We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Victorino Franco has been appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of Section “Metallic Functional Materials” in Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701).

Affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Seville, 41080 Seville, Spain
Interests: magnetic materials for energy applications; soft magnetic materials; thermomagnetic phase transitions; caloric effects; functional high-entropy alloys; additive manufacturing

Prof. Dr. Victorino Franco is a Full Professor at the Condensed Matter Physics Department of the University of Seville, Spain. His current research interests focus on magnetic materials for energy applications, including soft-magnetic materials, magnetocaloric materials, and functional high entropy alloys. He was a recipient of the Young Scientist Award from the Royal Physical Society of Spain in 2000 and the Royal Order of Chivalry of Seville in 2005 and was named IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer in 2019. He served as Chair of the Spain Chapter of the IEEE Magnetics Society, Chair of the Magnetic Materials Committee of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), and is currently the President of the Spanish Magnetism Club (CEMAG). Prof. Dr. Franco is an author of more than 200 international peer-reviewed publications that have received more than 10,000 citations and has an h-index of 47.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Victorino Franco, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and Open Access publishing:

Many journals in material science are classified by dimensionality, with a strong focus on nanomaterials and 2D materials nowadays, by the type of application in which the material will be used, like structural, optical, magnetic, etc. or they are simply too broad and encompass all the possible materials. What attracts me to Metals is that it is relatively focused on one specific type of material, avoiding the content becoming too dispersed, while it allows studies to analyze these materials from multiple perspectives. At the same time, dividing the journal into sections is a way to further classify the publications and cater to the appropriate audience without losing the necessary interactions between the different properties of metallic materials.

2. What is your vision for the journal?

There is a strong competition among journals to be ranked among the top in the different categories. Those covering very hot topics would probably make it to the top while that area of research lasts. This strategy leads to the fragmentation of the content, separating specific areas from other connected topics. Metals, as mentioned above, has the possibility of including a full breadth of properties within its umbrella, ranging from structural properties, such as the outstanding characteristics of high-entropy alloys, to functional applications; from experimental synthesis and characterization of materials’ properties to the simulation of the feasible (micro)structures and the associated functionality. This journal should continue to be an archival publication with high publication standards, where the most relevant characteristics of metals are studied, often in a multi-property and multidisciplinary way. Functionality is deeply linked to microstructure, processing, and composition, and this interrelation is of the utmost importance. Papers that simply list properties, unless they are the best in class, usually do not help the advancement of science and technology; those which explain why the response is like that, even if there are better properties published for other compositions, might pave the way for the improvement of the material. These articles are more appealing to me.

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

Metallic materials are used in all aspects of our lives. From the staple that binds several pages together, to the structure of many buildings and civil infrastructures; from the magnets that attach the same papers to the door of the refrigerator, to the active magnetocaloric materials that will replace the operation principle of these devices, just to mention a few cases. For functional materials, their applicability is usually not only due to the property that provides the functionality, but it is also strongly connected to secondary properties, such as chemical stability, mechanical characteristics, thermal response, sustainability of the production method, etc. This multi-property approach will gain further relevance as we move towards a more environmentally friendly, sustainable way of life.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?

Changes in paradigm always imply some debate and, in some cases, even resistance from those who were key players before the change. When finances are involved, the discussion gets more intense. Authors were used to the situation in which their institutions pay hefty subscription fees to be able to read publications from colleagues. Nowadays, with Open Access in place, institutions (in some cases, the authors themselves) have to pay for publishing their content. Research funds are scarce and difficult to obtain (I know very few researchers, if any, that claim that they have too much research money); therefore, dedicating part of those funds to publishing is counterintuitive. At the same time, we have to realize that many of those funds are from public sources, and the results should be available for the advancement of the society at large, which supports the Open Access approach. But publishing is a service provided by private companies or independent organizations, meaning that someone should pay for those costs. Being a researcher myself, scavenging for any possible funding source to support the work and salaries of my team and to make it grow, I strongly believe that a part of those costs should be borne by the institutions, because they will use those publications to be able to appear in significant positions of institutional rankings.

A separate problem is the misconception that requesting payment for publishing (after the paper is accepted through a rigorous peer review process) directly implies that there is a lack of ethics in the process. I strongly disagree with that distorted view. I have been on a number of editorial boards and played the role of guest editor of both Open Access and traditional journals, and the procedures for publication are equally strict. Many researchers are unaware of the existence of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which is “committed to educating and supporting editors, publishers and those involved in publication ethics with the aim of moving the culture of publishing towards one where ethical practices become a normal part of the publishing culture”. Similarly, the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) focuses on ensuring a diverse, vibrant, and healthy Open Access community. Being a member of COPE and OASPA, as MDPI is, comes with strict scrutiny of ethical standards and warrants that the publisher and the journal are reliable sources of scientific content. 

In short, Open Access seems to be the path to the future, being even requested by funding agencies. Some of the dust of the change of paradigm should settle down in the near future, such as who pays for publications and the removal of unethical publishers just in search for revenue that gives a bad image to the Open Access approach.

We wish Prof. Dr. Victorino Franco every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.