Announcements

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.

1. “Partial Atomic Model of the Tailed Lactococcal Phage TP901-1 as Predicted by AlphaFold2: Revelations and Limitations”
by Jennifer Mahony, Adeline Goulet, Douwe van Sinderen and Christian Cambillau
Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2440; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122440
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/12/2440

2. “Structural Studies of Bacteriophage Φ6 and its Transformations During its Life Cycle”
by J. Bernard Heymann
Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2404; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122404
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/12/2404

3. “Phage vs. Phage: Direct Selections of Sandwich Binding Pairs”
by Emily C. Sanders, Alicia M. Santos, Eugene K. Nguyen, Aidan A. Gelston, Sudipta Majumdar and Gregory A. Weiss
Viruses 2023, 15(3), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030807
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/3/807

4. “Four Novel Caudoviricetes Bacteriophages Isolated from Baltic Sea Water Infect Colonizers of Aurelia aurita”
by Melissa Stante, Nancy Weiland-Bräuer, Urska Repnik, Almut Werner, Marc Bramkamp, Cynthia M. Chibani and Ruth A. Schmitz
Viruses 2023, 15(7), 1525; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071525
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/7/1525

5. “Structure and Function of Hoc—A Novel Environment Sensing Device Encoded by T4 and Other Bacteriophages”
by Andrei Fokine, Mohammad Zahidul Islam, Qianglin Fang, Zhenguo Chen, Lei Sun and Venigalla B. Rao
Viruses 2023, 15(7), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071517
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/7/1517

6. “Inference of the Life Cycle of Environmental Phages from Genomic Signature Distances to Their Hosts”
by Vicente Arnau, Wladimiro Díaz-Villanueva, Jorge Mifsut Benet, Paula Villasante, Beatriz Beamud, Paula Mompó, Rafael Sanjuan, Fernando González-Candelas, Pilar Domingo-Calap and Mária Džunková
Viruses 2023, 15(5), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051196
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/5/1196

7. “Recent Advances in Structural Studies of Single-Stranded RNA Bacteriophages”
by Jirapat Thongchol, Zachary Lill, Zachary Hoover and Junjie Zhang
Viruses 2023, 15(10), 1985; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15101985
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/10/1985

8. “The Novel Yersinia enterocolitica Telomere Phage vB_YenS_P840 Is Closely Related to PY54, but Reveals Some Striking Differences”
by Julia Anabell Bräuer, Jens Andre Hammerl, Sabrin El-Mustapha, Julius Fuhrmann, Andrea Barac and Stefan Hertwig
Viruses 2023, 15(10), 2019; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15102019
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/10/2019

9. “Characterisation of the Novel Filamentous Phage PMBT54 Infecting the Milk Spoilage Bacteria Pseudomonas carnis and Pseudomonas lactis”
by Frank Hille
Viruses 2023, 15(9), 1781; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15091781
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/9/1781

1. “A Perspective on Current Flavivirus Vaccine Development: A Brief Review”
by Sudip Kumar Dutta and Thomas Langenburg
Viruses 2023, 15(4), 860; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15040860
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/4/860

2. “A Systematic Review of Mathematical Models of Dengue Transmission and Vector Control: 2010–2020”      
by Samson T. Ogunlade, Michael T. Meehan, Adeshina I. Adekunle and Emma S. McBryde               
Viruses 2023, 15(1), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010254
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/1/254

3. “Culex Y Virus: A Native Virus of Culex Species Characterized In Vivo”        
by Mareike Heinig-Hartberger, Fanny Hellhammer, David D. J. A. Zöller, Susann Dornbusch, Stella Bergmann, Katerina Vocadlova, Sandra Junglen, Michael Stern, Kwang-Zin Lee and Stefanie C. Becker
Viruses 2023, 15(1), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010235
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/1/235

4. “Microbiome as an Influence on Arbovirus Vector Competence: A Review” 
by Qesya Rodrigues Ferreira, Fabian Fellipe Bueno Lemos, Matheus Nascimento Moura, Jéssica Oliveira de Souza Nascimento, Ana Flávia Novaes, Isadora Souza Barcelos, Larissa Alves Fernandes, Liliany Souza de Brito Amaral, Fernanda Khouri Barreto and Fabrício Freire de Melo
Viruses 2023, 15(3), 779; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030779
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/3/779

5. “Co-Circulation of Dengue Virus Serotypes 1, 2, and 3 During the 2022 Dengue Outbreak in Nepal: A Cross-Sectional Study”       
by Sandesh Rimal, Sabin Shrestha, Kishor Pandey, Thanh Vu Nguyen, Parmananda Bhandari, Yogendra Shah, Dhiraj Acharya, Nabaraj Adhikari, Komal Raj Rijal, Prakash Ghimire et al.
Viruses 2023, 15(2), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020507
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/507

6. “The Viromes of Six Ecosystem Service Provider Parasitoid Wasps”  
by Gabriela B. Caldas-Garcia, Vinícius Castro Santos, Paula Luize Camargos Fonseca, João Paulo Pereira de Almeida, Marco Antônio Costa and Eric Roberto Guimarães Rocha Aguiar
Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2448; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122448
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/12/2448

7. “Baculovirus Interactions in Biological Control: A Comprehensive Historical and Technical Analysis”
by María Leticia Ferrelli and Ricardo Salvador
Viruses 2023, 15(9), 1838; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15091838
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/9/1838

8. “Advances in the Development of Small Molecule Antivirals Against Equine Encephalitic Viruses”
by Yahya Al Naggar, Hassan Shafiey and Robert J. Paxton
Viruses 2023, 15(2), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020413
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/413

9. “California Serogroup Viruses in a Changing Canadian Arctic: A Review”
by Jumari Snyman, Louwrens P. Snyman, Kayla J. Buhler, Carol-Anne Villeneuve, Patrick A. Leighton, Emily J. Jenkins and Anil Kumar
Viruses 2023, 15(6), 1242; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15061242
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/6/1242

1. “Hop Latent Viroid: A Hidden Threat to the Cannabis Industry”
by Charith Raj Adkar-Purushothama, Teruo Sano and Jean-Pierre Perreault
Viruses 2023, 15(3), 681; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030681
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/3/681

2. “Investigating the Interactions of the Cucumber Mosaic Virus 2b Protein with the Viral 1a Replicase Component and the Cellular RNA Silencing Factor Argonaute 1”
by Sam Crawshaw, Alex M. Murphy, Pamela J. E. Rowling, Daniel Nietlispach, Laura S. Itzhaki and John P. Carr
Viruses 2024, 16(5), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16050676
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/5/676

3. “RNAi-Based Antiviral Innate Immunity in Plants” 
by Liying Jin, Mengna Chen, Meiqin Xiang and Zhongxin Guo
Viruses 2022, 14(2), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/v14020432
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/2/432

4. “New Insights into Hop Latent Viroid Detection, Infectivity, Host Range, and Transmission”
by Osama O. Atallah, Sherin M. Yassin and Jeanmarie Verchot
Viruses 2024, 16(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16010030
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/1/30

5. “Efficient Purification of Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus by a Novel Peptide Aptamer”
by Georg Tscheuschner, Marco Ponader, Christopher Raab, Prisca S. Weider, Reni Hartfiel, Jan Ole Kaufmann, Jule L. Völzke, Gaby Bosc-Bierne, Carsten Prinz, Timm Schwaar et al.
Viruses 2023, 15(3), 697; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030697
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/3/697

6. “Plant Defense and Viral Counter-Defense during Plant–Geminivirus Interactions”
by Jianhang Zhang, Mengyuan Ma, Yule Liu and Asigul Ismayil
Viruses 2023, 15(2), 510; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020510
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/510

7. “A Capsid Protein Fragment of a Fusagra-like Virus Found in Carica papaya Latex Interacts with the 50S Ribosomal Protein L17.”
by Marlonni Maurastoni, Tathiana F. Sá Antunes, Emanuel F. M. Abreu, Simone G. Ribeiro, Angela Mehta, Marcio M. Sanches, Wagner Fontes, Elliot W. Kitajima, Fabiano T. Cruz, Alexandre M. C. Santos et al.
Viruses 2023, 15(2), 541; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020541
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/2/541

After achieving a new CiteScore of 7.3, placing Viruses (ISSN: 1999-4915) in Q1 in the “Infectious Diseases” category, we would like to share that Viruses also received a new impact factor of 3.8, placing it in Q2 in the “Virology” category according to Journal Citation Reports 2023. Despite a slight drop, likely due to the COVID-19 impact over the previous years, among other factors (in the context of the overall WoS journals), we are steadily improving.

At MDPI, our mission is simple yet powerful: 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.

Viruses Editorial Office

Dr. Shuofeng Yuan trained as a veterinarian before pursuing his Ph.D. in virology and immunology. He now works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, China. By focusing on small-molecule and broad-spectrum antivirals that are essential for pandemic preparedness, his career goal is to reveal new targets, strategies, and lead compounds against infectious viral diseases through basic and applied research in the broad field of molecular virology. Dr. Yuan has filed more than 30 patents with novel antivirals for emerging infectious diseases including influenza, Zika, and COVID-19. He has been consistently recognized by Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicators as a top 1% scholar and global “Highly Cited Researcher” for three consecutive years since 2021. He has published more than 50 first/co-first/corresponding-authored original research articles in leading journals including Nature, Science, and The Lancet. He has received several prestigious research awards, including the Dalton Horizon Prize (The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK) and MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (Asia Pacific).

We would like to congratulate Dr. Shuofeng Yuan on winning the Viruses 2024 Early Career Investigator Award!

The following is a short interview with Dr. Shuofeng Yuan:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? What are you currently researching, and why did you choose this research field?
   I was enrolled in a veterinary medicine program to study zoonotic diseases while receiving my undergraduate education. I then trained as a virologist with tremendous interaction with clinicians and scientists, shaping my way of thinking from bedside to bench and back. I am now an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong and conduct antiviral research with broad relevance to different virus families. I believe that this is important for pandemic preparedness.
   

2. Which research topics do you think will be of particular interest to the research community in the coming years?
   Broad-spectrum antiviral development with the aid of artificial intelligence. This group of therapeutics may have a role in controlling emerging and remerging infectious viral diseases, which is particularly useful during the initial stage of a pandemic when vaccines, therapeutics, and even diagnostics are barely available. 
   

3. As a young researcher, what is the biggest challenge you have encountered in your research journey? How did you solve it?
   The biggest challenge is to identify an experienced technician and a good lab manager who can help set up a new lab. Seeking mentorship from senior professors is important when coping with such challenges.
   

4. Could you briefly describe the key to a happy laboratory life? Which qualities do you think young researchers need?
   The freedom to pursue research topics of interest without too much of a burden on obtaining funding and dealing with human resources. An important quality is to think outside the box and interdisciplinary collaboration.
   

5. As the winner of this award, is there something you would like to express or someone you would like to thank the most?
   I would like to thank my mentors and family members for their continuous support and guidance when climbing the ladder.

6. Do you have any suggestions for improving the awards?
   More promotional activities at international conferences such as ASV, ICAR, etc.

7. Do you have any suggestions for the journal Viruses?
   (1) Reach out for high-quality research articles.
   (2) Increase the number of review articles in each issue.

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.

1. “Evolving Horizons: Adenovirus Vectors’ Timeless Influence on Cancer, Gene Therapy and Vaccines”
by Prasad D. Trivedi, Barry J. Byrne and Manuela Corti
Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2378; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122378
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/12/2378

2. “An Inducible ESCRT-III Inhibition Tool to Control HIV-1 Budding”
by Haiyan Wang, Benoit Gallet, Christine Moriscot, Mylène Pezet, Christine Chatellard, Jean-Philippe Kleman, Heinrich Göttlinger, Winfried Weissenhorn and Cécile Boscheron
Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2289; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122289
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/12/2289

3. “The Circulating miRNA Profile of Chronic Hepatitis D and B Patients Is Comparable but Differs from That of Individuals with HBeAg-Negative HBV Infection”
by Daniela Cavallone, Eric David B. Ornos, Gabriele Ricco, Filippo Oliveri, Barbara Coco, Piero Colombatto, Laura De Rosa, Leslie Michelle M. Dalmacio, Ferruccio Bonino and Maurizia Rossana Brunetto
Viruses 2023, 15(11), 2257; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112257
Available online:  https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/11/2257

4. “SIV Infection Regulates Compartmentalization of Circulating Blood Plasma miRNAs within Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) and Extracellular Condensates (ECs) and Decreases EV-Associated miRNA-128”
by Steven Kopcho, Marina McDew-White, Wasifa Naushad, Mahesh Mohan and Chioma M. Okeoma
Viruses 2023, 15(3), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030622
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/3/622

5. “SARS-CoV-2 Causes Lung Inflammation through Metabolic Reprogramming and RAGE”
by Charles N. S. Allen, Maryline Santerre, Sterling P. Arjona, Lea J. Ghaleb, Muna Herzi, Megan D. Llewellyn, Natalia Shcherbik and Bassel E. Sawaya
Viruses 2022, 14(5), 983; https://doi.org/10.3390/v14050983
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/5/983

2. “A Triple Gene-Deleted Pseudorabies Virus-Vectored Subunit PCV2b and CSFV Vaccine Protect Pigs against a Virulent CSFV Challenge”
by Ediane Silva, Elizabeth Medina-Ramirez, Selvaraj Pavulraj, Douglas P. Gladue, Manuel Borca and Shafiqul I. Chowdhury
Viruses 2023, 15(11), 2143; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112143
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/11/2143

3. “A Candidate Antigen of the Recombinant Membrane Protein Derived from the Porcine Deltacoronavirus Synthetic Gene to Detect Seropositive Pigs”
by Francisco Jesus Castañeda-Montes, José Luis Cerriteño-Sánchez, María Azucena Castañeda-Montes, Julieta Sandra Cuevas-Romero and Susana Mendoza-Elvira
Viruses 2023, 15(5), 1049; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051049
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/5/1049 

4. “Development of a Pan-Filoviridae SYBR Green qPCR Assay for Biosurveillance Studies in Bats”
by Jessica Coertse, Marinda Mortlock, Antoinette Grobbelaar, Naazneen Moolla, Wanda Markotter and Jacqueline Weyer
Viruses 2023, 15(4), 987; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15040987
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/4/987 

5. “Associations between NK Cells in Different Immune Organs and Cellular SIV DNA and RNA in Regional HLADR− CD4+ T Cells in Chronically SIV_mac239-Infected, Treatment-Naïve Rhesus Macaques”
by Xinjie Li, Liyan Zhu, Yue Yin, Xueying Fan, Linting Lv, Yuqi Zhang, Yijin Pan, Yangxuanyu Yan, Hua Liang, Jing Xue and Tao Shen
Viruses 2022, 14(11), 2513; https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112513
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/11/2513 

We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 CiteScore of Viruses (ISSN: 1999-4915), reflecting the journal’s scientific influence in the 2020–2023 period, has increased to 7.3, surpassing our 2022 score of 7.1.

CiteScore is a standard citation metric, alongside SNIP and SJR, providing transparent metrics that provide an up-to-date view of a journal’s impact and enable well-informed publishing strategies, library collection development, and the benchmarking of journal performance.

This achievement is, therefore, a testament to the excellent performance, support, and dedication of all our journal’s editors, reviewers, authors, and readers.

Viruses’ CiteScore ranks Q1 in the “Infectious Diseases” category and Q2 in the “Virology” category.

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

We extend our gratitude to everyone who played a role in Viruses reaching this milestone.