Announcements

In May, MDPI Romania held three author training sessions – one endorsing an external event and two stand-alone sessions.

The National Session of Scientific Student Communications took place at Technical University Cluj on 17 and 18 May 2024. MDPI Romania sponsored this event and contributed an author training session on the production of research papers and case study analyses. JRS Norbert Kiss gave a presentation called The World of Open Access to explain different open access publishing models and the benefits of open access publishing. His presentation highlighted the impact of open access publishing on scientific progress and innovation.

On 29 May 2024, MDPI Romania hosted an author training session for Ph.D. students, early career researchers, and professors at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In collaboration with Prof. Andreea Arsene, JRS Ioana Paunescu prepared two presentations: The Steps of the Publishing Process and Elaboration of a Peer Review Report. In her first presentation, she delved into MDPI’s history and mission, MDPI’s editorial process, and MDPI journals of various scopes that are accepting submissions. Her second presentation outlined the types of peer review, the contents of a peer review report by an MDPI reviewer, and the responsibilities of an MDPI reviewer.

MDPI Romania also hosted an author training session at the Iasi University of Life Sciences on 29 May 2024. JRSs Laurentiu Preda and Cosmin Artan gave four presentations: Efficient Writing of an ISI-Indexed Scientific Article, Benefits of Publishing in the Open Access Model, Various Methods of Open Access Publishing, and MDPI Guide for the Article Review Process. The first three presentations offered guidance on how to improve academic writing, the fourth focused on how to write peer review reports. A highly interactive discussion followed the presentations, during which the JRSs provided extensive answers to attendees’ questions.

MDPI is grateful for all the attendees, speakers, and organizers involved in these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.

MDPI will be attending The 1st International Conference on AI Sensors & The 10th International Symposium on Sensor Science held in Singapore from 1 to 4 August 2024.

The 1st International Conference on AI Sensors & The 10th International Symposium on Sensor Science is being held by MDPI and will be a premier gathering of innovators, researchers, and experts at the forefront of sensors, sensing technology, artificial intelligence for sensing applications, and AI-enhanced sensing systems.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Sensors;
• Micromachines;
• J. Imaging;
• Photonics;
• Energies;
• Actuators;
• AI;
• Automation;
• Biosensors;
• Chemosensors;
• Drones;
• Electronics;
• Inventions;
• JCP;
• JSAN;
• Machines;
• Materials;
• Metrology;
• Remote Sensing;
• Smart Cities;
• Technologies;
• Signals.

If you plan on attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth on the second floor. 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:  https://sciforum.net/event/aisi3s2024.

In order to further enhance the international influence of the journal Smart Cities (ISSN: 2624-6511), promote the academic exchange of young scientists, and support the Editorial Board with additional expertise, Smart Cities is inviting interested and eligible early career researchers to apply for Early Career Editorial Board (ECEB) membership.

A total of 30 Early Career Editorial Board Members are planned to be recruited. Early Career Editorial Board (ECEB) members will hold the position for two years with the possibility of renewal for a second term.

Application Eligibility:

• Completed their doctorate/Ph.D. degree in the past 10 years (considering exceptions for career interruptions, including medical and family leave);
• Evidence of significant research achievements in the field of smart cities;
• Willing to dedicate their time to the development of the journal with passion and enthusiasm;
• Researchers that are active and engaged in their community (e.g., experienced at presenting at academic conferences or involved in professional organizations).

Benefits of an Early Career Editorial Board Member:

• A certificate of appointment as an Early Career Editorial Board Member will be provided;
• The achievements of Early Career Editorial Board Members are publicized on journal media platforms to improve academic visibility;
• An opportunity to be promoted to Editorial Board Member based on contributions;
• The journal will regularly acknowledge those who participated in the peer-review process on the journal website;
• Opportunities to participate in or host annual meetings and online seminars organized by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board Members.

Responsibilities of an Early Career Editorial Board Member:

• Publicizing and promoting the journal at academic conferences and among peers;
• Selecting high-quality articles and preparing bilingual media content for promotion;
• Reviewing at least four manuscripts per year;
• Providing input on any new initiatives of journal development;
• Inviting submissions from local and overseas world-leading scientists in respective research fields.

Applications:
Please fill in the application form here.

Please send the application form and your academic resume to cities@mdpi.com with the subject of “Smart Cities Early Career Editorial Board Application + Name + Institute + Research Expertise”.

Application deadline: 31 March 2025.

Selection Process and Announcement:
The selection process involves initial screening of application materials → selection by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members → email notification → issuing of a certificate of appointment.

The selection will be made within one month of the application deadline and the results will be announced on the journal website.

MDPI will be attending the 31st International Conference on Geoinformatics, to be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 14 to 16 August 2024.

The International Conference on Geoinformatics is an official conference of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS) and has attracted not only the CPGIS community members but also researchers, professionals, and students from a broad range of communities. The conference is organized annually in different cities across the world, and as the organizers, we welcome you to the 31st International Conference on Geoinformatics to be organized in Toronto this year.

The main theme of the proposed conference is “Geospatial Sciences for Sustainability”. Under this theme, the objective of the conference is to offer an engaging platform for networking and exchanging new ideas and cutting-edge knowledge among diverse GIScience professionals worldwide and for promoting collaboration in geospatial science and sustainability.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Remote Sensing;
• IJGI;
• Land;
• Earth;
• Sustainability;
• Data;
• BDCC;
• Informatics;
• Smart Cities;
• Hydrology;
• Drones;
• Geosciences;
• Geomatics.

Our representatives, Dr. Elvis Wang and Dr. Zach Churcher, are eager to answer your questions and address any queries you may have.

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.cpgis.org/Conferences/ConferenceDefault.aspx?ID=2080.

MDPI will be attending the 9th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC 2024) that will be held in Canada, Toronto, from 25 to 27 July 2024.

IBPC 2024 is the ninth edition of the official triennial conference of the International Association of Building Physics (IABP). The IBPC conferences unite researchers, practitioners, educators, and students from the building science and building physics sectors worldwide.

The committee meets to exchange new research and innovative technologies and to discuss current and future challenges and sustainable solutions within building physics, while we support innovative discoveries related to climate change challenges.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Buildings;
• Energies;
• Architecture;
• Sustainability;
• Urban Science;
• Applied Sciences;
• Smart Cities;
• Climate;
• Clean Technol.;
• Air;
• CivilEng.

Our representatives, Mr. David Hu and Mr. Zach Churcher, are eager to answer your questions and address any queries that you may have.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.ibpc2024.org/.

Five new journals covering multiple subjects have launched their inaugural issue in June 2024. We are excited to be able to share with you the newest research rooted in the value of open access.

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all the Editorial Board Members and each journal will ensure its high-quality output using excellent editorial and rigorous peer review processes, to ensure that the articles achieve high impact and visibility.

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.

Journal	Founding Editor-in-Chief	Journal Topics (Selected)
	Prof. Dr. Marco Ranucci, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Italy | Editorial | view inaugural issue	anaesthetic medications; blood and fluid management; pain management; critical care; critical illness | view journal scope | submit an article
	Dr. Giovanni E. Cacciamani, University of Southern California, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue	surgical/procedural complications; complications; perioperative adverse events; postoperative adverse events | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr.  Gassan Hodaifa, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain | Editorial | view inaugural issue	laboratory management; laboratory safety; protective equipment; laboratory problems and challenges; laboratory Innovation | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Jan S. Suchodolski, Texas A&M University, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue	companion animals health and disease; veterinary care and nutrition; genetics and genomics; behavior and welfare; human-animal relations | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco De Paola, University of Naples Federico II, Italy | Editorial | view inaugural issue	real estate appraisal; economic and financial valuation of real estate projects; sustainable real estate; housing and urban economics | view journal scope | submit an article

We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to send an application here, or contact the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com) if you would like to create more new journals.

We are pleased to share that Smart Cities (ISSN: 2624-6511) was awarded an increased Impact Factor of 7.0 in the 2023 Journal Citation Reports™ released by Clarivate in June 2024. Smart Cities ranks Q1 (3 among 77 titles) in the “Urban Studies” category and (34 among 352 titles) in the “Engineering, Electrical & Electronic” category.

For further statistics, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/smartcities/stats. For more information about MDPI flagship journals' citation metrics, please see here.

At MDPI, our mission is simple yet powerful, and we strive every day to make scientific research freely accessible to everyone, everywhere. With over 3.5 million authors choosing MDPI, we have established ourselves as a key player driving the open access initiative.

Our journals have received over 13 million citations in the Web of Science, making us the most cited open access publisher. With over 800 institutional partners, MDPI continues to demonstrate its dedication to providing reliable and collaborative publishing services.

Smart Cities Editorial Office

MDPI is pleased to announce the inclusion of 237 journals in the 2024 release of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and share the key results (see above).

This year, journals covered in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) received category ranks together with journals in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Overall, 139 MDPI journals indexed in ESCI are included in the new unified rankings for the first time.

Enhanced Comparability of Data

According to Clarivate, "the creation of unified category rankings [provides] a simpler and more complete category view for the evaluation of journal performance. [...] The category-first approach simplifies journal performance assessment with a holistic view of all journals in each subject category."

We are thrilled to announce that 72% of our ranked MDPI journals (171 of 237) are above average, in Q1 or Q2. Twenty-nine of our journals received their first Impact Factor this year, accounting for more than 5% of the journals accepted into the Web of Science last year.

MDPI Journals Ranked in JCR

The following data includes all MDPI journals indexed in SCIE, SSCI, ESCI and AHCI.

Source: 2023 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2024)

About MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 440 fully open access titles.

On UNESCO’s 2024 Oceans Day, MDPI encourages the scientific community to increase the accessibility of ocean research to accelerate ocean conservation.

Basel, Switzerland, June 7, 2024: MDPI, a leading open access (OA) publisher, is proud to announce its active support for World Oceans Day 2024, celebrated under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade framework. MDPI’s CEO, Stefan Tochev hopes that “the latest ocean research can be made freely accessible to help empower scientists and communities at large to save our oceans,” under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade until 2030.

Open Access: A Catalyst for Ocean Action

MDPI’s presence at the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference 2024 highlights our unwavering commitment to using OA to advance ocean science, support research communities, and promote sustainable ocean management.

"Our involvement in the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference underscores MDPI's commitment to the underfunded Ocean SDG. By promoting OA to scientific articles and books on SDGs, we aim to inspire critical actions," said Tochev. "Our initiatives, like the World Sustainability Award and Emerging Sustainability Award, further demonstrate our dedication to advancing sustainability.”

Showcasing MDPI’s Contributions to Ocean Research

Over the past three years, MDPI has published 30,000 papers focused on ocean research and related topics. Key MDPI journals contributing to this body of work include:

• Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (4.9k papers)
• Remote Sensing (2.6k papers)
• Sustainability (2k papers)
• International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) (1.7k papers)
• Marine Drugs (1.5k papers)
• Water (1.5k papers)

These publications highlight MDPI’s contributions to ocean science, reinforcing our role in the broader sustainability agenda by promoting blue innovation and economy.

Additionally, MDPI has launched Oceans, an international, peer-reviewed forum specifically aimed at publishing studies related to all branches of oceanography with an emphasis on the functioning of the ocean and the sustainable use of its resources and ecosystem services.

Affirming MDPI’s Commitment to Ocean Science

MDPI’s commitment to OA is pivotal in addressing critical global challenges, from climate change to ocean sustainability. Our efforts resonate with Outcome 4 of the UNESCO Ocean Decade action roadmap: an accessible ocean with open and equitable access to data, information, technology, and innovation. By aligning with UNESCO’s goals, MDPI continues to contribute to shaping a sustainable future for our oceans, reinforcing our position as a forward-thinking publisher dedicated to environmental stewardship and scientific excellence.

For more information, contact Rui Duarte at rui.duarte@mdpi.com or +41764313242.

About MDPI

We are pleased to inform you that Smart Cities (ISSN: 2624-6511) has received an increased CiteScore of 11.2. Our journal continues to build momentum in smart city research.

This result is a reflection of the excellent performance, support, and dedication of all journal editors, reviewers, authors, and readers.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all concerned.

Smart Cities’ CiteScore ranks as follows:

• Q1 (6 out of 279) in the “Urban Studies” category;
• Q1 (74 out of 797) in the “Electrical and Electronic Engineering” category;
• Q1 (53 out of 350) in the “Artificial Intelligence” category.

For more journal statistics, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/smartcities/stats.

Smart Cities Editorial Office