In this edition of our Journal Spotlight, we will be exploring the impressive achievements and key milestones of Automation (ISSN 2673-4052).

Automation is an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal dedicated to the dissemination of both specialised and multi-disciplinary research related to automation, control, and allied topics.

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Dr. Eyad H. Abed

Current Impact Factor: 2.9

Current CiteScore: 4.5

Statistics as of October 2026.

An Automation MDPI timeline

• 2020 – Inaugural issue was released
• 2023 – Automation was indexed in Scopus (Elsevier)
• 2024 – Automation was indexed in ESCI (Web of Science) and received its first CiteScore of 2.9
• 2025 – Automation received its first Impact Factor of 2.0
• 2026 – Automation received its 2025 Impact Factor (2.9) and CiteScore (4.5)

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Dr. Eyad H. Abed has dedicated his career to the field of Electrical Engineering. With Electrical Engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley, Prof. Dr. Abed’s research interests include system and control theory, electric power system dynamics and control, systems engineering and much more.

He is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, USA, where he is affiliated with the Institute of Systems Research, having served as Director for the Institute from 2002 to 2008.

Amongst his many roles within the Electrical Engineering field, Prof. Dr. Abed was also on an intergovernmental appointment as a Program Director for the Energy, Power, Control and Networks (EPCN) Program within the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) of the U.S. National Science Foundation from 2014 to 2017.

He has also served as Dean of the College of Information Technology at the United Arab Emirates University from 2009 to 2012, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.

Prof. Dr. Abed’s research contributions include the development of the bifurcation control approach to control of nonlinear systems bordering on their stability limits, and the introduction of the guardian map approach to stability analysis of uncertain systems.

Aims & scope

In an editorial introducing the launch of the journal, Prof. Dr. Abed discussed the importance of harnessing the opportunities brought to society through advances in areas like computing, communications, energy systems and manufacturing.

The aim of the journal is to publish methods and technologies that are at the forefront of knowledge and can advance knowledge in fundamental ways.

“The launch of this journal is truly exciting. It brings much promise and much opportunity for making and disseminating contributions that advance automation and control, as well as their connections and interactions with many other areas.” – Prof. Dr. Abed

Automation publishes full research papers, communications, and review articles, on a broad range of topics, including:

• Control theory
• Optimised algorithms
• Motion and control sensing
• Aerospace control systems
• Manufacturing systems
• Robotics and applications
• Human-machine systems and interfaces

A full list of topics in the journal’s scope can be found here.

Journal metrics

Most cited and viewed

Automation’s most cited paper, as of October 2026, is entitled: “Intelligent Sensors for Real-Time Decision-Making”. The paper explores how integrating intelligent sensor data with business information can improve real-time decision making and task scheduling in industrial quality-control laboratories.

The journal’s most viewed paper is currently “Humanoid Robots like Tesla Optimus and the Future of Supply Chains: Enhancing Efficiency, Sustainability, and Workforce Dynamics”, which investigates the potential of humanoids to address critical supply chain challenges.

Impact Factor

Automation currently holds an Impact Factor of 2.9 and is positioned in Q2 for the “Automation and Control Systems” Journal Citation Report (JCR) category.

CiteScore

The journal’s CiteScore is currently 4.5.

Automation is positioned in Q2 for the following CiteScore categories:

• “Engineering (miscellaneous)”
• “Control and Systems Engineering”
• “Computer Science (miscellaneous)”

Indexing

Automation is indexed within a large range of databases and archives, including:

• BibCnrs
• CNKI
• CNPIEC
• Dimensions
• DOAJ
• ESCI (Web of Science)
• ProQuest
• Scopus (Elsevier)

Access the complete list of associated indexing services here.

The Automation community

Fostering meaningful connections with the academic community is a priority for Automation. The journal actively supports researchers through conference initiatives and awards designed to encourage collaboration and recognise excellence.

Conferences

Conferences present a valuable opportunity to connect with the wider academic community, and there are a range of MDPI conferences that Automation gets involved with.

Automation will be participating in MDPI’s Drones 2026: Mapping the Knowledge conference, which aims to bring together researchers, experts and industry professionals to share the latest advancements and ideas in drone technologies.

The event is being hosted in Barcelona, Spain, from 11 to 13 November 2026. Click here to read more about the upcoming conference.

The 2026 International Workshop on Advanced Remanufacturing (IWAR) is taking place from 14 to 16 October this year in The Hague and Delft, The Netherlands. The event is an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, engineers and industrial leaders to present their latest research in all areas of sustainable remanufacturing. Automation is proud to be sponsoring the Best Paper Award that will be presented at the workshop.

Automation is also proud to be involved in the 6^th International Conference on Robotics, Automation and Intelligent Control (ICRAIC) 2026. Taking place in Xi’an, China, from 27 to 29 November 2026, the conference will bring together experts from around the world to share the latest advancements in the field of robotics, automation and intelligent control.

See more information regarding upcoming events related to Automation .

Awards

Automation regularly offers various awards to researchers in the field. Currently, the journal is accepting applications for its Travel Award until 31 October 2026 to encourage junior scientists to present their research at relevant academic conferences – the winner will be announced 31 December 2026.

Click here to learn more about the journal’s awards.

Testimonials

“I recently published an article in an MDPI journal and was highly satisfied with the entire publishing experience. The editorial process was clear and efficient, with excellent communication at each stage. Peer review was both constructive and timely, contributing meaningfully to the final quality of the work. The production team handled formatting and publication with professionalism, and the article was published rapidly after acceptance. I particularly appreciated the visibility and accessibility offered through MDPI’s open-access model. Overall, MDPI provided a supportive and well-organized platform for disseminating our research, and I would gladly consider submitting future work to their journals.” – Antreas Kantaros, Author

“MDPI has excellent support during submission, evaluation and publication. A magazine with a lot of visibility and impact factor.” – Juan Moises, Author

Submitting a manuscript

Manuscripts for Automation should be submitted online at susy.mdpi.com.

Prior to submitting, we recommend that authors explore the useful resources on our instructions for authors webpage.

To submit your manuscript, register and login to the submission website. Once you have registered, click here to go to the submission form. The submitting author, who is generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer review process.

All co-authors can see the manuscript details in the submission system if they register and login using the e-mail address provided during manuscript submission.

If you’d like to find out more about Automation and its publication process, please visit the journal website.

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