Forests: An International and Interdisciplinary Scientific Open Access Journal

Forests was established to provide comprehensive coverage on the ecology, conservation and management of forests, with the first issue published in March 2010. As an international and multi-disciplinary journal, Forests has provided a forum for publishing process–based and applied scholarly articles that span the technological, environmental, cultural, economic, and social realm associated with the management, use, conservation, and understanding of forested ecosystems. By all accounts, Forests is well poised toward becoming a premier publication outlet in this diverse field of study. In its short tenure, Forests received its first Impact Factor in 2013 (1.094—Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)/Web of Science), which placed it 25th out of 62 Forestry journals. Notably, Forests ranked first among the open access journals in this category.

A unique aspect of Forests that has contributed to its early success relative to other forestry journals is its on-line and Open Access format. This provides free article access via the internet to scientists, practitioners, policy makers, students, and other interested persons who would otherwise not have access to subscribed forestry journals. The full text of published articles can be queried and retrieved from all search engines. As a result, the number of citations and article submissions to Forests has continued to rise each year. In 2013, 66 articles were published and they originated from 25 different countries. Authors from the USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Brazil accounted for the greatest number of published articles. In addition, the number of full text downloads of articles published in 2013 was 22,860. The average publication time from first submission to publication was about 79 days in 2013, which was slightly higher than 71 days in 2012. It should be noted that beginning in January 2014, Forests will move from a quarterly to a monthly journal, with articles being released to the Web of Science in the same month that they were published. Article submissions are welcomed from a wide spectrum of subject areas, including:

• forest ecology, management, and restoration
• forest economics, natural resource policy and planning
• silvicultural systems
• forest entomology, forest pathology
• forest ecophysiology and biology
• forest genetics, tree breeding and biotechnology
• climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation in forests
• forest biomass, bioenergy, and carbon sequestration
• forest engineering
• tropical forests and management
• forest inventory, quantitative methods, and remote sensing
• forest soil management
• forest simulation modeling
• forest and nature based recreation
• wildland fire science and management
• wood properties
• human dimensions
• urban forests

Also contributing to the international recognition of Forests has been the timely publication of Special Issues that have focused on scientifically relevant and contemporary topics. In 2013, three special issues were published (Forest Restoration and Regeneration; Fusiform Rust Disease—Biology and Management of Resistance; Improving Wood Quality from Planted Forests) and 11 additional special issues are planned on a variety of topics, including papers from technical sessions held at the 24th IUFRO World Congress in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA).

As Editor-in-Chief, I am very appreciative of the high quality Editorial Board of Forests. Our diverse and eminent, 40-member scientific Editorial Board represents the breadth of forestry sub-disciplines and topical areas. Their combined and collective experience has ensured the highest degree of scientific rigor and review of all published articles. In addition, I would also like to recognize the valuable contributions made by manuscript reviewers (listed in Appendix), as this dedicated service represents an unselfish donation of their time and energy. As we all recognize the peer review process lends both scientific credibility and respectability to the journal. I have been very pleased with the conscientious and thorough reviews, suggestions, and comments provided by the Editorial Board Members and reviewers, which has clearly aided in improving manuscript quality.

I would also like to extend a special note of gratitude to the editorial office of Forests. Dr. Echo Zhang (Managing Editor), Dr. Martyn Rittman (Production Editor) and Dr. Shu-Kun Lin (Publisher) have done an excellent job. We are fortunate with Forests to have the broad scientific backing and publishing experience of MDPI, an international organization located in Basel, Switzerland, that has been publishing peer-reviewed, full Open Access scholarly journals since 1996.

Finally, the Editorial Board views Forests as an innovative publication for forestry-related research. Our collective goal is to have Forests be recognized as one of the foremost publication outlets for high quality, leading edge research in this broad and diverse field. This goal, of course, will be dependent upon the readership and potential authors. We, therefore, invite you to submit your original research articles, review papers, notes and suggestions for Special Issues to Forests and, in doing so, share your important research findings within the global forestry community.