Meet the Blog Team – Update 2024
2023 brought a lot of changes for the Blog team. We welcomed a lot of new talent on the Blog as well as fresh ideas and campaigns.
Our Goals
Even though we’ve had some big changes on the Blog recently, our goals are still the same.
This includes providing an accessible platform to showcase the insightful research being published in MDPI journals.
Promoting Open Access and bringing new readers or authors to MDPI is always our main goal. However, it’s also important for us to share tips and information regarding our submission process for authors and academics.
Our Team
At MDPI our mission is to foster open science and scientific exchange. We try to incorporate this into everything we do, including inspiring content on the blog.
Our team is incredibly collaborative and because of this, all members have a chance to contribute their ideas on how to support this mission.
Last year, the Blog team welcomed Jack and Suhaylah! They joined our content creator team along with Nat, Danni and Shaheena.
Derek (not pictured) is our content strategist and handles SEO and contributes content to the Blog.
In addition, the Blog leaders, Stefan and Facundo oversee the process.
Blog Team Update: Highlights
Top Content
There have been so many interesting articles already in January and many throughout the Blog. Here, we take a look at some of the top-performing content.
How to Use Respectively by Derek McPhee
The Blog is a useful reference for academics and early career researchers for advice and tips on all subjects. This article provides advice on how to correctly use Respectively, i.e., and e.g. These words are commonly misused, and this article gives clear guidance and examples to follow.
Walnuts Found to Improve Brain Function in Academics by Katherine Bosworth
Walnuts have a history of doing well on the Blog. They have many interesting properties and promising health benefits. They’re packed full of vitamins and minerals, including Copper, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B9, Vitamin E, and Zinc. This post details a study that found that eating walnuts reduced stress in university students. The study identified that eating half a cup of walnuts reduced stress and depression, as well as reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry by Shaheena Patel
It’s important to celebrate big achievements and breakthroughs in human innovation. This article details the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The prize was awarded to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, K. Barry Sharpless, and Morten Meldal, joining a list of only 7 other women for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was awarded in the field of click chemistry, for advancements in “human and animal physiology in new ways”.
Personal Favourites
We take pride and enjoyment in our work. Here are some of the team’s personal favourites.
Shaheena Patel – The Benefits of Gardening
“It’s my favourite article because gardening gets us moving and thinking about growth. Being able to garden in urban spaces when you don’t have the privilege of a spacious garden or any garden for that matter—in communal settings or out of the window of your rented high-rise flat—is good for the mind and body. Researching the different ways hanging baskets can be used for example has helped me to feel more connected to nature.”
Jack McKenna – We Need Open Access to Tackle Climate Change in 2024
“One of my main focuses on the Blog is writing about Open Access. It’s a topic I’ve become really interested in exploring and promoting, primarily because of its potential to help reduce inequalities in the academic community and to bring it together in tackling global issues. Climate change is the defining problem of the century, and I enjoyed writing the piece because it provides a hopeful outlook on the issue by reflecting on the amazing work the scientific community did in response to the pandemic.”
Derek McPhee- How to Use Italics
“It was a well received article about a topic that lots of people have questions about. Helping people is one of the reasons I write content.”
Suhaylah Ingar – Understanding Psychosomatic Disorders
“I’m quite interested in the connection between our mental and physical health so it was interesting to write about this and to read about the research being done specifically on how things like stress and trauma can affect our physical health. Although it’s a niche topic, I think it’s quite an important topic which many people don’t really think much about”
Daniella Maritan-Thomson – The Rise of Fungi: The Last of Us
“I personally really enjoyed writing this article as I find fungi very interesting! It was also great to be able to write about a subject that started my love for science. In addition, I watched the television series -The Last of Us, the article is based on consistently and really enjoyed it!”
Nat Kelly – The Surprising Intelligence of Whales
“I love reading about consciousness and the brain, as well as how our evolutionary path differs from other creatures. I found it really interesting to look at our similarities in terms of social behaviour and intelligence and discover they are very much like us.”
MDPI Blog Team Update: Campaigns
Campaigns are important to us here on the Blog. They bring awareness to important topics promoting further conversation and discussions. In the previous year, we launched a range of powerful campaigns and have more scheduled for 2024.
Peer Review Week
Peer Review Week, celebrated around the world in academic circles, takes place annually in September. At MDPI, we know that peer review is key to the publication process and maintaining the quality of research. To this end, we put together a series of articles to explain how peer review works and what its benefits are. In 2023, the subject of peer review week was Peer Review and the Future of Publishing”. This was addressed in various articles including, 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Reviewer and Ideas for the Future of Peer Review.
Open Access Week
International Open Access Week is a week-long event with a different theme each year. This year, the theme was Community over Commercialisation. In 2023, we altered the format of our Open Access Week campaign by releasing new content every month on the state of Open Access in different parts of the world. Because of this, we were able to give the subject the depth it deserves and explore different aspects of Open Access.
Integrating Open Access around the world is a very important movement. It aims to make scientific data and research accessible to everyone, facilitating scientific collaboration and further research.
So far the series has covered Open Access in several countries including:
Campaigns to Look Forward to in 2024
We have a lot of thought-provoking campaigns to look forward to in 2024. One example of this is the upcoming campaign on women’s health at the end of the month.
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