Editorial

In a wide range of mathematical problems the existence of a solution is equivalent to the existence of a fixed point for a suitable map. The existence of a fixed point is therefore of paramount importance in several areas of mathematics and other sciences. Fixed point results provide conditions under which maps have solutions. The theory itself is a beautiful mixture of analysis (pure and applied), topology, and geometry. Over the last 50 years or so the theory of fixed points has emerged as a very powerful and important tool in the study of nonlinear phenomena. In particular, fixed point techniques have been applied in such diverse fields as biology, chemistry, economics, engineering, game theory, and physics.

The journal Fixed Point Theory and Applications has a long history. It was founded by Professor Ravi Agarwal in 2004 including a highly reputed and international Editorial Board. From 2012 it moved to SpringerOpen, where the contents of the journal are available online to any mathematician, researcher or just interested reader without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.

Fixed Point Theory and Applications has an established reputation for publishing high-quality papers in the field. Its current focus is on new topics and directions, methods and techniques and their applications. The dissemination, relevance and impact of the journal was high and it was included in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from 2007 to 2014 and many other databases such as Scopus and Web of Knowledge, and, of course, Mathematical Reviews or Zentralblatt MATH, among others. It had, and has, some relevant positions in different rankings.

In 2016, the journal was deselected to appear in the JCR. According to the Thompson Reuters Journal Selection Process (http://wokinfo.com/essays/journal-selection-process/)

Among all journals listed in the 2014 JCR Science Edition, for example, 85% have self-citation rates of 15% or less. This shows that self-citation is quite normal for most journals. Significant deviation from this normal rate, however, prompts an examination by Editorial Development to determine if excessive self-citations result in an artificial inflation of the impact factor. If we determine that self-citations are causing this effect, the journal’s impact factor will be suppressed for at least one year and the journal may be considered for deselection from the Web of Science Core Collection.

This is an unpleasant fact for any journal since in many countries the impact factor is a crucial element to evaluate the researchers. The reasons for such a deselection were not clear to us, but in any case we have to assume them to hold and the journal Fixed Point Theory and Applications may had some more self-citation than other journals in the same field, but it was not by any means artificial, but probably a consequence of some relevant and interesting published manuscripts and authors of high impact.

In any case, the journal is well known and has published several seminal papers in the area of Fixed Point Theory. It has at present a good CiteScore, according to Scopus, ranking in the top 10% of its category. We are doing our best for the journal to be included next year again in the JCR.

The aim of this journal was, is and will be to report new fixed point results and their applications in which the indispensability of the fixed point results is highlighted. Fixed Point Theory and Applications will accept high quality articles containing original research results and survey articles of exceptional merit. An article to be published in Fixed Point Theory and Applications must contain either some new applications to real world problems or reveal novel aspects of the theory applicable to new situations.

All submitted papers are peer-reviewed with high scientific standards. The journal will publish original research papers and research review papers of substance. Any manuscript will be judged only upon possible lasting value, which has been and, we do hope, will continue to be the strength of the journal FPTA.

We, the Editors-in-Chief and the renewed Editorial Board, are now to continue our task of managing a classical journal to discover new and timely topics, results and applications with new energy.

Special focus issues with a strong theoretical foundation and potential or real world applications in newly evolving topics are planned for the future.