Tag: academic publishing

Pensoft at the Nordic Oikos-GfÖ 2026 conference: Integrating the Diversity of Ecology

Between 13-17 September 2026, Pensoft Publishers joined the Nordic Oikos-GfÖ 2026 conference in Odense, Denmark.

Between 13-17 September 2026, Pensoft Publishers joined the Nordic Oikos-GfÖ 2026 conference, jointly organised by the Nordic Society Oikos and the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ) in Odense, Denmark.

Themed “Integrating the Diversity of Ecology”, the event welcomed over 1,000 researchers in the field from across career stages, who had the opportunity to enjoy conference talks across 36 thematic sessions, as many as six keynote talks, two poster sessions, several open society meetings and quite a few social events, including excursions and a conference dinner. 

Conference delegates enjoying the musical clock installation mounted on an elevated balcony on the glass façade of the ODEON building, where the Nordic Oikos-GfÖ 2026 conference took place between 14 and 17 September 2026.

Throughout the scientific event, conference delegates had the opportunity to also explore the various publishing services offered by Pensoft to authors of research, journal managers, conference organisers; the diverse portfolio of almost 100 open-access peer-reviewed journals published on Pensoft’s ARPHA Publishing Platform.

Beyond publishing solutions, a key focus was given to OBSGESSION: a Horizon Europe-funded project where Pensoft is actively involved. To better understand and predict changes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, the OBSGESSION consortium integrates multi-source Earth Observation data (such as high-resolution satellite imagery and drone monitoring) with ground-based in-situ research, including advanced environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. By coupling these data streams with cutting-edge detection-attribution modelling and machine learning algorithms, the project generates scalable Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs). These ecological approaches and analytical frameworks are actively tested and validated through six biodiversity pilots across diverse European ecosystems. In the open-science Research Ideas and Outcomes journal, you can find a collection of project outputs, including research papers, project reports and deliverables, and guideline papers published across journals and platforms.

As a leader of the “Dissemination, Multi-stakeholder outreach and synergies” work package at OBSGESSION, Pensoft is tasked with stakeholder engagement and community building, ultimately contributing to the high impact of the resulting outputs, methodologies, and policy recommendations that aim to strengthen public understanding of biodiversity change.  

At the Pensoft-OBSGESSION-branded booth, conference participants would stop by to chat with Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva and Senior Communications Officer: Desislava Raykova.

As a leader of the “Dissemination, Multi-stakeholder outreach and synergies” work package at OBSGESSION, Pensoft is tasked with stakeholder engagement and community building, ultimately contributing to the high impact of the resulting outputs, methodologies and policy recommendations that aim to strengthen public understanding of biodiversity change.

Earth Observation meets in-situ biodiversity monitoring: Pensoft joins the OBSGESSION project

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One of the six keynote talks was presented by Prof. Dr. Isabell Hensen (Martin Luther University Halle, Germany), who received the GfÖ Honorary Medal 2026 for her leading, forward-looking contributions to ecological research and the scientific community. Her work examines how genetic variation, environmental conditions, disturbance, and plant-animal interactions shape plant populations, with particular emphasis on rare species, biological invasions, and the regeneration of degraded forests.

In her talk, titled “One spark is enough: regeneration ecology of Andean forests under global change”, she reported on post-fire regeneration processes in tropical Andean forests, based on long-term field experiments and observational studies. 

Hensen focused on the well-studied endemic plant genus Polylepis, which forms the world’s highest-elevation forests and illustrates how fire has shaped ecosystem dynamics over millennia. Her talk also mentioned a 2022 monograph of the genus, published in the Pensoft journal PhytoKeys by Tatiana Erika Boza Espinoza (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) and Michael Kessler (University of Zurich), which brought together results from 35 years of field and herbarium experience.

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On Wednesday, Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva delivered a presentation titled “Scholarly Communication: Lessons from the Publisher’s Kitchen”. She highlighted the vital role publishers play in helping researchers communicate their insights not only to peers, but also to decision-makers and the public. Emphasizing the publisher’s responsibility to support authors with robust infrastructure and dedicated human expertise, she outlined how Pensoft works to FAIRify scholarly publishing and future-proof scientific knowledge in an era of rapid AI development and expanding research output.

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Pensoft’s team was delighted to meet up with dedicated readers, authors, reviewers, and editors from across Pensoft’s portfolio, as well as introduce Pensoft journals to attendees discovering them for the first time.

Unsurprisingly, well-established society journals published by Pensoft, such as Frontiers of Biogeography, NeoBiota, Vegetation Classification and Survey, Vegetation Ecology and Diversity and Italian Botanist drew plenty of attention, alongside long-standing Pensoft’s own titles like Nature Conservation, PhytoKeys, One Ecosystem and the Biodiversity Data Journal. 

Visitors were also particularly intrigued by several newly launched Pensoft journals. Developed in close collaboration with passionate researchers, these fresh outlets directly address key gaps in academic publishing. 

One of the newly launched journals in the spotlight was Agricultural and Ecological Modelling (AEM), which provides a unique scholarly outlet thanks to its modern approach to publishing by increasing transparency, giving credit to research objects across the entire modelling research lifecycle. This is achieved through publishing specialised article types, such as: Formal Model, Model Testing and Calibration, Model Implementation and Documentation, Data Papers and Software Descriptions. These new publishing formats are designed to keep pace with advances in Modelling research and to make it FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) by enabling scholarly credit for diverse research outputs, often created by different groups of authors. For the time being, AEM remains a Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that it will not charge authors for open-access publication. 

Other recently founded journals addressing emerging and fast-developing disciplines within the ecological field that took the spotlight were:

  • Individual-Based Ecology: launched to support understanding and predicting ecological systems’ response to rapidly changing and novel conditions by linking individual responses to responses at higher levels of organisation.
  • Advances in Pollinator Research: a multidisciplinary journal publishing research on pollination ecology, pollinator-plant interactions, pollinator health and drivers of pollinator declines, crop and wild flower pollination, pollinator conservation practices, molecular ecology of pollinators, pollinator and pollination monitoring, decision support for policy and socio-economics.
  • Journal of Regeneration: a multidisciplinary journal for the dissemination of research results on regeneration and tissue repair across phyla. These mechanisms can be framed within an evolutionary framework and integrate a variety of cellular processes involving stem cells, dedifferentiating or even transdifferentiating cells. 

All of these journals operate with no article fees for either authors, nor readers.

To receive updates on new publications and relevant news, sign up for Email Alerts on any journal’s homepage. Creating a Pensoft account also allows users to  easily customise their notification preferences, follow additional journals, or filter updates by research topic. You can also follow journals on social media, including BlueSky, Facebook and Linkedin.

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Supporting European Policy Through Priority Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)

Delegates at the event showed strong interest in OBSGESSION’s first policy brief: “Prioritising Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to support European Union (EU) policy needs based on the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.” To tackle a critical challenge in environmental monitoring, OBSGESSION focuses on prioritising key EBVs to directly support the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 – a roadmap designed to put Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery through 102 specific actions and sub-actions.

To align these policy needs with actionable data, the OBSGESSION team conducted an assessment to identify priority EBV candidates. By categorising EBV-applicable actions and indicators across different ecosystem realms and implementation stages, the project pinpointed the most essential variables needed to strengthen monitoring, reporting, and policy execution. The document is based on a deliverable by the project (D1.1 Policy Landscape and Needs Assessment).

This policy brief is part of a broader, ongoing effort within OBSGESSION to bridge the gap between biodiversity data and policy execution. To dive deeper into the science behind this topic, the project has hosted a dedicated seminar series exploring key aspects of the framework:

Bringing Methodologies to Life Across European Ecosystems

Beyond theoretical frameworks, OBSGESSION grounds its research in six biodiversity validation pilots across Europe. The case studies represent European biodiversity and ecosystem conservation challenges at scales varying from local to regional. Full details on each ecosystem pilot are now available in a collection of newly published pilot factsheets, which made their debut at the conference, where people could take a look at their digital versions. 

Reading those materials gives an insight into the practical testing environment to demonstrate how Earth observation, field research, and ecological modelling come together to deliver actionable biodiversity insights. You can also check out OBSGESSION’s biodiversity pilots on the project’s website.

The OBSGESSION in a Nutshell video presents a concise overview of the project’s overarching mission and components.

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To relive the conference by exploring the detailed programme alongside the full abstracts, visit the conference website.

Keep up with future updates and news from Pensoft by following us on Bluesky, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. 

New Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations launches on ARPHA

The journal is an international, multidisciplinary academic journal supervised by Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT).

Pensoft Publishers is pleased to announce the publication of the first issue of the Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations (STI), an international journal for cutting-edge research across the scientific and technological spectrum. 

The journal notably adopts Pensoft’s ARPHA platform, an innovative end-to-end full-featured publishing solution that streamlines the entire publication workflow – from initial manuscript submission to indexing, distribution, hosting and archiving through one coordinated platform. To date, ARPHA provides “a home” to about 100 open-access journals across scientific fields.

Table of Contents

About the journal

The Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations is an international, multidisciplinary academic journal supervised by Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT). The journal publishes original, peer-reviewed research contributions.

Its editorial purview encompasses a broad range of scientific and technological domains:

  • Food Science – biotechnology, traceability, safety and quality assurance, chemistry and toxicology, packaging, nanotechnology, sensory evaluation, sustainability, health and nutrition, and product innovation
  • Environmental Science – catalysis and energy conversion, carbon capture and utilisation, hydrogen and biomass technologies, agricultural and environmental biotechnology, bioremediation and wastewater treatment, sustainable chemistry, and computational approaches
  • Chemical Engineering – green and sustainable chemistry, computational methods, analytical and synthetic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, catalytic technologies, and process development
  • Materials Science – nanomaterials, biomaterials, ceramics and composites, electronic and optical materials, polymers, surface coatings, eco-materials, and semiconductors

Editorial board

The journal is led by an international team of scholars:

Editor-in-Chief: Thi Hong Anh Le, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, Vietnam

Deputy Editors-in-Chief: Tuyen Truong, RMIT University, Australia; Thanh-Binh Nguyen, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Featured articles

The first issue of STI presents six contributions spanning food science, materials science, and applied food technology:

A cost-benefit analysis of small-holder floating-house fish farming in Chau Doc City, Vietnamese Mekong Delta 

A study of 35 Mekong Delta fish farmers reveals significant disparities in farm profitability across different river reaches, with operations facing demographic vulnerabilities and heavy reliance on unpaid labour. 

Read more: Farzana H, Tran DD, Nguyen TD, Park E (2026) A cost-benefit analysis of small-holder floating-house fish farming in Chau Doc City, Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations 1: e209236. https://doi.org/10.3897/sti.e209236

Ultrasound-assisted pullulanase modification increases resistant starch content and alters the structure–function properties of water caltrop starch 

A combined ultrasound and enzymatic treatment increased resistant starch content in water caltrop starch from 21.72% to 28.15%, whilst enhancing its water and oil absorption capacities. The approach offers potential for developing resistant starch-enriched functional food ingredients.

Read more: Phan VM, Ngo TMP, Do TTN, Luyen TTH, Duong TT, Tran NM, Tran CH (2026) Ultrasound-assisted pullulanase modification increases resistant starch content and alters the structure–function properties of water caltrop starch. Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations 1: e209539. https://doi.org/10.3897/sti.e209539 

Effects of Melatonin/β-cyclodextrin Treatment on Physicochemical and Bioactive Attributes of Cherry Tomatoes during Storage

Melatonin complexed with β-cyclodextrin reduced cherry tomato weight loss by up to 56% during refrigerated storage and proved more effective than free melatonin in preserving colour, acidity, and polyphenol content. The complex formation provides a viable strategy for extending shelf-life in harvested produce.

Read more: Tran THC, Dong TT, Nguyen PH,Le NH,Kuo C-H (2026) Effects of Melatonin/β-cyclodextrin Treatment on Physicochemical and Bioactive Attributes of Cherry Tomatoes during Storage. Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations 1: e212043. https://doi.org/10.3897/sti.e212043

Design, Functionalities, and Emerging Applications of Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Composites: A Review 

This review synthesises current knowledge on titanium carbide-based MXenes, two-dimensional materials with exceptional conductivity and mechanical properties. MXene-based composites demonstrate applications in gas sensing, photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction, and energy storage devices.

Read more: Ta QTH, Pham NN, Tran QN, Lu TMT, Noh JS (2026) Design, Functionalities, and Emerging Applications of Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Composites: A Review. Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations 1: e205045. https://doi.org/10.3897/sti.е205045 

Chemical Composition, Bioactivities, and Cosmetic Applications of Coconut Oil and Its Derivatives

Recent evidence demonstrates that coconut oil, when appropriately applied, offers dermatological benefits, with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The research clarifies interactions between coconut oil and skin microflora and explains previous inconsistencies in published findings.

Read more: Dat NM, Phong DT, Long HB, Dat NT, Thy LTM (2026) Chemical Composition, Bioactivities, and Cosmetic Applications of Coconut Oil and Its Derivatives. Journal of Scientific and Technological Innovations 1: e205088. https://doi.org/10.3897/sti.e205088 

Retention of bilberry anthocyanins in wood hemicelluloses coated microcapsules under the impact of humidity and packaging conditions 

Storage at 8% relative humidity limited bilberry anthocyanin degradation to 17-22% over 24 weeks, with wood hemicelluloses providing comparable protection to conventional gum Arabic. The findings establish moisture control as important for developing shelf-stable natural functional powders with sustainable coating materials.

A platform for scientific advancement

The diversity of contributions in this first issue reflects STI’s multidisciplinary scope. Researchers interested in submitting manuscripts are invited to consult the journal’s guidelines and submission portal.

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Access the full first issue here.

Peer Review Week 2026: Building Capacity for the Long Run

Pensoft Publishers mark Peer Review Week 2026 by spotlighting some of its Editors-in-Chief across its diverse portfolio.

Every September since 2015, the scholarly publishing world has paused to examine the process that quietly underwrites the integrity of scientific knowledge. This year, Peer Review Week runs from 14 to 18 September, bringing together publishers, societies, funders, libraries and researchers to talk about the often unglamorous but essential job of reviewing each other’s work.

Table of Contents

The 2026 theme was chosen by community vote – 2,115 votes in total, the highest participation in Peer Review Week’s history. “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed, and Quality” emerged as the winner, taking 40% of the vote. The result reflects a strain the whole system is experiencing: submissions are rising faster than the pool of willing, qualified reviewers, while authors and funders expect faster decisions than ever. While editors are being asked to hold the line on rigour with the same volunteer hours they always had – or less.

So, to celebrate the essential work that reviewers do, highlight some of the strains the current system is under, and show how we at Pensoft are trying to support our reviewers, we wanted to spotlight our editors-in-chief, the people who see the submission pipeline every single day, by asking them what “capacity” really means to them, and what would need to change for peer review to become more sustainable.

Capacity starts with people

Person working on a laptop
Person working on a laptop. Credit to poungsaed_eco via Envato.

We asked our editors how they would describe “peer review capacity“. Almost every answer was rooted in the same place: people, and whether enough of them are still willing to do the work.

Mark Hauber, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Individual-based Ecology, points to:

It’s about people – their willingness to give the best scientific thought to review and evaluate a fellow scientist’s work.

Tammy Robinson, Editor-in-Chief of NeoBiota, described the day-to-day challenge of finding those people:

NeoBiota editors try to avoid repeatedly asking the same people to review, but it’s very difficult to get people to accept a review invitation these days.

While for Florian Leese, Editor-in-Chief of Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, the strain of growing submissions without letting quality or turnaround times slip is a daily balancing act he’s refreshingly candid about:

Submissions in MBMG are growing faster than the time I and our editors can give them – and I think it’s worth saying that openly.

Open Laptop Displaying a Blue Network of Data
Open Laptop Displaying a Blue Network of Data. Credit to GoldenDayz via Envato.

This is precisely the problem Pensoft set out to address earlier this year, when ARPHA – our end-to-end publishing platform – integrated with Prophy, an AI-driven reviewer-discovery tool that matches manuscripts to qualified researchers from a database of millions. Across more than 90 ARPHA-powered journals, editorial teams can now reach well beyond the small circle of familiar names, surfacing reviewers by expertise and research focus rather than by who comes to mind first – directly widening the pool editors like Robinson are struggling to tap.

Freeing up expertise for what matters most

Pensoft designed the ARPHA Publishing Platform to carry every manuscript through review, editing, publication, dissemination and archiving within a single collaborative environment – precisely so that the whole publishing process is made straightforward. 

ARPHA homepage
ARPHA homepage

As Leese reflects:

The workflow side is not the problem; ARPHA handles editor assignment, plagiarism checks and the mechanics of the process efficiently, and the Pensoft team is quick to spot where things are piling up and need fixes.

Where he sees the next opportunity is in the technical, time-consuming checks that sit just beneath editorial judgment: 

What no workflow tool currently helps with is the part that actually defines quality in our field: are the sequence data and metadata deposited and usable, are the bioinformatic steps reproducible, do the results actually support the conclusions? Those checks take time that has to be carved out of an already full working day, for editors as much as for reviewers.

As numbers rise, the honest answer is that editors will need support – trained data auditors, or validated AI-based tools from the publisher that pre-screen the technical parts – or the model of the volunteer editor/reviewer will not scale. We are not there yet, but we are at the point where that has to be said.

Prof. Benjamin Burkhard, Editor-in-Chief of One Ecosystem adds:

I think that One Ecosystem and ARPHA are providing a very straight-forward authoring, editing and reviewing system. Everything happens directly in the same platform, so no additional documents have to be filled. I also appreciate that the reviewers can (optionally) reveal their identity, which adds a lot of transparency to the whole process and helps to avoid/reduce unconstructive comments.

Making reviewing sustainable

“Recognition” was the word the editors returned to most often when the conversation turned to sustainability, and this is an area in which Pensoft has been investing for a decade and continues to develop.

Person working on a computer
Person working on a computer. Credit to puhhha via Envato.

Since 2016, ARPHA has been integrated with Publons (now part of Web of Science’s Reviewer Recognition Service), so every review logged through the platform becomes part of a reviewer’s visible professional record rather than disappearing into an inbox.

Editors and reviewers across the Pensoft portfolio also receive discounts on article processing charges.

Hauber shared his vision for sustainability in five years:

A broad reviewer base, with folks at all stages of their academic and industry careers, still willing to review and evaluate peer-workers’ studies.

Robinson sees growth coming from investing in the next generation:

Training courses for early career researchers so that they are upskilled and can be drawn in as skilled reviewers. This will be good for them and the system.

Burkhard notes:

I think the community needs to be strengthen and encouraged to do reviews. If each publishing author would review as many articles as they are submitting, the problem of reviewer fatigue would be solved rather easily. Otherwise we need to think about rewarding system for reviewers, perhaps even offering a small financial incentive.

Leese proposes fewer publications and a bit more visibility for reviewers’ input: 

Stop rewarding the number of papers. My proposal: publish less, and treat reviewing as an obligation to the community that scales with your own output. Review roughly twice as many papers as you publish, and make that visible as a metric. ‘Are you paying back?’ should be a question that counts in evaluations.

He also laid out what he sees as the two changes that would help most, and what’s at stake if the field doesn’t act on them:

Two things would help in parallel. First, better recognition or (even monetary) rewards for reviewers, as long as it does not end up inflating article processing charges. Second, and specifically for a data-heavy field like in our journal: the publishing field should take the necessary but tedious checks – data and metadata availability, code, reproducibility – away from reviewers and automate them, so that human expertise is spent where it is really needed: study design, context, whether the data support the claims, and whether something essential is missing that only an expert would notice. Classical peer review is at a turning point. It can be reformed, and I think it should be; the alternative is that it slowly gets replaced by AI-generated reviews that may often not do the job as we had hoped for.

Building toward that future

Past or future sign.
Past or future sign. Credit to fotodestock via Envato.

Having been around for 34 years, Pensoft treats Peer Review Week as more than a thank-you. Rather, it reflects a continued effort to build a publishing environment that makes reviewing sustainable, from AI-assisted reviewer matching to permanent recognition to the tools that take tedious checks off editors’ plates.

The record turnout in this year’s theme vote shows the community itself has named capacity as the defining challenge of this moment. As we look at insights from editors like Mark Hauber, Tammy Robinson, Florian Leese and Benjamin Burkhard, the message is clear: the field can only be sustainable if reviewing is treated as seriously as publishing.

Pensoft awarded the FAO AGRIS Seal of Recognition for 2027

The seal recognises institutions that consistently share open-access agricultural research with the global community.

Pensoft has been awarded the Seal of Recognition for the FAO AGRIS Active Data Provider of the Year for 2027. The seal is granted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations through its AGRIS initiative, and it recognises institutions that consistently share open-access agricultural research with the global community.

Notably, Pensoft joined the FAO AGRIS network back in 2024, and the organisation has renewed our seal every year since, a recognition we’re proud to have kept.

What has changed is the scale of our contribution. In 2024, Pensoft’s records on AGRIS numbered just under 15,000. Today, that figure has doubled to nearly 30,000, drawn from all 51 of our journals that fall within the scope of FAO AGRIS. The subjects covered are wide-ranging, spanning taxonomy, biodiversity, conservation and biogeography – these are all areas that feed directly into sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.

Through AGRIS, this research travels well beyond our own journals to researchers, policymakers and practitioners worldwide, adding to the shared pool of open knowledge that supports global food security and environmental sustainability. We’re glad to keep contributing to that effort, and look forward to continuing our work with FAO AGRIS in the years to come.

About FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all, ensuring that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 194 members, 193 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

About Pensoft

Founded in 1992 “by scientists, for scientists,” Pensoft is an academic open-access publishing company well known worldwide for its cutting-edge publishing tools, workflows and methods for text and data publishing of journals, books and conference materials. In 2010, Pensoft became the first scientific publisher to introduce semantic enrichments in scholarly publications. Through its Research and Technical Development department, the company is involved in a range of research and technology projects.

Two ARPHA-Powered Journals Receive Their First Scopus CiteScores

Caucasiana and Contributions to Entomology, two ARPHA-powered journals, received their first Scopus CiteScores

Two ARPHA-powered have each received their first ever Scopus CiteScore, a milestone that reflects not only their growing scholarly impact, but also the role that robust, modern publishing infrastructure can play in helping journals gain visibility and recognition in the global academic community. 

The Scopus CiteScore, traditionally announced in June, reflects citation rates over the past four full calendar years; the 2025 score draws on data from 2022 to 2025. Scopus also maintains the CiteScoreTracker, offering a monthly update incorporating citation data from the ongoing year.

Caucasiana

Homepage of the Caucasiana journal

Caucasiana has received an inaugural Scopus CiteScore of 1.7, marking a welcome milestone for this recently established journal.

Launched in 2022 through a collaboration between Ilia State University (Georgia) and Pensoft Publishers, Caucasiana is an international peer-reviewed, open-access, and free-of-charge online journal covering all research branches related to biodiversity in the Caucasus region and adjacent areas. The journal was established to widen and enhance biodiversity research and publishing in this poorly studied but richly biodiverse hotspot.

From its inception, the journal was built on the ARPHA Platform, giving it immediate access to a streamlined editorial workflow, wide indexation, and the infrastructure needed to grow its academic presence rapidly. 

Reflecting on the milestone, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Dr. Levan Mumladze shares: 

This is a remarkable achievement, and I was genuinely surprised that we managed to accomplish it in such a short time. Receiving our first Scopus metric has certainly boosted my motivation and confidence as Editor-in-Chief. This kind of recognition affirms that what we are doing is being done right – and that is a powerful motivator to press forward with even greater energy. I am confident that the progress we have made will translate into even stronger results.

Contributions to Entomology

Homepage of Contributions to Entomology journal

Contributions to Entomology has received its first Scopus CiteScore of 1.1, ranking in Q2 for History and Philosophy of Science, placing it in the upper 60th percentile for that category.

With roots going back to 1951, when it was founded as Beiträge zur Entomologie by the Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Contributions to Entomology has a long and distinguished history in entomological publishing. 

A peer-reviewed, open access journal of Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and an official publication of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für allgemeine und angewandte Entomologie (DGaaE), the journal has over the years published around 1,850 articles by 950 authors across six languages, covering insect systematics, taxonomy, phylogeny, zoogeography, faunistics, ecology, applied entomology, and the history of entomology. 

Publishing on ARPHA has brought this wealth of entomological knowledge into a modern, fully integrated publishing environment, maximising its discoverability and reach across more than 40 indexing services. 

Powered by ARPHA

Both journals are published on the ARPHA Platform, Pensoft’s self-developed end-to-end publishing solution that streamlines the entire editorial workflow –  from manuscript submission and peer review through to editing, publication, and archiving – ultimately making research easy for both people and machines to access, cite, and reuse.

ARPHA’s publishing services also include human-provided support and integrations with third-party providers, designed to maximise the reach and usability of scholarly knowledge. Both journals are archived in CLOCKSS, Zenodo, Portico, and Zendy, and indexed in more than 40 services, including Scopus, CrossRef, DOAJ, and ResearchGate.

The latest Scopus CiteScore and CiteScoreTracker are automatically displayed on each journal’s homepage and in its newsletter.

Pensoft Welcomes Endocrinologia Journal to its Open-Access Journal Portfolio

The peer-reviewed, open-access Endocrinologia Journal, published by the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology is moving to ARPHA, the publishing platform developed by Pensoft.

Launched by the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology back in 1996, the open-access, peer-reviewed Endocrinologia Journal is now moving to the publishing platform ARPHA, developed by the scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft.

Focusing on research in basic and clinical endocrinology and metabolic disorders, the journal publishes review articles in Bulgarian, alongside original papers and case reports available in both English and Bulgarian. The paper issues of the journal are published quarterly while the electronic online versions of the papers are published as soon as final approval is granted and formatting is completed. 

Due to the generous support of the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology, publication in the journal is free to all authors.

Homepage of the Endocrinologia Journal.
Homepage of the Endocrinologia Journal.

In addition to a refreshed, user-friendly design, the Pensoft-developed publishing platform ARPHA provides its signature fast-track, end-to-end publishing system to the benefit of its users: authors, reviewers and editors alike.

Each submitted manuscript is carried through the review, editing, publication, dissemination and archiving stages without leaving ARPHA’s collaboration-focused online environment. The articles are available in PDF and machine-readable XML formats, so that they are easy to discover, access, cite and reuse. Endocrinologia Journal is indexed in Scopus, CrossRef, EMBASE, and the Bulgarian Citation Index, and archived through CLOCKSS and Zenodo.

Endocrinologia Journal
Endocrinologia Journal

The introduction of an online platform for submitting manuscripts will contribute to improved management of the publishing activities of the journal Endocrinology and will help the journal, as the official publication of the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology, meet current standards for full integration into international scientific databases,

commented Prof. Maria Orbetzova, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief.

Endocrinologia Journal brings a rich legacy of peer-reviewed endocrinology research to our portfolio, and we are excited to support its next chapter. Through ARPHA, we hope to give the journal’s authors, reviewers and editors the tools they need to publish faster, reach further, and make a greater impact,

added Prof. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft and ARPHA.

About the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology:

Founded in 1958, the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology (BSE) is a professional medical organization dedicated to advancing endocrinology in Bulgaria. Its core mission encompasses the continuous education of endocrinologists, trainees, GPs, and other specialists, alongside the development of national screening programmes for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia, and the establishment of Bulgarian clinical guidelines on diabetes management. The BSE supports both healthcare professionals, through Schools of Endocrinology and specialist symposia, and patients, via public education courses and media outreach. It hosts annual scientific congresses and publishes the peer-reviewed journal Endocrinologia.

About ARPHA:

ARPHA is a full-featured, end-to-end publishing platform for journals, books, conference materials and preprints. ARPHA offers flexible operating and business models, and a wide-range of automated and human-provided services. The ARPHA team places a special focus on its scholarly communication solutions designed to leverage the visibility and outreach of academic output, while promoting inclusivity and engagement.

About Pensoft Publishers:

Founded in 1992 “by scientists, for scientists”, the academic open-access publishing company is well known worldwide for its novel cutting-edge publishing tools, workflows and methods for text and data publishing of journals, books and conference materials. Back in 2010, Pensoft became the first scientific publisher to introduce semantic enrichments in scholarly publications. Through its Research and Technical Development department, the company is involved in various research and technology projects.

Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (AEM): A New Chapter for Modelling Science Publishing

Pensoft’s Agricultural & Environmental Modelling journal broadens its scope and strengthens its Open Science commitment across agri-food & environmental research.

Today marks the official relaunch of the Food and Ecological Systems Modelling Journal (FESMJ) under a new name – Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (AEM), an open-access journal dedicated to advancing the science and practice of computational and mathematical modelling across agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and environmental sciences.

The first editorial published under the AEM name sets out the journal’s expanded vision, its new article types, and its call to the modelling community.

What Has Changed and What Has Not

AEM retains the founding mission of its predecessors: to make ‘modelling research objects citable, discoverable, and reusable’ and transparent. The journal’s commitment to open access, rigorous peer review, and the recognition of modelling as a first-class scientific endeavour remains unchanged. Publication in AEM remains entirely free for all authors.

What has changed is the scope and structure. The journal’s disciplinary scope now spans the full breadth of modelling in the agricultural and environmental sciences, including management systems, production dynamics, agroecological modelling, as well as food safety, production, quality and supply-chain control, biotechnological research, socio-ecological systems, resource management and more.

Publishing the Full Modelling Lifecycle

A defining feature of AEM is its structured range of article types, designed to give formal, peer-reviewed recognition to each group of authors at every stage of a model’s development.

A complex model is not born in a single paper: it emerges through cycles of formal specification, software implementation, calibration, testing, and application, often carried out by different teams across different project phases. Each of those steps represents genuine scientific work; each deserves recognition.

reads the editorial

Among the most distinctive publication types is the Formal Model, which offers a citable recognition for foundational mathematical and conceptual design. Alongside the more standard article types, such as Review Article; Research Article; and Short Communication, AEM also welcomes contributions framed as Model Testing and Calibration; Model Implementation and Documentation; Software Description; and Data Paper. For each article, the journal’s team has provided an article template to assist authors.

Commitment to Open Science and Reproducibility

AEM is built around the FAIR principles – Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability – these are applied to data, code, and models as peer-reviewed outputs. As such, the journal mandates that all underlying data and source code are made openly available; while machine-learning methods must follow the DOME-ML reproducibility guidelines.

Published on Pensoft’s ARPHA Platform, the journal establishes transparency standards and requires author declarations for LLM use. AEM is archived in CLOCKSS, Zenodo, Portico, and Zendy, and indexed in more than 40 services, including AGRICOLA, Cabells, CABI, FAO AGRIS, and ResearchGate.

Recent research

Overview diagram of the conceptual population model for APODEMUS. The model simulates the wood mouse life cycle, growth and reproduction. Landscape composition is captured by habitat types (numbers) and influences the space use of the simulated wood mice. Exposures can be linked to the use of defined habitat patches and types. Credit to Singer et al., 2026

The most recent paper demonstrates how the Formal Model article type has been utilised to describe APODEMUS, a spatially-explicit simulation model designed to improve pesticide risk assessments for the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in European agricultural landscapes. The model provides regulators with a rigorous, transparent blueprint for evaluating how agricultural pesticides affect wild animal populations at the landscape scale.

An Invitation: Submissions and Editorial Board Applications

AEM welcomes submissions from researchers across all disciplines within its scope – whether describing a formal mathematical framework, documenting the calibration of a long-standing model, sharing data, or presenting a new computational workflow. Authors are encouraged to contact the editors directly to discuss specific publication needs.

The journal also welcomes applications from editors worldwide who share AEM’s vision. Experts willing to actively contribute to this unique journal and its community are invited to get in touch via the journal website.

Agricultural and Environmental Modelling is the first journal designed around the full lifecycle of modelling research, from formal specification to calibration, implementation, and application. Every contribution is important; every contribution is citable; credit where credit is due.

commented the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Christopher Topping

The renaming reflects a natural evolution of the journal’s mission. Agricultural and Environmental Modelling better represents the breadth of work it publishes – spanning the full spectrum of modelling across agricultural, food, and environmental sciences – and reaffirms the journal’s founding commitment to Open Science and to recognising every stage of model development as rigorous scientific work in its own right.

added Pensoft’s founder and CEO, Prof. Lyubomir Penev

You can follow the journal on social media – Bluesky, Facebook and LinkedIn, and sign up for the journal’s email newsletter through the journal’s homepage.

Original sources:

Topping CJ, Nogoy N, Boyadzhieva I, Stoev P, Penev L (2026) A journal by modellers, for modellers: Introducing Agricultural and Environmental Modelling. Agricultural and Environmental Modelling 8: e194160. https://doi.org/10.3897/aem.8.194160

Singer A, Schmolke A, Becher MA, von Blanckenhagen F, van den Brink N, Grimm T, Ibrahim L, Imholt C, Jacob J, Jakoby O, Laucht S, Løvik AN, Martin T, Muñoz CC, Preuss TG, Galic N (2026) Concept for APODEMUS – a wood mouse population model for pesticide risk assessment. Food and Ecological Systems Modelling Journal 7: e175714. https://doi.org/10.3897/fmj.7.175714 

A New Chapter for Swiss Geosciences and Palaeontology: Pensoft Welcomes Two New Journals to its Portfolio

Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft welcomes the two latest additions to its diverse portfolio of scholarly outlets: the open-access, peer-reviewed journals Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (SJP) and Swiss Journal of Geosciences (SJG). Both journals are affiliated with the Swiss Geological Society and the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT).

With deep historical roots and a commitment to high-quality peer-reviewed research, the two journals have officially transitioned to Pensoft’s advanced publishing platform, ARPHA, marking a new chapter in their Open Access journey.

Dr. Daniel Marty, associate lecturer at the University of Basel, will continue to lead both SJP and SJG as the Chief Editor.

Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (SJP) 

Swiss journal of Palaeontology mockup

The Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (SJP), published on behalf of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), dates back to 1874. The journal launched under the name “Schweizerische Paläontologische Abhandlungen (Mémoires Suisses de Paléontologie)”, focusing primarily on the publication of palaeontological monographs.

Subsequently, the journal’s stewardship transitioned formally to the SCNAT in 1940, leading to the establishment of the Kommission für die Schweizerischen Paläontologischen Abhandlungen (KSPA), which has since managed the journal’s dedicated funds. After decades of irregular publication with “Birkhäuser” (obtained by Springer in 1985), the journal was rebranded to its current name in 2011 and established as a scientific peer-reviewed journal.

More recently, in response to a 2020 decision, made by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to cease supporting traditional ‘subscription model’ journals, the SJP transitioned to a fully Open Access model. In 2025, the SJP became officially affiliated with the Swiss Geological Society (SGS). With the previous publishing contract concluding in late 2025, KSPA and SGS have partnered with Pensoft Publishers “where processes are more streamlined to the needs of the SJP.”

The SJP continues to be a vital home for research spanning alpha taxonomy, systematics, palaeobiology, biostratigraphy, and conservation palaeontology, among many other specialized fields.

The first three publications from SJP are now available on the journal’s new website along with an editorial by the Editor-in-Chief. Additionally, you can use the email alert button on the homepage of SJP to subscribe for the journal newsletter.

Swiss Journal of Geosciences (SJG)

Swiss journal of Geosciences mockup

The Swiss Journal of Geosciences (SJG) is the other journal with a rich history, published on behalf of the Swiss Geological Society and is a member of the Swiss Academy of Sciences. It was first published in 1888 as “Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae”. From the 1920s until 2006, it was published in collaboration with Birkhäuser, eventually merging in 2006 with the Schweizerische Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen (SMPM, first published in 1921) and was then renamed to Swiss Journal of Geosciences. After the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) decided to stop supporting traditional ‘subscription model’ journals, SJG transitioned to a fully Open Access format in 2020.

As of the beginning of 2026, the journal will be published by Pensoft “where processes are more streamlined to the needs of the SJG”. The journal continues to focus on original research of international interest regarding the evolution of the Tethys realm and the Alpine/Himalayan orogen, covering disciplines such as Tectonics, Geochemistry, and Orogenesis and many more.

The first three publications of SJG under this new partnership, along with an editorial by the Editor-in-Chief, are now available on the journal’s new website.

Use the email notification button on the home page to subscribe to the journal’s newsletter.

Now powered by Pensoft’s open-access scholarly publishing platform

In joining Pensoft, both SJP and SJG will get access to improved publishing infrastructure and benefit from increased visibility and discoverability for their published research. The journal will use Pensoft’s self-developed platform, ARPHA – an end-to-end publishing solution that makes it easy for both people and machines to access, cite, and reuse research. With its design, ARPHA streamlines publishing workflows, providing a single online ecosystem for the entire editorial process, from manuscript submission to peer review, editing, publication, and archiving.

“The migration of SJG and SJP to Pensoft Publishers will permit both journals to grow in a sustainable way and that it will considerably increase their visibility and quality as they will benefit from streamlined and professional processes and services offered by Pensoft. This will be a big advantage for our authors.”

Said the Swiss Geological Society and Dr. Daniel Marty, Editor-in-Chief of both Swiss journals

“We are thrilled to welcome both the Swiss Journal of Palaeontology and Swiss Journal of Geosciences to the Pensoft family of next-generation scientific journals. We appreciate this new partnership and look forward to seeing the journal thrive using our advanced publishing services.”

Prof Lyubomir Penev, CEO and Founder of Pensoft commented

Estuarine Management and Technologies now accepted in the Directory of Open Access Journals

Following rigourous assessment, the journal has successfully demonstra compliance with global standards of ethics, transparency and quality.

Estuarine Management and Technologies now accepted in the Directory of Open Access Journals: a key scientific index, internationally renowned as a trusted quality filter for open-access journals.

Having EMT accepted by DOAJ means that the journal has successfully passed a thorough assessment concerning its compliance with global standards of ethics, transparency and quality. The evaluation conducted by DOAJ includes an examination of the journal’s peer-review processes, editorial governance, transparency (e.g. publication fees, funding) and ethical policies (e.g. plagiarism, conflicts of interest). For many institutions, funders and libraries, DOAJ is seen as a credibility signal that distinguishes legitimate journals from predatory and/or low-quality ones.

The journal’s recognition comes only two years after the journal was launched as part of a promising joint initiative between a team of scientists headed by Dr. Soufiane Haddout (Ibn Tofail University, Morocco) and the open-access scientific publisher and technology provider Pensoft.

All articles published in the journal are already indexed and browsable on DOAJ. Future papers will be fetched by the platform right after they are published in EMT due to the automated data export workflows powered by Pensoft’s in-house ARPHA Publishing Platform.

Since early 2024, the journal has been seeking to support the exchange of research findings and ideas related to the conservation and sustainable management of estuarine ecosystems by utilising new technology and novel approaches. To further support scientists from around the globe, the journal operates under a Diamond Open Access model, meaning that neither publishing, nor reading incurs charges for authors or readers, respectively.

Today, EMT welcomes studies from a wide spectrum of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and hydrology, with a focus on interdisciplinary, multifaceted approaches and holistic perspectives. A unique feature of the journal is its diverse range of publication types, such as Education & Communication, Estuarine scientists and Video paper in 180s.

“We are proud to announce that Estuarine Management and Technologies has achieved indexing in the Directory of Open Access Journals: our first significant milestone on the path to greater visibility and impact in the global scholarly community,”

said Dr. Soufiane Haddout, on behalf of the journal’s Editorial Board.

“This crucial first step in our indexing journey validates EMT’s commitment to rigorous, transparent, and immediately accessible research on technological innovations for estuarine research, management, and conservation. DOAJ inclusion enhances discoverability for our authors’ work and strengthens our role in advancing interdisciplinary solutions for these vital ecosystems. We are grateful to our authors, reviewers, and the Pensoft team,”

he added.

Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna begins publishing with Pensoft

The Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna (ANHMW) has launched its first issue since transitioning to the ARPHA scholarly publishing platform and entering a co-publishing partnership with Pensoft. 

The open-access, peer-reviewed journal publishes original research relating to the museum’s scientific collections and ongoing projects, covering anthropology, biosciences, earth sciences, genetics, prehistory, and the museum’s history.

journal mockup.

Established in 1836 as the Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte, the journal is one of Europe’s oldest periodicals, maintaining a longstanding tradition of scientific publishing. Over the years, the journal experienced various iterations and name changes and, in 1980, it was divided into three series. Now, following the transition to Pensoft, these series have been reunited under one title.

ANHMW operates as a diamond open-access journal, allowing authors to publish freely thanks to the generous support of the Natural History Museum Vienna. Co-published by Pensoft and the museum, all articles are available in multiple formats including HTML, JATS XML, and high-resolution full-colour PDF. 

journal mockup.

Content is enhanced semantically and converted into Linked Open Data and OpenBiodiv Biodiversity knowledge graphs. To meet nomenclatural standards for electronic publication, all articles will be indexed and archived in repositories such as Zenodo, CLOCKSS, Portico, and more, with nomenclatural acts registered in ZooBank.

The joint Editors-in-Chief, Dr Anna Weinmann, Mag Andrea Krapf, and Dr Nesrine Akkari, expressed enthusiasm for the journal’s digital transformation. Andrea Krapf commented, “I am very proud to accompany such a venerable and traditional journal as the Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien on its journey into the digital future under its new English title, Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna. In Pensoft, we have found a reliable partner to publish the journal under a modern diamond open access model, making it thus more attractive to the scientific community and the general public.”

Dr Nesrine Akkari said, “Since joining the editorial team of the Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien as the editor-in-chief of Serie B in 2018, I have witnessed continuous attempts to modernise the journal’s editorial workflow and publications. The idea of moving to Pensoft as a co-publisher was discussed and I am delighted that our managers support it.

“As both a scientist and an editor, I recognise the importance of the Annals as part of the museum’s legacy, while I also recognize the many advantages of the collaboration with Pensoft. I believe that this change marks a new era for the Annals and that, by combining modernity and tradition, our journal will continue to thrive.”

Prof Lyubomir Penev, CEO and Founder of Pensoft, welcomed the partnership: “We are thrilled to welcome the Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna into the Pensoft family of next-generation scientific journals. ARPHA’s publishing solutions will allow the journal to modernise and find new audiences.”

The first issue is now available on the ANHMW’s new website, including an editorial by the Editors-in-Chief reflecting on the past and future of this historic journal.