Announcements

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death of our long-time Editorial Board Member Prof. Dr. Herminio Pérez Garrigues. Dr. Herminio Pérez Garrigues was Head of the Otoneurology Section at the Hospital La Fe de Valencia, Spain. The international scientific community remembers him as an eminent otoneurologist, but friends mourn his death for the loss of a great and generous man. He passed away on 3 February 2021, on the day of the commemoration of San Biagio, patron saint of otolaryngologists. We will always remember him on this special day and as an example of a gentle and special man in our hearts.

HERMINIO PÉREZ GARRIGUES was born on July 22, 1953, in Alzira, Valencia. He belongs to the fourth generation of doctors in his family, and the second of otorhinolaryngologists, with his brother. He studied Medicine and Surgery at the University of Valencia (1970–1976), where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree with the qualification of Outstanding (1976). After starting his specialization in Internal Medicine, he became interested in vestibular pathology, a fact that then determined his specialism in Otorhinolaryngology at the Hospital Universitario La Fe de Valencia (1978–1980). Later, he obtained the Degree of Doctor with the qualification of Outstanding "Cum Laude" (1985).

From his beginnings as an otolaryngologist, he was interested in otology and otoneurology, occupying the Head of the Otorhinolaryngology and Otoneurology Section of the Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe de Valencia. His research lines have always been linked to vestibular disorders. He highlights his authorship and co-authorship in 67 articles in indexed journals and more than 25 in high-impact journals in the field of Otoneurology. His scientific activity has focused on Usher's Syndrome (1995–2010), on immunological alterations in Menière's disease (1999–2003), on the evolution of Menière's disease (1990–2010), and on various other aspects of the genetics of said disease.

In the academic area, he has been Associate Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Valencia since 1987, obtaining the title of Professor accredited by ANECA in 2017. Regarding the most relevant positions held, the most important positions have been Founding Member and President of the Spanish Society of Skull Base Pathology, President of the Otoneurology Section of the Spanish Society of ENT (2009–2015), Organizer and Founder of the Meetings Iberian Otoneurology, Founder of the MEN group, Honorary Member of the Portuguese Otoneurology Association (APO) and Honorary President of the APO 2018 National Congress. Personally, he always considered the design and execution of an experimental program for the rehabilitation of balance in Usher syndrome as one of his greatest achievements, as well as the organization of a Congress on the matter in which the patients themselves participated.

He shared and enjoyed his passion for Otoneurology and Medicine with his wife, Amparo, and his daughters, Ana and Macarena, who have supported him unconditionally throughout his career.

Dr. Giacinto Asprella Libonati
Editor-in-Chief of Audiology Research

MDPI is proud to adopt the principles of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) to support building equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications.

The C4DISC represents organizations and individuals working in scholarly communications and is focused on addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within the publishing industry.

MDPI’s Managing Editors encourage the Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors to appoint diverse expert Editorial Boards. This is also reflective in our multi-national and inclusive workplace. We are proud to create equal opportunities without regard to gender, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, disability, political beliefs, religion, or socio-economic status. There is no place for discrimination in our workplace and editors of MDPI journals are to uphold these principles in high regard.

Representatives from C4DISC meet monthly, and have started to implement initiatives to shed light and improve on the lack of diversity in scholarly communications. Some of the initiatives include developing a joint statement of principles; conducting market research; providing training resources, best practices, toolkits, and documentation for our collective memberships; and establishing outreach programs, curricula, events, and publications.

The Coalition is committed to:

• eliminating barriers to participation, extending equitable opportunities across all stakeholders, and ensuring that our practices and policies promote equitable treatment and do not allow, condone, or result in discrimination;
• creating and maintaining an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences;
• promoting diversity in all staff, volunteers, and audiences, including full participation in programs, policy formulation, and decision-making;
• raising awareness about career opportunities in our industries to groups who are currently underrepresented in the workforce;
• supporting our members in achieving diversity and inclusion within their organizations.

At MDPI we have slightly revised the layout for articles to be published in the 2021 Volume, starting at the end of December 2020. As of today, the article templates available for download on ‘Instructions for Authors’ pages have been updated.

The most noticeable change can be found on the first page of the article, where a left-hand column has been created to include the following front matter elements: (i) the recommended citation style for the article, (ii) the publishing history, (iii) as well as the Creative Commons Attribution license used (iv) a standard note regarding affiliations. At the same time, the extra spacing on the left means the authors’ affiliations are now more clearly set apart than before. Other front matter key elements such as journal logo, article type, article title, authors, abstract and keywords remain unchanged.

The blank column on the left runs through all pages in an article; as a result, the main text is slightly more condensed, which improve reader friendliness for smaller screens. Small figures/tables are aligned on the left with standard indenture, while large figures/tables are centered and covering the full width of the page. The revised layout was applied in the article pictured below, to serve as an example:

1) Information is displayed in the left information bar.

2) In the main text, there is a blank column on the left.

3) Small tables/figures are aligned on the left, large tables/figures are centered.

We are pleased to acknowledge that many academic editors who have made an impact on MDPI journals as editorial board members, editors-in-chief, or section editors, are recognized as 2020 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate.

Highly Cited Researchers highlights the top 1% of researchers, by citations, in one or more of the 22 fields used in Clarivate Analytics Essential Science Indicators. We offer our congratulations to 279 academic editors of MDPI journals who were recognized as the most influential scholars in their fields in 2020.

The full list of 2020 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed on https://recognition.webofsciencegroup.com/awards/highly-cited/2020/

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.