The International Day for Biological Diversity will be celebrated on 22 May 2023, under the theme “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity”, which aims to raise awareness and understanding of biodiversity issues. Biodiversity refers to the diversity of all life forms on Earth, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Biological diversity resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations; however, the loss of biodiversity threatens everything, including our health. We hope that the established MDPI journals on life sciences and biology, including Biology, Diversity, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Water, Forests, Grasses, Life, Seeds, Agriculture, and Agronomy, will provide suitable communication platforms. The aim is to strengthen scientific cooperation in response to the International Day for Biological Diversity and to embrace the potential to promote sustainable development.

“Avifaunal Diversity and Abundance in the Proposed Sarasalai Mangrove Reserve, Jaffna, Sri Lanka”
by Nitharsan Aloysius, Shashi Madhushanka and Chathuri Chandrika
Birds 2023, 4(1), 103-116; https://doi.org/10.3390/birds4010009

“Perils of Underestimating Species Diversity: Revisiting Systematics of Psammocambeva Catfishes (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) from the Rio Paraíba do Sul Basin, South-Eastern Brazil”
by Wilson J. E. M. Costa, José Leonardo Mattos, Paulo J. Vilardo, Pedro F. Amorim and Axel M. Katz
Taxonomy 2022, 2(4), 491-523; https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy2040032

“Environmental DNA Metabarcoding: A Novel Contrivance for Documenting Terrestrial Biodiversity”
by Shahnawaz Hassan, Sabreena, Peter Poczai, Bashir Ah Ganai, Waleed Hassan Almalki, Abdul Gafur and R. Z. Sayyed
Biology 2022, 11(9), 1297; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11091297

“Dam Construction Impacts Fish Biodiversity in a Subtropical River Network, China”
by Xiongjun Liu, Julian D. Olden, Ruiwen Wu, Shan Ouyang and Xiaoping Wu
Diversity 2022, 14(6), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060476

“Human Communities in Protected Natural Areas and Biodiversity Conservation”
by Elizabeth Olmos-Martínez, Heidi Leticia Romero-Schmidt, María del Carmen Blázquez, Camilo Arias-González and Alfredo Ortega-Rubio
Diversity 2022, 14(6), 441; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060441

“Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on the Population Structure and Genetic Diversity of Erythroneurini in the Typical Karst Rocky Ecosystem, Southwest China”
by Chen Xiaoxiao, Jia Jiang, Ni Zhang, Xiao Yang, Yongkuan Chi and Yuehua Song
Insects 2022, 13(6), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13060499

“Application of Ecological Restoration Technologies for the Improvement of Biodiversity and Ecosystem in the River”
by Li Pushuang, Dan Li, Xiaoqing Sun, Zhaosheng Chu, Ting Xia and Binghui Zheng
Water 2022, 14(9), 1402; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091402

“Conservation-Status Gaps for Marine Top-Fished Commercial Species”
by Imanol Miqueleiz, Rafael Miranda, Arturo Hugo Ariño and Elena Ojea
Fishes 2022, 7(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes7010002

International Day for Biological Diversity

Date and time: 22 May 2023, 9–11 a.m. (CEST)

This is a free webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar.

FEMS was established in 1974 and is now an active and diverse federation of 55 European learned societies that includes around 30,000 professionals who are committed to advancing microbiology for the benefit of society. Located in 38 European countries, around half of these professionals are early career researchers, and the remainder include industry scientists, established academics, educators and campaigners. The 10th FEMS Congress of European Microbiologists will take place in Hamburg, Germany, from 9 to 13 July 2023. This event is dedicated to showcasing the latest developments in microbiology and to connecting microbiologists from all over the world.

Main topics:

• Environmental Microbiology & Ecology;
• Biotechnology & Synthetic Microbiology; 
• Food Microbiology; 
• Infection Biology & Pathogens; 
• Infectious Diseases; 
• Taxonomy & Systematics;
• Genetics & Genomics;
• Virology;
• Microbiology Education & Profession;
• Molecular Microbiology & Biochemistry.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Microorganisms;
• Veterinary Sciences;
• Foods;
• MPs;
• CIMB;
• Diversity;
• Biology;
• Fermentation;
• Microbiology Research;
• JoF;
• Pathogens;
• Antibiotics;
• Biomolecules.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you at booth #B18 in person and answering any questions you may have. For more information about the conference and our virtual booth, please visit the following link: https://www.fems2023.org/.

We are pleased to announce that eight new scholars were appointed Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the journal Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737) in April 2023. We wish our new members success in both their research and in the development of the journal.

Further details about the Editorial Board can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biology/editors.

Additionally, Biology is recruiting prestigious scholars from around the world to join our Editorial Board. To apply for this position, recommend potential candidates, or request further information, please contact the Biology Editorial Office (biology@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest in and enthusiasm for the position.

Biology Editorial Office

MDPI will attend the 31st European Biomass Conference & Exhibition (EUBCE 2023) as an exhibitor. This meeting will be held in Bologna, Italy, from 5 to 8 June 2023.

EUBCE is the largest biomass conference and exhibition in the world. Each year, EUBCE brings together the greatest minds and latest advancements in biomass, with the aim of accelerating research and market uptake across the globe. During the conference, over 2,000 experts from both academia and industry share and discuss groundbreaking ideas, technologies, applications, and solutions for the sourcing, production, and utility of biomass. The scientific program is coordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Since its 30th edition, the event has been complemented by the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking, aiming at identifying innovation, stimulating investment, and mobilizing the bio-based industry sector. This is an excellent opportunity to address even more stakeholders globally through the conference.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Sustainability;
• Energies;
• Biomass;
• Environment;
• Materials;
• Minerals;
• Biology;
• Recycling;
• Atmosphere;
• Earth.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth #36. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.eubce.com/.

Editor’s Choice Articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

We are pleased to present the Editor’s Choice Articles published in Biology (ISSN 2079-7737), and we hope that these papers can help and provide a reference for your academic research. A carefully curated list of high-quality articles can be found below.

1. “Butterfly Wing Color Pattern Modification Inducers May Act on Chitin in the Apical Extracellular Site: Implications in Morphogenic Signals for Color Pattern Determination”
by Joji M. Otaki and Yugo Nakazato
Biology 2022, 11(11), 1620; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11111620
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/11/1620

2. “Visual Monitoring Strategies of Sentinels in a Cooperative Breeder”
by Guy Beauchamp and Reed Bowman
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121769
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/12/1769

3. “Endophytic Pseudomonas sp. from Agave palmeri Participate in the Rhizophagy Cycle and Act as Biostimulants in Crop Plants”
by Qiuwei Zhang, Kathryn L. Kingsley and James F. White
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1790; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121790
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/12/1790

4. “Linoleate-Enrichment of Mitochondrial Cardiolipin Molecular Species Is Developmentally Regulated and a Determinant of Metabolic Phenotype”
by Genevieve C. Sparagna, Raleigh L. Jonscher, Sydney R. Shuff, Elisabeth K. Phillips, Cortney E. Wilson, Kathleen C. Woulfe, Anastacia M. Garcia, Brian L. Stauffer and Kathryn C. Chatfield
Biology 2023, 12(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12010032
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/1/32 

5. “An Overview of D7 Protein Structure and Physiological Roles in Blood-Feeding Nematocera”
by Patricia H. Alvarenga and John F. Andersen
Biology 2023, 12(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12010039
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/1/39

6. “Rapid Response to Experimental Warming of a Microbial Community Inhabiting High Arctic Patterned Ground Soil”
by Kevin K. Newsham, Birgitte Kortegaard Danielsen, Elisabeth Machteld Biersma, Bo Elberling, Guy Hillyard, Priyanka Kumari, Anders Priemé, Cheolwoon Woo and Naomichi Yamamoto
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1819; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121819
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/12/1819

7. “A Biomarker Approach as Responses of Bioindicator Commercial Fish Species to Microplastic Ingestion: Assessing Tissue and Biochemical Relationships”
by Xavier Capó, Merce Morató, Carme Alomar, Beatriz Rios-Fuster, Maria Valls, Montserrat Compa and Salud Deudero
Biology 2022, 11(11), 1634; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11111634
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/11/1634

8. “Brain-Derived Estrogen and Neurological Disorders”
by Darrell W. Brann, Yujiao Lu, Jing Wang, Gangadhara R. Sareddy, Uday P. Pratap, Quanguang Zhang, Rajeshwar R. Tekmal and Ratna K. Vadlamudi
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1698; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121698
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/12/1698

9. “Wide-Field Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Network Dynamics In Vivo”
by Angela K. Nietz, Laurentiu S. Popa, Martha L. Streng, Russell E. Carter, Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah and Timothy J. Ebner
Biology 2022, 11(11), 1601; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11111601
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/11/1601

10. “Methionine Metabolism Is Down-Regulated in Heart of Long-Lived Mammals”
by Natalia Mota-Martorell, Mariona Jové, Rebeca Berdún, Èlia Òbis, Gustavo Barja and Reinald Pamplona
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1821; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121821
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/12/1821 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the research groups that submitted manuscripts to Biology.

As a leading open access publisher, MDPI provides scholars with a high-quality and rich academic exchange platform by continuously expanding into new and exciting research areas.

In December 2022, MDPI launched five new journals, covering multiple subjects such as life sciences, biology, medicine and pharmacology, social sciences and humanities. These new journals are being edited by established scholars across the world.

If you are interested in creating more open access journals with us to publish cutting-edge research, please send your journal proposal application to newjournal-committee@mdpi.com.

MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page. 

We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

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 pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Panayiotis Dimitrakopoulos, from the University of the Aegean, has been appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Ecology” in Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737).

Prof. Dr. Dimitrakopoulos’s research mainly focuses on biodiversity effects on ecosystem processes in Mediterranean ecosystems, plant community ecology, serpentine ecology, and nature conservation policy.

During his past tenure as a member of the Editorial Board, Prof. Dr. Panayiotis Dimitrakopoulos was actively involved in all aspects of the journal, including manuscript pre-checks, peer review and decision making, and he has edited several successful Special Issues. We look forward to further successful collaboration with Prof. Dr. Dimitrakopoulos in his new editorial role.

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

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
I am honored to be asked to contribute to the success of a new Section in one of the best journals in this particular scientific field and flattered to be invited. It's an opportunity to contribute to my wider research community and learn things at the same time.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
My vision is for “Ecology” to find its niche in this journal.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Ecology is called upon to provide answers to major environmental problems of the 21st century. For this reason, the production of innovative knowledge by talented people is required.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
Open Access is a useful tool, but it must ensure equality among all (both authors and readers).

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Panayiotis Dimitrakopoulos as he starts his new role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Biology to achieve many more milestones.

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.

Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737, IF: 5.168), a peer-reviewed, open access journal of biological science published monthly, is now recruiting Editorial Board Members (EBMs).

The responsibilities of Editorial Board Members are as follows:

• Pre-screening 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.

For the full list of Editorial Board Members, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biology/editors.

If you are interested in becoming an Editorial Board Member of Biology, please send us your full academic CV and a short cover letter detailing your interest and suitability for the position. If you would like to recommend potential candidates or request further information, please contact the Biology Editorial Office at biology@mdpi.com. We look forward to working with you in the future.

The Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737) Editorial Office is pleased to inform you that applications are open for the Topical Advisory Panel (TAP).

The following are the main responsibilities of new members of the Topical Advisory Panel:

• Providing support to the following tasks depending on their availability;
• Providing regular reviews of manuscripts;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue (SI) in partnership with a senior researcher within two years of the appointment. The topic of the proposal should be within the scope of Biology;
• Providing a strategy plan for the SI, including assisting in preparing the Special Issue’s/Topic’s title, aim and scope, summary, and keywords, as well as soliciting papers for and promoting the SI;
• Promoting our journal at conferences, social media, and other relevant platforms.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the fields related to Biology (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biology/about);
• Have completed their Ph.D. within approximately the last 10 years;
• Have published at least six papers in the last 5 years as a first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute;
• Each year, Members’ performance is evaluated, and outstanding Members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

Please click on the following link to submit your application: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biology/topical_advisory_panel_application, or send an email to biology@mdpi.com with your academic CV.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Biology 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!

MDPI will be attending the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, from 13 to 16 November 2022.

The 2022 Joint Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), Entomological Society of Canada (ESC), and the Entomological Society of British Columbia (ESBC). The theme for the Joint Meeting is “Entomology as Inspiration: Insects through Art, Science, and Culture”.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Agriculture (leading journal);
• Insects (leading journal);
• Crops;
• Agronomy;
• Animals;
• Biology;
• JZBG.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth: #616. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.entsoc.org/events/annual-meeting, or contact the Insects Editorial Office at insects@mdpi.com.

MDPI will be attending ASHG 2022, held in Los Angeles, USA, from 25 to 29 October 2022.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Genes;
• JPM;
• Biomedicines;
• Biomolecules;
• Cardiogenetics;
• Cancers;
• Brain Science;
• Symmetry;
• Diagnostics;
• Metabolites;
• Cells;
• Biology;
• Humans;
• DNA.

If you plan on attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth: #1844. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have.

For more information about the conference, please see the following link:

https://www.ashg.org/meetings/2022-annual-meeting/.

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Biology Editorial Board Member Prof. Dr. Chris G. Dealwis in July 2022. Prof. Dr. Dealwis was an associate professor at the Department of Pharmacology and a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA.

After earning his Ph.D. under Prof. Tom Blundell at Birkbeck College and subsequent training in industry and at Yale University, Prof. Dr. Dealwis started his career in the late 1990s. Over the following two decades, he led a remarkable research career in the fields of protein structure, function, and protein-based drug design. His research findings were used for the development of treatments for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and microbial infections.

Over the years, Prof. Dr. Dealwis published more than 50 scientific papers in internationally peer-reviewed journals. He also led a Special Issue during his term serving as an Editorial Board Member in Biology: “Protein Drug Targets and Drug Design”.

His death is a significant loss to the academic community as well as anyone close to him. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Biology Editorial Office

MDPI will be attending EuroBioFilms 2022 (EBF), hosted by the ESCMID Study Group for Biofilms (ESGB), which will be held from 31 August to 3 September 2022 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The conference will be held at the Meliá Palma Marina Hotel, Av. de Gabriel Roca, 29, 07014 Palma, Balearic Islands.

The multidisciplinary program will cover many subjects and will be a mix of basic and clinical biofilm-related topics. Leading scientists in the field will be present as keynote speakers and/or chairpersons. Oral presentations will be presented during various parallel sessions. On 31^st of August, several educational preconference workshops will be organized.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Antibiotics (leading);
• Pathogens;
• Membranes;
• Biology;
• Journal of Personalized Medicine.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference and our booth, please visit the following link: https://eurobiofilms2022.com/, or contact the Antibiotics Editorial Office at antibiotics@mdpi.com.

The 2021 citation metrics have been released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re pleased to announce the following results for MDPI journals:

For more information on Impact Factors and what it means to index academic journals, please visit our related blog posts.

* Journals given their first Impact Factor in 2022

Source: 2021 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2022)

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Hang Fai Kwok, University of Macau, has been appointed the new Section Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Pharmacology” in Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737).

Dr. Kwok’s research mainly focuses on the development of novel monoclonal antibodies and natural biomolecules (including venom-based peptides, plant-derived molecules, etc.) as prototype drugs for anticancer and anti-inflammatory therapies. In addition, his research group’s research efforts and scientific knowledge have also expanded into the areas of existing and novel cancer biomarkers, such as matricellular protein (OPN), metalloproteinase (ADAM17, ADAMTS5 and ADAMTS8), DNA replication licensing factor (MCM) proteins, small GTP-binding protein (RAN and RCC1) and immunotherapy markers (e.g. PD-1/PD-L1), to identify and validate their prognostic and therapeutic values according to their roles as hallmarks of cancer and chronic diseases.

During his past tenure as a member of the Editorial Board, Dr. Kwok was actively involved in all aspects of the journal, including manuscript pre-checks, peer review and decision making, and he has edited several successful Special Issues. We look forward to further successful collaboration with Dr. Kwok in his new editorial role.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Hang Fai Kwok, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing: 

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
I was so excited about the journal's biological- and pharmaceutical- specific focus on providing a perfect venue for research across the areas, from basic biomedical science and pharmacology research to clinical studies.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
To provide an excellent platform for biologists, pharmacists and clinicians to present their latest and advanced pharmacology-focused work while expanding the field.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Pharmacology research is incredibly dynamic, from understanding the insight of how prototype drugs act on biological systems to how the body responds to the drug. It encompasses the sources, biological effects, chemical properties, and diagnostic/therapeutic uses of drugs. It is a fascinating time to be involved in this field, and the journal provides a portal of communication for researchers across the world.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
It is an important trend in the field of publication. We can continue working together through the Open Access platform to get our peer-reviewed research to serve the scientific community.

We warmly welcome Dr. Hang Fai Kwok as he starts his new role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Biology to achieve many more milestones. 

We are pleased to announce that the following Editorial Board Members joined Biology (ISSN 2079-7737) in the second quarter of 2022:

Name: Dr. Arnaud Chatonnet
Affiliation: DMEM, University of Montpellier, INRAE, 34060 Montpellier, France
Interests: biology; animal model; cholinesterase inhibitors; protein interaction and function; neuroscience and behaviour; Alzheimer's Disease

Name: Prof. Dr. Edward Taub
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-1170, USA
Interests: behavioural neuroscience; behavioural medicine; neurorehabilitation; neural plasticity

Name: Dr. Fabrice Leclerc
Affiliation: RNA Sequence Structure & Function, Department of Genome Biology, Institute of for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), CNRS, CEA, University Paris Saclay, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Interests: computational biology and chemistry approaches; RNA–structure relationships; RNomics; small and non-coding RNAs identification and characterization; RNA 3D modelling; computational enzymology of catalytic RNAs and ribozymes; RNA/protein modelling; fragment-based RNA design

Name: Dr. Guy Warman
Affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, School of Medicine, The University of Auckland, Park Road, Grafton, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
Interests: chronobiology; circadian clocks; circadian biology; animal behaviour and navigation; time-compensated orientation; biological rhythms; honey bees; the effect of general anaesthesia on the circadian clock

Name: Prof. Dr. Hui Chen
Affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney,2006 Sydney, Australia
Interests: oxidative stress; inflammation; PM; foetal programming; metabolic disorders

Name: Dr. Jianlong Xu
Affiliation: Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: QTL mapping; favourable allele mining; designed QTL pyramiding (DQP); molecular rice breeding; disease resistance; salt tolerance; drought tolerance

Name: Prof. Dr. Jingfeng Tang
Affiliation: National "111" Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China
Interests: cell autophagy; cell signal transduction and signal pathway; cell proliferation and cell cycle; cell metabolism; stress and homeostasis regulation

Name: Dr. Margarida Matos
Affiliation: cE3c—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa , Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: experimental evolution; historical contingencies; predictability of evolution; thermal adaptation; local adaptation; evolving and resequencing

Name: Prof. Dr. Nuria De Pedro
Affiliation: Fish Neuroendocrinology Group, Department of Genetics, Physiology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: fish; feeding regulation; food intake; endocrinology; chronobiology; circadian rhythms; stress; welfare

Name: Prof. Dr. Osamu Hisatomi
Affiliation: Department of Earth and Space Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
Interests: photoreceptor proteins; LOV domain; bZIP domain; DNA binding; biophysics

Name: Dr. Ranieri Bizzarri
Affiliation: Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 65, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: fluorescence microscopy; super-resolution microscopy; fluorescent proteins; epigenetics; polycomb proteins; nucleocytoplasmic shuttling

Name: Prof. Dr. Robert E. Dempski
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Interests: ion channels; transporters; optogenetics; molecular neuroscience; transition-metal homeostasis; mixed reality programs

Name: Prof. Dr. Robert T. Gerlai
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1L7, Canada
Interests: behaviour genetics; behavioural neuroscience; zebrafish; mouse, animal learning and memory; animal models of alcoholism; animal models of fear and anxiety; social behaviour; behavioural phenotyping

Name: Dr. Scott Horowitz
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA
Interests: chaperone RNA; RNA–protein interactions; chaperone mechanism; protein folding and aggregation; structural biology methods; biochemistry education

Name: Dr. Tesifón Parrón Carreño
Affiliation: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: microbiology; biophysics and health promotion            

Name: Prof. Dr. W. Scott McGraw
Affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Interests: biological anthropology; evolutionary anthropology; primatology; behavioural ecology; functional morphology; social–ecological systems

We wish them every success in developing the journal.

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)

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the Special Issue Mentor Program. 

This program aims to provide an opportunity for early career scientists to enhance their editing, networking, and organizational skills and to work closely with our journal to gain more editorial experience. Early career scientists who have novel ideas for new Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737) Special Issues will act as Guest Editors under the mentorship of an experienced scientist; this mentor could be a member of the Editorial Board of Biology, or from other well-established research institutes or laboratories, etc. 

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Biology Editorial Office (biology@mdpi.com), and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. 

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, Biology continues to welcome all Special Issue proposals based on hot research topics as usual.

We are pleased to announce that the following Editorial Board Members have joined Biology (ISSN: 2079-7737) in the first quarter of 2022:

Name: Prof. Dr. Anat Barnea
Affiliation: Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana 43710, Israel
Interests: artificial light at night; behavioral neurobiology; birds; brain plasticity; ecology; neuroethology; urban ecology

Name: Prof. Dr. Zhifei Zhang
Affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life & Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
Interests: systematics; phylogenetic analysis; taxonomy; stratigraphy; geology; environment; mapping; ecology and evolution

Name: Dr. Christian Kranjec
Affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1432 Ås, Norway
Interests: antibiotic resistance; biofilm; bacterial infection; bacteriology; MRSA; cell biology

Name: Dr. Andreas Flouris
Affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, 42100 Trikala, Greece
Interests: behavioural thermoregulation; heat stress; cold stress; brown adipose tissue; homeostasis; temperature regulation; thermoeffectors; thermoregulatory thresholds

Name: Prof. Dr. Christian Cambillau
Affiliations:
1. Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Systèmes Macromoléculaires, UMR7255, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, CNRS-Aix-Marseille Université, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, CS 70071, 13402 Marseille CEDEX 09, France
2. School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork T12, Ireland
Interests: structural biology; bacteriophage–host interactions; bacteriophage structure

Name: Prof. Dr. Cunrui Huang
Affiliation: Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: climate change; environmental epidemiology; global health

Name: Prof. Dr. Vincent L. Bels
Affiliation: Institute of Systematic Evolution Biodiversity, Sorbonne University, 75006 Paris, France
Interests: evolution; behavior; functional morphology; feeding; locomotion; lizards; turtles

Name: Prof. Dr. Mingxing Chu
Affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: animal genetics; animal molecular genetics; sheep and goat genetics and breeding

Name: Dr. Juan Arroyo
Affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Seville, 41004 Seville, Spain
Interests: plant reproductive ecology; flower polymorphisms; plant evolution and biogeography; plant–animal interactions; pollination

Name: Dr. José Armando L. da Silva
Affiliation: Centro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: bioinorganic chemistry; prebiotic chemistry

Name: Prof. Dr. Shucun Sun
Affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: biodiversity and ecosystem function; plant–animal relationships; global change biology

Name: Dr. Angelo Fortunato
Affiliation: Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
Interests: cancer evolution; cancer biology; evolutionary biology; molecular genetics

Name: Prof. Dr. Zhe Zhao
Affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Interests: marine microbiology; fish immunology, especially in molecular immunology

Name: Dr. Wei Ma
Affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, SBS-02s-88e, Singapore 637551, Singapore
Interests: plant lipid biosynthesis; regulation of gene expression; intrinsically disordered proteins in plants; post-translational modifications; plant signal transduction

Name: Prof. Dr. Lin Wang
Affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China
Interests: autophagy deficiency; nephrotoxicity; animal poisoning diseases; metabolism diseases

Name: Prof. Dr. Weizhen Zhang
Affiliations:
1. Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, 100191 Beijing, China
2. Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: gut microbiota; gut hormones; obesity; diabetes; NAFLD

Name: Dr. Colin Adrain
Affiliation: Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Ireland
Interests: inflammation; metabolism; cell signalling; mouse models; membrane trafficking; endoplasmic reticulum; lipid droplets; ERAD (ER-associated degradation)

Name: Prof. Dr. Janis Eells
Affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
Interests: retinal degenerative diseases; neurodegenerative diseases; pharmacology; molecular toxicology

Name: Prof. Dr. Eugénia Cunha
Affiliations:
1. National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
2. Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: forensic anthropology; forensic identification; skeletal biology; human evolution

Name: Prof. Dr. Donatella Paoli
Affiliation: Laboratory of Seminology—Sperm Bank “Loredana Gandini”, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy
Interests: human reproduction biotechnology; sperm motility evaluation; seminal fluid

Name: Dr. Praveen P. Nekkar Rao
Affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Campus, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Interests: neurodegenerative diseases; chemical biology; protein misfolding; amyloid aggregation; bioassays; therapeutics

We wish them every success in developing the journal.

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who so generously dedicate their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer-review process.

We are proud to recognize winners for the year 2021 in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding contributions among extensive competition by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners on their achievement.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Biology:

• Enrico Vito Perrino, CIHEAM, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy
• Dhirendra Kumar, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, USA
• Carlos A. Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Yuri Shavrukov, Flinders University, Australia
• Bipin Gaihre, Mayo Clinic, USA

Brain Sciences:

• Craig D. Workman, University of Iowa, USA
• Vivian Ciaramitaro, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
• Yang Zhang, University of Minnesota, USA

Cells:

• Bonam Srinivasa Reddy, Université de Paris, France
• Homma Takujiro, Yamagata University, Japan
• Hwang, In Koo, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Kobeissy Firas, University of Florida, USA
• Rebelo, Sandra, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Diversity:

• Günter Gollmann, University of Vienna, Austria
• Stephan Koblmüller, University of Graz, Austria
• Emiliano Mori, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Italy

Horticulturae:

• Joshua D. Klein, Agricultural Research Organization—The Volcani Center, Israel
• Ana Cristina S Figueiredo, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Insects:

• Carmelo Peter Bonsignore, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy
• Klaus H. Hoffmann, University of Bayreuth, Germany
• Ivan Milosavljević, University of California, USA

Metabolites:

• Remigiusz Bachor, University of Wrocław, Poland
• Nguyen Phuoc Long, Inje University College of Medicine, South Korea
• Chi Chen, University of Minnesota, USA

Nutrients:

• Jadwiga Hamułka, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
• Grace Campbell, University of Sydney, Australia
• Nicholas Norwitz, Harvard Medical School, USA
• Stefan Kabisch, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Germany
• Luis Rodrigo, University of Oviedo, Spain

Veterinary Sciences:

• Carlos Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Arvind Sharma, The University of Queensland, Australia

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the 2021 winners in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category. The winners were selected by the journals’ editors.

We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agriculture:

• Carlos Guzmán, University of Cordoba, Spain

Animals:

• Katharina Hohlbaum, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Cells:

• Uri Ben-David, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Diversity:

• Enrico Lunghi, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China

Foods:

• Guodong Zhang, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Horticulturae:

• Luke Bell, Temperate Horticulture, University of Reading, UK

International Journal of Molecular Sciences:

• Alessandro D’Urso, University of Catania, Italy.
• Apostolos Zaravinos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
• Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Maria Teresa Caccamo, Messina University, Italy
• Tiziana Bonifacino, University of Genoa, Italy

Journal of Fungi:

• Federico Baltar, University of Vienna, Austria
• Rebecca Drummond, University of Birmingham, UK
• Miriam Oses-Ruiz, Public University of Navarre, Spain

Life:

• João Pedro da Silva Machado Lobo, University of Porto, Portugal
• Vincenzo Russo, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy

Metabolites:

• Gabriele Rocchetti, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Italy

Nutrients:

• Fiona Lavelle, Queen's University Belfast, UK
• Matthew Snelson, Monash University, Australia

Pathogens:

• Si Ming Man, Australian National University, Australia
• Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, University of Hong Kong, China

Plants:

• Stefania Sut, University of Padova, Italy
• Mohamed Ahmed El-Esawi, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Vaccines:

• Nicholas M. Provine, University of Oxford, UK

Viruses:

• Nicholas S. Heaton, Duke University, USA

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding presentations and to present them with the prize.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of 2021 Travel Awards and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Agriculture:

• Zahra Bitarafan, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway
• Nikolaos Tsoulias, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Germany

Fermentation:

• Michela Verni, University of Bari, Italy
• Philipp Demling, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Horticulturae:

• Jagveer Singh, Punjab Agricultural University, India
• Ibrar Hussain, State University of Londrina, Brazil

Microorganisms:

• Francis Muchaamba, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Methods and Protocols:

• Tanja Eisemann, SBP Medical Discovery Institute, USA

Nutrients:

• Mrinalini Dey, National Institute for Health Research, UK
• Ben Kirk, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Kirrilly Pursey, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Dieuwertje Kok, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Hanna Huber, University of Bonn, Germany
• Marlene Lages, University of Porto, Portugal
• Zohra S. Lassi, University of Adelaide, Australia
• Rik Olde Engberink, Amsterdam University Medicial Center, the Netherlands
• Sarah Warkentin, University of Porto (ISPUP), Portugal
• Álvaro Hernáez, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
• Leila Abdelhamid, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, USA
• Maria Michela Cesare, University of Siena, Italy
• Kaisa Hiippala, University of Helsinki, Finland

Pathogens:

• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
• Hejun Liu, Scripps Research Institute, USA
• Tomokazu Tamura, Princeton University, USA

Toxins:

• Cecilie Knudsen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
• Laura Biessy, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand
• Marcelo Mendes Rabelo, University of Florida, USA

Vaccines:

• Hee Chun Chung, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Alejandro Marin Lopez, Yale University, USA

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as the scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal last year.

We are honored to present the winners in the subject areas of “Biology & Life Sciences”, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Animals:

• “Effects of Dietary Betaine on Growth Performance, Digestive Function, Carcass Traitsand Meat Quality in Indigenous Yellow-Feathered Broilers under Long-Term Heat Stress”

by Wenchao Liu, Yilin Yuan, Chenyu Sun, Balamuralikrishnan Balasubramanian, Zhihui Zhao and Lilong An

Animals 2019, 9(8), 506, doi 10.3390/ani9080506

• “The Ethics of Human–Animal Relationships and Public Discourse: A Case Study of Lions Bred for Their Bones”

by Peter Coals, Dawn Burnham, Andrew Loveridge, David W. Macdonald, Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes, Vivienne L. Williams and John A. Vucetich

Animals 2019, 9(2), 52; doi 10.3390/ani9020052

• “The Potential Role of Insects as Feed: A Multi-Perspective Review”

by Giovanni Sogari, Mario Amato, Ilaria Biasato, Silvana Chiesa and Laura Gasco

Animals 2019, 9(4), 119; doi 10.3390/ani9040119

Antibodies:

• “Antibody Structure and Function: The Basis for Engineering Therapeutics”

by Mark L. Chiu; Dennis R. Goulet; Alexey Teplyakov and Gary L. Gilliland

Antibodies 2019, 8(4), 55; doi 10.3390/antib8040055

Antioxidants:

• “Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Flavanones from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (licorice) Leaf Phytocomplexes: Identification of Licoflavanone as a Modulator of NF-kB/MAPK Pathway”

by Luca Frattaruolo, Gabriele Carullo, Matteo Brindisi, Sarah Mazzotta, Luca Bellissimo, Vittoria Rago, Rosita Curcio, Vincenza Dolce, Francesca Aiello and Anna Rita Cappello

Antioxidants 2019, 8(6), 186; doi 10.3390/antiox8060186

• “LC-ESI-QTOF/MS Characterisation of Phenolic Acids and Flavonoids in Polyphenol-Rich Fruits and Vegetables and Their Potential Antioxidant Activities”

by Chunhe Gu, Kate Howell, Frank R. Dunshea and Hafiz A. R. Suleria

Antioxidants 2019, 8(9), 405; doi 10.3390/antiox8090405

• “Nutritional Value, Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Properties of Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) in Relation to Harvesting Stage and Plant Part”

by Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Ângela Fernandes, Maria Inês Dias, Ioannis B. Vasilakoglou, Konstantinos Petrotos, Lillian Barros and Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira

Antioxidants 2019, 8(8), 293; doi 10.3390/antiox8080293

• “A Comprehensive Review on Lipid Oxidation in Meat and Meat Products”

by Rubén Domínguez, Mirian Pateiro, Mohammed Gagaoua, Francisco J. Barba, Wangang Zhang and José M. Lorenzo

Antioxidants 2019, 8(10), 429; doi 10.3390/antiox8100429

Biology:

• “The Mammalian Circadian Timing System and the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus as Its Pacemaker”

by Michael H. Hastings, Elizabeth S. Maywood and Marco Brancaccio

Biology 2019, 8(1), 13; doi 10.3390/biology8010013

• “Combined Effects of Acute Temperature Change and Elevated pCO₂ on the Metabolic Rates and Hypoxia Tolerances of Clearnose Skate (Rostaraja eglanteria), Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata)”

by Gail D. Schwieterman, Daniel P. Crear, Brooke N. Anderson, Danielle R. Lavoie, James A. Sulikowski, Peter G. Bushnell and Richard W. Brill

Biology 2019, 8(3), 56; doi 10.3390/biology8030056

Biomolecules:

• “Flagella-Driven Motility of Bacteria”

by Shuichi Nakamura and Tohru Minamino

Biomolecules 2019, 9(7), 279; doi 10.3390/biom9070279

• “Systematic FTIR Spectroscopy Study of the Secondary Structure Changes in Human Serum Albumin under Various Denaturation Conditions”

by Dmitrii Usoltsev, Vera Sitnikovaandrey Kajava and Mayya Uspenskaya

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 359; doi 10.3390/biom9080359

• “Quantification of Fecal Short Chain Fatty Acids by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry—Investigation of Pre-Analytic Stability”

by Gerhard Liebisch, Josef Ecker, Sebastian Roth, Sabine Schweizer, Veronika Öttl, Hans-Frieder Schött, Hongsup Yoon, Dirk Haller, Ernst Holler, Ralph Burkhardt and Silke Matysik

Biomolecules 2019, 9(4), 121; doi 10.3390/biom9040121

• “Cytotoxicity of Dendrimers”

by Anna Janaszewska, Joanna Lazniewska, Przemysław Trzepiński, Monika Marcinkowska and Barbara Klajnert-Maculewicz

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 330; doi 10.3390/biom9080330

Cells:

• “Combined Inhibition of TGF-β Signaling and the PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Is Differentially Effective in Tumor Models”

by Heng Sheng Sow, Jiang Ren, Marcel Camps, Ferry Ossendorp and Peter ten Dijke

Cells 2019, 8(4), 320; doi 10.3390/cells8040320

• “Exosome Treatment Enhances Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages and Reduces Inflammation-Induced Pyroptosis in Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy”

by Dinender K. Singla, Taylor A. Johnson and Zahra Tavakoli Dargani

Cells 2019, 8(10), 1224; doi 10.3390/cells8101224

• “Overview of Extracellular Vesicles, Their Origin, Composition, Purpose, and Methods for Exosome Isolation and Analysis”

by Laura M. Doyle and Michael Zhuo Wang

Cells 2019, 8(7), 727; doi 10.3390/cells8070727

• “Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine”

by Yu Han, Xuezhou Li, Yanbo Zhang, Yuping Han, Fei Chang and Jianxun Ding

Cells 2019, 8(8), 886; doi 10.3390/cells8080886

Genes:

• “A High-Quality De novo Genome Assembly from a Single Mosquito Using PacBio Sequencing”

by Sarah B. Kingan, Haynes Heaton, Juliana Cudini, Christine C. Lambert, Primo Baybayan, Brendan D. Galvin, Richard Durbin, Jonas Korlach and Mara K. N. Lawniczak

Genes 2019, 10(1), 62; doi 10.3390/genes10010062

• “Eukaryotic 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C) RNA Methyltransferases: Mechanisms, Cellular Functions, and Links to Disease”

by Katherine E Bohnsack, Claudia Höbartner and Markus T Bohnsack

Genes 2019, 10(2), 102; doi 10.3390/genes10020102

• “Tree Lab: Portable Genomics for Early Detection of Plant Viruses and Pests in Sub-Saharan Africa”

by Laura M. Boykin, Peter Sseruwagi, Titus Alicai, Elijah Ateka, Ibrahim Umar Mohammed, Jo-Ann L. Stanton, Charles Kayuki, Deogratius Mark, Tarcisius Fute, Joel Erasto, Hilda Bachwenkizi, Brenda Muga, Naomi Mumo, Jenniffer Mwangi, Phillip Abidrabo, Geoffrey Okao-Okuja, Geresemu Omuut, Jacinta Akol, Hellen B. Apio, Francis Osingada, Monica A. Kehoe, David Eccles, Anders Savill, Stephen Lamb, Tonny Kinene, Christopher B. Rawle, Abishek Muralidhar, Kirsty Mayall, Fred Tairo and Joseph Ndunguru

Genes 2019, 10(9), 632; doi 10.3390/genes10090632

• “Transcription Factors Associated with Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance and Their Potential for Crops Improvement”

by Elamin Hafiz Baillo, Roy Njoroge Kimotho, Zhengbin Zhang and Ping Xu

Genes 2019, 10(10), 771; doi 10.3390/genes10100771

Horticulturae:

• “Recent Advances in Hormonal Regulation and Cross-Talk during Non-Climacteric Fruit Development and Ripening”

by Lida Fuentes, Carlos R. Figueroa and Monika Valdenegro

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 45; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5020045

• “Evaluation of Two Wild Populations of Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.) as a Potential Leafy Vegetable”

by Marta Guarise, Gigliola Borgonovo, Angela Bassoli and Antonio Ferrante

Horticulturae 2019, 5(1), 13; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5010013

Insects:

• “Olfactory Preference of Drosophila suzukii Shifts between Fruit and Fermentation Cues over the Season: Effects of Physiological Status”

by Rik Clymans, Vincent Van Kerckvoorde, Eva Bangels, Wannes Akkermans, Ammar Alhmedi, Patrick De Clercq, Tim Beliën and Dany bylemans

Insects 2019, 10(7), 200; doi 10.3390/insects10070200

• “Telenomus remus, a Candidate Parasitoid for the Biological Control of Spodoptera frugiperda in Africa, is already Present on the Continent”

by Marc Kenis, Hannalene du Plessis, Johnnie Van den Berg, Malick Niango Ba, Georg Goergen, Koffi Eric Kwadjo, Ibrahim Baoua, Tadele Tefera, Alan Buddie, Giovanni Cafà, Lisa Offord, Ivan Rwomushana and Andrew Polaszek

Insects 2019, 10(4), 92; doi 10.3390/insects10040092

• “Symbiotic Plant Biomass Decomposition in Fungus-Growing Termites”

by Rafael R. da Costa, Haofu Hu, Hongjie Li and Michael Poulsen

Insects 2019, 10(4), 87; doi 10.3390/insects10040087

International Journal of Molecular Sciences:

• “Aging, Melatonin, and the Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Networks”

by Rüdiger Hardeland

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(5), 1223; doi 10.3390/ijms20051223

• “Causative Links between Protein Aggregation and Oxidative Stress: A Review”

by Elise Lévy, Nadine El Banna, Dorothée Baïlle, Amélie Heneman-Masurel, Sandrine Truchet, Human Rezaei, Meng-Er Huang, Vincent Béringue, Davy Martin and Laurence Vernis

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(16), 3896; doi 10.3390/ijms20163896

• “Immunobiology of Atherosclerosis: A Complex Net of Interactions”

by Beatriz Herrero-Fernandez, Raquel Gomez-Bris, Beatriz Somovilla-Crespo and Jose Maria Gonzalez-Granado

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(21), 5293; doi 10.3390/ijms20215293

• “Development of a Gut-on-a-Chip Model for High Throughput Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery”

by Claudia Beaurivage, Elena Naumovska, Yee Xiang Chang, Edo D. Elstak, Arnaud Nicolas, Heidi Wouters, Guido van Moolenbroek, Henriëtte L. Lanz, Sebastiaan J. Trietsch, Jos Joore, Paul Vulto, Richard A.J. Janssen, Kai S. Erdmann, Jan Stallen and Dorota Kurek

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(22), 5661; doi 10.3390/ijms20225661

• “Triple-Negative Breast Cancer with High Levels of Annexin A1 Expression Is Associated with Mast Cell Infiltration, Inflammationand Angiogenesis”

by Maiko Okano, Masanori Oshi, Ali Linsk Butash, Eriko Katsuta, Kazunoshin Tachibana, Katsuharu Saito, Hirokazu Okayama, Xuan Peng, Li Yan, Koji Kono, Toru Ohtake and Kazuaki Takabe

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(17), 4197; doi 10.3390/ijms20174197

• “CGRP Induces Differential Regulation of Cytokines from Satellite Glial Cells in Trigeminal Ganglia and Orofacial Nociception”

by Shaista Afroz, Rieko Arakaki, Takuma Iwasa, Masamitsu Oshima, Maki Hosoki, Miho Inoue, Otto Baba, Yoshihiro Okayama and Yoshizo Matsuka

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(3), 711; doi 10.3390/ijms20030711

Life:

• “Characterization of Resistance in Gram-Negative Urinary Isolates Using Existing and Novel Indicators of Clinical Relevance: A 10-Year Data Analysis”

by Márió Gajdács, Zoltán Bátori, Marianna Ábrók, Andrea Lázár and Katalin Burián

Life 2020, 10(2), 16; doi 10.3390/life10020016

• “Neuroprotection or Neurotoxicity of Illicit Drugs on Parkinson’s Disease”

by Carla Ferreira, Catarina Almeida, Sandra Tenreiro and Alexandre Quintas

Life 2020, 10(6), 86; doi 10.3390/life10060086

Nutrients:

• “Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease”

by Ronald D. Hills, Benjamin A. Pontefract, Hillary R. Mishcon, Cody A. Black, Steven C. Sutton and Cory R. Theberge

Nutrients 2019, 11(7), 1613; doi 10.3390/nu11071613

• “Vitamin C Can Shorten the Length of Stay in the ICU: A Meta-Analysis”

by Harri Hemilä and Elizabeth Chalker

Nutrients 2019, 11(4), 708; doi 10.3390/nu11040708

• “Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves 24-Hour Glucose Levels and Affects Markers of the Circadian Clock, Aging, and Autophagy in Humans”

by Humaira Jamshed, Robbie A. Beyl, Deborah L. Della Manna, Eddy S. Yang, Eric Ravussin and Courtney M. Peterson

Nutrients 2019, 11(6), 1234; doi 10.3390/nu11061234

Pathogens:

• “Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Cause or Consequence? IBD Treatment Targeting the Gut Microbiome”

by Israr Kha, Naeem Ullah, Lajia Zha, Yanrui Bai, Ashiq Khan, Tang Zhao, Tuanjie Che and Chunjiang Zhang

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 126; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030126

• “Candida albicans Interactions with Mucosal Surfaces during Health and Disease”

by Spyridoula-Angeliki Nikou,Nessim Kichik, Rhys Brown, Nicole O. Ponde, Jemima Ho, Julian R. Naglik and Jonathan P. Richardson

Pathogens 2019, 8(2), 53; doi 10.3390/pathogens8020053

• “Bacteriophages in Natural and Artificial Environments”

by Steven Batinovic, Flavia Wassef, Sarah A. Knowler, Daniel T.F. Rice, Cassandra R. Stanton, Jayson Rose, Joseph Tucci, Tadashi Nittami, Antony Vinh, Grant R. Drummond, Christopher G. Sobey, Hiu Tat Chan, Robert J. Seviour, Steve Petrovski and Ashley E. Franks

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 100; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030100

Plants:

• “Plant Disease Detection and Classification by Deep Learning”

by Muhammad Hammad Saleem, Johan Potgieter and Khalid Mahmood Arif 

Plants 2019, 8(11), 468; doi 10.3390/plants8110468

• “Involvement of Phenolic Acids in Short-Term Adaptation to Salinity Stress is Species-Specific among Brassicaceae”

by Ida Linić, Dunja Šamec, Jiří Grúz, Valerija Vujčić Bok, Miroslav Strnad and Branka Salopek-Sondi

Plants 2019, 8(6), 155; doi 10.3390/plants8060155

• “Isoform-Specific NO Synthesis by Arabidopsis thaliana Nitrate Reductase”

by Marie Agatha Mohn, Besarta Thaqi and Katrin Fischer-Schrader

Plants 2019, 8(3), 67; doi 10.3390/plants8030067

• “GWAS for Starch-Related Parameters in Japonica Rice (Oryza sativa L.)”

by Chiara Biselliandrea Volante, Francesca Desiderio, Alessandro Tondelli, Alberto Gianinetti, Franca Finocchiaro, Federica Taddei, Laura Gazza, Daniela Sgrulletta, Luigi Cattivelli and Giampiero Valè

Plants 2019, 8(8), 292; doi 10.3390/plants8080292

We are pleased to announce that 11 new scholars were recently appointed as Editorial Board Members for the journal Biology (ISSN 2079-7737).

Prof. Dr. Antonio Carvajal;
Prof. Dr. Francis J. Castellino;
Prof. Dr. Inon Scharf;
Prof. Dr. Ji Wu;
Prof. Dr. Jingfa Xiao;
Dr. José María Conde Porcuna;
Dr. Kenji K. Kojima;
Dr. Ligen Yu;
Prof. Dr. Tianwei Yu;
Prof. Dr. Xiaoli Li;
Prof. Dr. Yanbin Hao.

We wish them every success in developing the journal.

Further details about the Editorial Board can be found at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biology/editors.

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.

Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:

• Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
• Alban Kuriqi;
• Álvaro González-Vila;
• Alessandro Alaimo;
• Alexey Beskopylny;
• Alexander Yu Churyumov;
• Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
• Andrea Mastinu;
• Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
• Anton Rassõlkin;
• Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
• Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
• Artur Słomka;
• Baojie He;
• Bartłomiej Potaniec;
• Bojan Đurin;
• Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
• Carmelo Maria Musarella;
• Chiachung Chen;
• Chiman Kwan;
• Cristian Busu;
• Danil Pimenov;
• Dan-Cristian Dabija;
• Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
• Demetrio Antonio Zema;
• Denis Butusov;
• Elena Lucchi;
• Gaurab Dutta;
• Livia Anastasiu;
• M. R. Safaei.

For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.

MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.

Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.

The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
liliane.auwerter@mdpi.com

This serves to announce to our valued authors based in Japan that value-added tax, or consumption tax will now be imposed on article processing fees and other service fees for all papers submitted, or resubmitted (assigned new paper IDs), effective from 15 August 2021. The change is in accordance with the Japanese "Act for Partial Revision of the Income Tax Act and Other Acts" (Act No. 9 of 2015), which includes a revision of consumption taxation on cross-border supplies of services such as digital content distribution.

For additional information from the National Tax Agency please see here ("Cross-border supplies of electronic services").

Contact: Setsuko Nishihara, MDPI Tokyo

The 2020 citation metrics have been officially released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR)!

We are pleased to announce that 85 MDPI journals are included, of which:

• 10 journals received their first impact factor
• 96% of journals increased their impact factor from 2019
• 32 journals (38%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category

* Journals given their first Impact Factor in 2021

Source: 2020 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ® (Clarivate, 2021)

We are pleased to announce that 92 new scholars were recently appointed as Editorial Board Members for the journal Biology.

Dr. Jiang Liu (Marshall University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Fang-Xiang Wu (University of Saskatchewan, Canada);
Prof. Dr. Charalambos Kyriacou (University of Leicester, UK);
Prof. Dr. Takatoshi Tanisaka (Kibi International University);
Dr. Alper Kucukural (University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA);
Prof. Dr. Matteo Bertini (University of Ferrara, Italy);
Dr. Huizhong Chen (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA);
Prof. Dr. Weiguo Cao (Clemson University, USA);
Dr. Fabien Aubret (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France);
Prof. Dr. Yin Hua Zhang (Seoul National University, Korea);
Dr. Zipei Zhang (Harvard Medical School, USA);
Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Peruzzi (University of Pisa, Italy);
Prof. Dr. Hiromitsu Tanaka (Nagasaki International University, Japan);
Prof. Dr. Chengguo Xing (University of Florida, USA);
Prof. Dr. Gabriella Nicolini (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy);
Dr. Xu Peng (Texas A&M University College of Medicine, USA);
Dr. David C. Plachetzki (University of New Hampshire, USA);
Prof. Dr. Harri Piitulainen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland);
Prof. Dr. Olivier Oudar (Université Paris 13, France) ;
Dr. Xinhua Shu (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK);
Dr. Ian Blaby (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA);
Dr. Katsumi Kitagawa (Texas A&M Health Science Center, USA);
Dr. Tigst Demeke (Canadian Grain Commission, Canada);
Dr. Mark Bond (University of Bristol, UK);
Prof. Dr. Lars Muckli (University of Glasgow, UK);
Prof. Dr. Jing Xu (Nankai University, China);
Dr. Dina Visca (University of Insubria, Italy);
Prof. Dr. William H. Konigsberg (Yale University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Honglong (James) Ji (University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, USA);
Dr. Qi Chen (University of Auckland, New Zealand);
Dr. Natraj Krishnan (Mississippi State University, USA);
Dr. Lei Ye (National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore);
Prof. Dr. Hiroyoshi Inoue (Keio University School of Medicine, Japan);
Prof. Dr. Dirk Rades (University of Lübeck, Germany);
Dr. Yuval Cinnamon (Agricultural Research Organization, Israel);
Dr. Sunita Ramesh (Flinders University, Australia);
Dr. Oswaldo Palenzuela (Spanish National Research Council, Spain);
Prof. Dr. Shuren Li (Medical University of Vienna, Austria);
Dr. Je-Hyun Yoon (Medical University of South Carolina, USA);
Dr. Youngshim Choi (University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA);
Dr. Cheng Wang (Massachusetts General Hospital, USA);
Dr. Lourdes A. Fortepiani (University of the Incarnate Word, USA);
Dr. Mi Li (University of Tennessee, USA);
Dr. Athar Ansari (Wayne State University, USA);
Dr. Patrick Y. Sips (Ghent University, Belgium);
Prof. Dr. Jijun Tang (University of South Carolina, USA);
Dr. Zhongjian Cheng (Temple University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Carol A. Brenner (University of New England, USA);
Dr. Sylvia L.F. Pender (University of Southampton, UK);
Dr. Tomas Majtan (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, USA);
Dr. Joseph Kwong (Keele University, UK);
Dr. Zhaogang Yang (The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA);
Prof. Dr. Melanie L. Hart (Medical Center—Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany);
Dr. Kwang Mook Jung (University of California-Irvine, USA);
Dr. Marie‑Lise Maddelein (Université de Toulouse, France);
Dr. Alfons Lawen (Monash University, Australia);
Prof. Dr. Yi Zhao (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China);
Prof. Dr. Qingbin Lu (University of Waterloo, Canada);
Dr. Lin Lu (Columbia University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Hua Xiang (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China);
Prof. Dr. Cheng Cameron Yin (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA);
Dr. Obul Reddy Bandapalli (University of Heidelberg, Germany);
Prof. Dr. Charles D. Rice (Clemson University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Hiroetsu Suzuki (Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Japan);
Prof. Dr. Hengming Ke (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA);
Prof. Dr. Haiming Dai (Mayo Clinic, USA);
Prof. Dr. Ronaldo Ichiyama (University of Leeds, UK);
Prof. Dr. Éric Crubézy (Université Paul Sabatier, France);
Dr. Arianna Bellucci (University of Brescia, Italy);
Dr. Guo-Hao Lin (University of California San Francisco, USA);
Dr. Gilles Fischer (Sorbonne Université, France);
Prof. Dr. Luis Gandía (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain);
Prof. Dr. Takuya Furuichi (Nagoya University of Economics, Japan);
Dr. Wenzhong Xiao (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA);
Dr. Youlian Pan (National Research Council Canada, Canada);
Dr. Martin Barr (Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Ireland);
Dr. Mridula Chopra (University of Portsmouth, UK);
Dr. Huaxin Sheng (Duke University School of Medicine, USA);
Prof. Dr. Martine Meunier (Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, France);
Prof. Dr. Naoki Yamamoto (Fujita Health University, Japan);
Dr. Claus Nielsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark);
Dr. Toshihiro Kushibiki (National Defense Medical College, Japan);
Prof. Dr. Qiwei Yang (Georgia Regents University, USA);
Prof. Dr. Andrea Casadei Gardini (Vita e Salute San Raffaele University, Italy);
Dr. De-Li Shi (Sorbonne University, France);
Dr. Simone Tambaro (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden);
Prof. Dr. Annemiek Van Spriel (Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands);
Dr. Michele Cea (University of Genoa and IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Italy);
Dr. Barak Rotblat (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel);
Prof. Dr. Paul D. Terry (University of Tennessee, USA);
Prof. Dr. Adrian Leuchtmann (ETH Zürich, Switzerland);
Dr. Georg Damm (Leipzig University, Germany);

We wish them every success in developing the journal. 

MDPI Books recently released Book Builder, a new online tool to conveniently arrange, design and produce an eBook from any content published in MDPI journals. Book Builder offers two functions: on the one hand (1) Selections, available to every registered user of MDPI; on the other hand (2) Special Issue Reprints, which can be used exclusively by Guest Editors of Special Issues.

Selections

In just a matter of a few clicks, all users are now able to assemble books from MDPI articles and receive instantaneous feedback in the form of a fully produced and compiled book (PDF), which can be downloaded or ordered as print copy. Selections can include any paper published with MDPI, picking and combining content from different journals and special issues.

This way, the user may for example choose to compile an ebook focusing around a particular topic, or assemble articles from a group of others.

We invite you to make yourself familiar with the new tool! The Book Builder can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/books/book_builder.

Special Issue Reprints

The Book Builder allows Guest Editors of MDPI journals to create a reprint from a successfully completed Special Issue or Topical Collection in book format. If you are a Guest Editor for an MDPI journal, you can use the new tool  to create an PDF document which includes all articles published in the Special Issue as well as a book cover and table of contents.

For Special Issues containing a minimum of 5 articles, the Guest Editor can request its publication on the MDPI Book platform. Published reprints are assigned an ISBN and DOI.

In addition to the PDF copy of the Reprint Book, as a token of our gratitude, MDPI offers every Guest Editor one (1) complimentary print copy (via print-on-demand). All contributors benefit from a discount on orders of any additional print copies, to share with colleagues or libraries or others.

Why choose MDPI Books?

In line with our organization's values, MDPI Books publishes all content in open access, promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge in a globalized world. MDPI Books encompasses all the benefits of open access—high availability and visibility, as well as wide and rapid dissemination. MDPI Books are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License, meaning as an author you retain the copyright for your work. In addition, with MDPI Books you can complement the digital version of your work with a high-quality printed counterpart.

If you are interested in editing a book volume or series, or have a monograph manuscript to be considered for publication, please submit your proposal online and look at our Information for Authors.

Contact: Laura Wagner, MDPI Books Manager (email)

In June of this year, MDPI will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this significant milestone, we have created a 25th Anniversary page on our website that evokes the development of our company over the past quarter-century.

MDPI has been a pioneer of Open Access publishing ever since the concept was first created.

In a wide-ranging interview, our CEO Delia Mihaila reflects on the company’s 25th anniversary and its contribution to the world of scientific publishing.

Delia considers how MDPI has evolved since starting life in 1996 as a visionary ‘project’ run out of an apartment in Basel, Switzerland, by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin. A chemist who was passionate about the long-term preservation of rare chemical sample, Dr. Lin was determined to help scholars publish their findings as quickly as possible and make their research results available to as wide a readership as possible worldwide. That determination remains unchanged 25 years later.

Today, MDPI is an international organization with over 4,000 employees based on three continents and in ten countries, and ranks among the world's top four academic publishers.

MDPI's mission is to accelerate access to new scientific research, delivering insight faster for researchers worldwide. Read more here about the company's remarkable success story and what the Open Access publishing model can offer the global scientific community.

At MDPI, we strive to make your online publication process seamless and efficient. To achieve this, our team is continuously developing tools and features to make the user experience useful and convenient.

As the number of academic papers continues to grow, so does the need to analyze and work with them on a large scale. This prompted us to design a new feature aimed at helping researchers find journals that are relevant to their publication by matching their abstract topic. In this regard, we designed a similarity model that automatically identifies the most suitable academic journals for your paper.

We are pleased to introduce Journal Selector, a new feature that measures similarity in academic contexts. By simply entering the title and/or abstract into our Journal Selector, the author will see a list of the most related scientific journals published by MDPI. This method helps authors select the correct journals for their papers, highlighting the time of publication and citability.

The methodology is known as representation learning, where words are represented as vectors in hyperspace. Representation helps us differentiate between different concepts within articles, and in turn, helps us identify similarities between them.

We used an advanced machine learning model to better capture the semantic meanings of words. This helps the algorithm make better predictions by leveraging scientific text representation. In turn, this ensures high precision, helping authors decide which journal they should submit their paper to.

The goal is to support authors to publish their work in the most suitable journal for their research, as fast as possible, accelerating their career progress.

Contact: Andrea Perlato, Head of Data Analytics, MDPI (email)

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.

We are delighted to announce the establishment of our Open Access agreement with Jisc Collections, which will allow UK institutions to benefit from access to article processing charge (APC) discounts and streamlined payment workflows.

All institutions participating in the agreement will also gain access to the MDPI online submission system where they can find full article metadata and pricing information for easy identification and additional transparency.

Eligible authors affiliated with the participating institutions are prompted to choose the corresponding Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) when they submit an article via our online submission system.

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