Calls for Papers
Open special issues,
guest-edited
Two special issues currently accepting submissions, both in MDPI journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Contributions are welcome from researchers at any career stage. Each call links through to the publisher’s official page, where the authoritative scope, deadlines, and submission terms are maintained.
Now Accepting
Current calls
Listed by deadline, soonest first. Article processing charges, peer-review terms, and any updates to the closing date are set by the publisher — always check the official page before preparing a submission.
31 January 2027
Artificial Intelligence in Socio-Technical Systems
Systems (MDPI) · ISSN 2079-8954 · Section: Artificial Intelligence and Digital Systems Engineering
Artificial intelligence and data science are increasingly embedded in systems where social structures and technical infrastructure evolve together — healthcare, agriculture, education, energy distribution, governance, and smart cities. This issue asks what actually happens when they meet: how machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision interact with organisational policy, human behaviour, ethical frameworks, and regulation once deployed in the field.
Both empirical and theoretical contributions are welcome, provided they take a holistic, systems-thinking view rather than treating the algorithm in isolation. Case studies from underrepresented regions and open-source implementations are particularly encouraged.
- Dr. Mathias Fonkam — College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, USA
- Dr. Narasimha Rao Vajjhala — Department of Computer Science, American University in Bulgaria
- AI-driven decision support in public services
- Explainable and fair AI for social good
- AI in cybersecurity and identity management
- Systems-dynamics modelling of AI and data-science engagements
- Human–AI collaboration in software development
- The effect of large language models on learning and critical thinking
17 April 2027
Digital Supply Chains Management and Sustainability
Sustainability (MDPI) · ISSN 2071-1050
Artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, big-data analytics, cloud computing, and digital twins have changed what is visible and controllable across a global supply network. At the same time, regulation, stakeholder expectation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are pushing organisations to build Environmental, Social, and Governance principles into every part of supply chain operations. This issue sits at that intersection.
Substantial gaps remain in how digital capability is actually converted into measurable sustainability outcomes — data interoperability, cyber risk, the digital divide between supply chain partners, the ethics of algorithmic decision-making, and the measurement of sustainability performance once a chain has been digitalised. Recent pandemic and geopolitical disruption has made the case for resilient, digitally enabled, sustainable architectures more urgent. Original research, systematic reviews, and case studies are all welcome.
- Dr. Narasimha Rao Vajjhala — Department of Computer Science, American University in Bulgaria
- Prof. Dr. Kenneth David Strang — Department of Business, University of the Cumberlands, USA; W3-Research
- Machine learning for supply-chain optimisation and demand forecasting
- Blockchain-enabled traceability, transparency, and ESG compliance
- IoT and sensor technologies for real-time monitoring and impact reduction
- Big-data analytics in sustainable procurement, logistics, and distribution
- Digital twins and simulation for resilient, sustainable chain design
- Cyber risk and security governance in digitalised supply ecosystems
- ESG measurement frameworks and digital reporting tools
- Industry 4.0 and 5.0 in sustainable manufacturing
- Digital transformation for SME supply chains in developing economies
- Circular economy and reverse logistics on digital platforms
Indexing & Ranking
Where these journals sit
Quartiles are often quoted without saying which system produced them. The three in common use disagree, because they rank different journal populations against different metrics. The figures below name their source.
Sustainability
- Scopus: indexed since 2009; CiteScore 8.9. Q1 on CiteScore in most of its subject categories.
- SJR (Scimago, built on Scopus): 0.750 for 2025 — Q1, its best quartile, in Geography, Planning and Development, held since 2020; Q2 in its six other categories.
- Web of Science: SCIE and SSCI. Journal Impact Factor 4.1.
- h-index 242 · open access · semimonthly.
Systems
- Scopus: indexed since 2013; CiteScore 5.4 — Q1 in Modeling and Simulation.
- SJR (Scimago, built on Scopus): Q2 across its categories — a stricter read than CiteScore gives.
- Web of Science: SSCI. Journal Impact Factor 3.8 (2025), five-year 3.4; JCR Q1 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary.
- Also in Ei Compendex and dblp · open access · monthly.
In short: both are Q1 journals on Scopus’s own CiteScore metric, and both are Q1 somewhere in the Web of Science JCR — but the stricter SJR quartile puts Sustainability at Q1 in one category and Q2 in the rest, and Systems at Q2. Quartile always depends on the metric and the subject category, so it is worth quoting both together. Figures are as published by the sources in mid-2026 and are revised annually.