of the journal, but not the whole;
• Providing a detailed strategy plan for the SI, including assisting in preparing the Special Issue’s/Topic’s title, aim and scope, summary and keywords; soliciting papers and promoting the SI;
• Providing support for the Special Issues/Topics related to their expertise when the Guest Editor(s) is not available. This includes SI promotion via social media and giving advice on some scientific cases;
• Promoting the journal at conferences (adding 1–2 slides to presentations, distributing flyers, recommending the journal to your colleagues, etc.), on social media and other relevant platforms;
• Participating in working with Editorial Board Members or the Editorial Office in promoting high-quality/featured papers (for example, writing summaries or highlights for selected papers).

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Section “Particle Processes” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/sections/particle_processes) in Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717), to provide a specific venue for this field of research.

Topics:

• Particle Synthesis;
• Particle Modification;
• Particle Characterization;
• Particle Measurement;
• Granular Systems;
• Particle Technology.

We are now recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs) and Topical Advisory Panel (TAP) Members for this Section. If you are an active researcher in one of the aforementioned fields and are passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, please do not hesitate to get in touch (processes@mdpi.com).

The responsibilities of Processes EBMs include the following:

• Pre-screening and making decisions on new submissions related to their research interests;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue during their term on a topic related to their research interests (or supervise related Special Issues);
• Providing input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Helping to promote the journal among their peers or at conferences;
• Attending board meetings to suggest journal development strategies;
• Reviewing manuscripts.

The responsibilities of the Processes TAP Members include the following:

• Providing regular reviews of manuscripts;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue (SI) in partnership with a senior researcher within two years of appointment and proposing a detailed strategy plan for the SI. The topic of the proposal should be within the scope of the journal. The scope of the Special Issue should be broad enough to attract a reasonable number of submissions but narrow enough to provide a cohesive collection. The Special Issue should cover a small part of the scope of the journal, but not the whole;
• Providing a detailed strategy plan for the SI, including assisting in preparing the Special Issue’s/Topic’s title, aim and scope, summary and keywords; soliciting papers and promoting the SI;
• Providing support for the Special Issues/Topics related to their expertise when the Guest Editor(s) is not available. This includes SI promotion via social media and giving advice on some scientific cases;
• Promoting the journal at conferences (adding 1–2 slides to presentations, distributing flyers, recommending the journal to your colleagues, etc.), on social media and other relevant platforms;
• Participating in working with Editorial Board Members or the Editorial Office in promoting high-quality/featured papers (for example, writing summaries or highlights for selected papers).

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.

It is our sincere pleasure and great honor to announce the 1st International Electronic Conference on Processes: Processes System Innovation (ECP2022), organized by the MDPI open-access journal Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717). This conference will be hosted online by https://sciforum.net/event/ECP2022 from 17 to 31 May 2022.

This conference will present the latest studies in process/system-related research in chemistry, biology, material, energy, environment, food, pharmaceutical, and allied engineering fields. The goal is to create an advanced forum for new development, challenges, and opportunities in process systems engineering.

All processes/system-related scientists or researchers are welcome to join this event and share their findings around the following general and related themes including, but not limited to:

• Experimental, theoretical, and computational research on process development and engineering;
• Process modeling, simulation, optimization, and control;
• Integrated process design and scaleup;
• Sustainable and renewable systems engineering;
• Supply chain management;
• Circular economies;
• Eco-friendly processes and methods.

Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the conference committee. The authors of accepted contributions will be invited to produce an extended abstract for the conference proceedings along with a presentation slide of their work. Following the conference, selected contributions will be invited for submission to the journal Processes (Impact Factor: 2.847).

We look forward to having you join us at this exciting event.

Conference Chair:

Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cravotto (University of Turin, Italy)

Conference Secretariat:

Ms. Wency Xiang
Ms. Susan Ji
Ms. Elena Shi
Email: ecp2022@mdpi.com

1. “Study of Activation Energy on the Movement of Gyrotactic Microorganism in a Magnetized Nanofluids Past a Porous Plate”
Muhammad Mubashir Bhatti et al.
Processes 2020, 8(3), 328. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8030328
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/3/328

2. “Alkaline Water Electrolysis Powered by Renewable Energy: A Review”
Jörn Brauns et al.
Processes 2020, 8(2), 248. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8020248
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/2/248

3. “Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Wastewater Sludge: A Review of Potential Co-Substrates and Operating Factors for Improved Methane Yield”
Wei Ling Chow et al.
Processes 2020, 8(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8010039
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/1/39

4. “Review of Evidence Available on Hesperidin-Rich Products as Potential Tools against COVID-19 and Hydrodynamic Cavitation-Based Extraction as a Method of Increasing Their Production”
Francesco Meneguzzo et al.
Processes 2020, 8(5), 549. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8050549
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/5/549

5. “Current Advances in Biofouling Mitigation in Membranes for Water Treatment: An Overview”
Daniela Pichardo-Romero et al.
Processes 2020, 8(2), 182. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8020182
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/2/182

6. “Kinetics, Isotherms, and Thermodynamic Modeling of the Adsorption of Phosphates from Model Wastewater Using Recycled Brick Waste”
Uduakobong A. Edet et al.
Processes 2020, 8(6), 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8060665
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/6/665

7. “Thermodynamic Optimization of a Geothermal Power Plant with a Genetic Algorithm in Two Stages”
Mehdi A. Ehyaei et al.
Processes 2020, 8(10), 1277. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8101277
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/10/1277

8. “A Review on the Control Parameters of Natural Convection in Different Shaped Cavities with and without Nanofluid”
Sara Rostami et al.
Processes 2020, 8(9), 1011. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8091011
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/9/1011

9. “Available Technologies and Materials for Waste Cooking Oil Recycling”
Alberto Mannu et al.
Processes 2020, 8(3), 366. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8030366
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/3/366

10. “Plasma Agriculture from Laboratory to Farm: A Review”
Pankaj Attri et al.
Processes 2020, 8(8), 1002. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8081002
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/8/1002

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.