Announcements

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are currently recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs) for MDPI journals indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) in Web of Science. In particular, we are looking for experts who are interested in aiding in the development of our journals and safeguarding the scientific quality of the published findings.

Journals currently listed in the ESCI will receive an Impact Factor in June 2023, according to the changes announced by Web of Science (Clarivate). Therefore, this is an excellent time to become an Editorial Board Member for one of these fast-developing journals.

If you are interested in sharing your expertise in one of the journals listed below, please send us an application using this link.

The Editorial Office of the journal will contact you once the application has been approved.
Editorial Board Members are responsible for academic decisions on manuscripts in their field of expertise, will edit Special Issues, and may be invited to review manuscripts. The initial term lasts for two years, after which it can be renewed, and entails the following:

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

Editorial Board Members are entitled to a full waiver on one publication per year in the journal that they serve and need to be experts in their fields.

The list of ESCI journals can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals/esci.

Please find the list of ESCI journals, categorized by subject, for which we are recruiting Editorial Board Members below.

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

Starting from Issue 4, Volume 6, our Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors began to take turns in helping our readers by recommending papers from the wide variety that we offer in each new issue of the International Journal of Neonatal Screening (IJNS, ISSN: 2409-515X).

IJNS is pleased to present all the Editor’s Choice Articles in 2021 along with the recommendations from our Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors (1–2 papers were chosen from each issue).

“The Editor’s Choice for Issue 1, Volume 7”
by David S. Millington
Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7020031
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/2/31

Recommended papers:

• “A Voluntary Statewide Newborn Screening Pilot for Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Results from Early Check”
  by Katerina S. Kucera, Jennifer L. Taylor, Veronica R. Robles, Kristin Clinard, Brooke Migliore, Beth Lincoln Boyea, Katherine C. Okoniewski, Martin Duparc, Catherine W. Rehder, Scott M. Shone, et al.
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7010020
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/1/20

• “Neonatal Urine Screening Program in the Province of Quebec: Technological Upgrade from Thin Layer Chromatography to Tandem Mass Spectrometry”
  by Christiane Auray-Blais, Michel Boutin, Pamela Lavoie and Bruno Maranda
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7010018
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/1/18 

“The Editor’s Choice for Issue 2, Volume 7”
by Can Ficicioglu
Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(3), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7030061
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/3/61 

Recommended papers:

• “Newborn Screening for Krabbe Disease—Illinois Experience: Role of Psychosine in Diagnosis of the Disease”
  by Khaja Basheeruddin, Rong Shao, Fran Balster, Pearlie Gardley and Laura Ashbaugh
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7020024
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/2/24

• “Low Psychosine in Krabbe Disease with Onset in Late Infancy: A Case Report”
  by Camille S. Corre, Dietrich Matern, Joan E. Pellegrino, Carlos A. Saavedra-Matiz, Joseph J. Orsini and Robert Thompson-Stone
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7020028
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/2/28

“The Editor’s Choice for Issue 3, Volume 7”
by Ralph Fingerhut
Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(4), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7040084
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/4/84 

Recommended paper:

• “Use of Molecular Genetic Analyses in Danish Routine Newborn Screening”
  by Allan Meldgaard Lund, Flemming Wibrand, Kristin Skogstrand, Marie Bækvad-Hansen, Niels Gregersen, Brage Storstein Andresen, David M. Hougaard, Morten Dunø and Rikke Katrine Jentoft Olsen
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(3), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7030050
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/3/50 

“The Editor’s Choice for Issue 4, Volume 7”
by David S. Millington
Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2022, 8(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns8010021
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/8/1/21 

Recommended paper:

• “Future Perspectives of Newborn Screening for Inborn Errors of Immunity”
  by Maartje Blom, Robbert G. M. Bredius and Mirjam van der Burg
  Int. J. Neonatal Screen. 2021, 7(4), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns7040074
  Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-515X/7/4/74

Please check more Editor’s Choice Articles at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/IJNS/editors_choice.

IJNS Editorial Office

Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.

We invite you to view the event recording:

During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:

• Peer Review Week 2022
• Research Integrity
• What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
• 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
• How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
• Inviting Great Peer Reviewers

In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.

You can find the Podcast here.

We hope you enjoy the contents!

Thank you for your continued support for the open access International Journal of Neonatal Screening (IJNS, ISSN: 2409-515X). We are very pleased to announce that IJNS will receive its first Impact Factor in 2023.

We would like to extend our gratitude to the authors, editors, and reviewers whose efforts have helped us to achieve this milestone! 

For more journal statistics, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijns/stats.

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)

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.

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.