Starting the 4th Volume of Advanced Sensor Research!

As we dive into Volume 4, we are thrilled to announce that Advanced Sensor Research will receive its first Impact Factor this year, a significant achievement. All articles have already been indexed in Web of Science, and we can see how well they have been cited and received.

To sum up, 2024 was another very successful year for Advanced Sensor Research. We are proud to have published 107 research articles, 46 reviews, and 3 perspectives in 12 issues, covering all facets of sensor research.

Similarly to last year, we would like to take this opportunity to discuss some of the many wonderful articles we have published. Given the significant impact and prominence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in contemporary scientific research, as also evidenced by the 2024 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, we want to highlight three relevant contributions published in Advanced Sensor Research. In their article entitled “Artificial Intelligence-Based Medical Sensors for Healthcare System,” Haick and Tang et al., have provided a brief overview on the development of AI-enabled medical sensors for off-body detection, near-body monitoring, disease prediction, and clinical decision support systems (adsr.202300009).

A study focusing on optimization of microneedle designs with the aim of minimizing pain by way of machine learning, finite element analysis, and optimization tools was published by A. C. Abdullah and S. Tasoglu (adsr.202300181). Lastly, Zhang et al., have shown us how surface electromyogram signals from the wrist and forearm were collected by integrated electrodes for gesture recognition with the help of machine learning (adsr.202300164).

Providing further recognition of AI's transformative role in accelerating scientific discovery—we are also proud to present a dedicated virtual issue entitled “AI in Action” where you can find many more relevant articles published in our journal portfolio.

In addition to AI-related research, another highlight is the article by Yang and Bhaskaran et al., entitled “Miniaturized Optical Glucose Sensor Using 1600–1700 nm Near-Infrared Light,” which has been featured in numerous renowned news outlets. They describe a new optical sensor that has the potential to be used as a continuous glucose monitoring system, providing a non-invasive option for people with diabetes (adsr.202300160).

In 2024, we also published our first Special Issue. Our guest editor Hossam Haick has collected several studies from the dynamic field of “Wearable Chemical Sensors.” which includes 1 Perspective, 9 Reviews, and 6 Research Articles that provide a thorough overview of this emerging and crucial research field. Moreover, to stay updated on the latest advances in Wearable Sensors, we have launched a “Hot Topics” section. This section collects the most recent and relevant articles published in various journals.

We would also like to take this opportunity to introduce some of our best-cited articles from 2024 (Table 1).

The first article by Zhao, Song, and Tang et al., reports on a highly sensitive and flexible piezoresistive sensor based on a conductive composite. The sensor displays reproducible stability and good thermal adaptation and is ideal for human motion monitoring (adsr.202300140). The review article by Wang et al., gives an overview of functional hydrogel-based flexible chemical sensors (adsr.202300021).

Another review by Kirchner, Wallmersperger, Gwosch, and Menning et al., summarizes the current state of research on so-called sensor-integrating machine elements as an enabler of digitalization in mechanical engineering and, where possible, their application in industry (adsr.202300113).

The article “A Sprayable Electrically Conductive Edible Coating for Piezoresistive Strain Sensing” by Annese and Caironi et al., which presents the first edible strain sensor based on electronic conduction made of a novel conductive ink sprayed over an edible substrate, has also been well cited (adsr.202300150).

We would also like to briefly introduce our most frequently accessed articles (Table 2). The article by Zhang and Luo et al., provides a comprehensive overview of the types of hydrogel sensors used for human health monitoring (adsr.202400003). Another review, published by Ko et al., (adsr.202300118), is dedicated to biosignal sensors and explores the transformative advance in wearable sensors powered by machine learning. Soleymani and Hoare et al., comprehensively review the design of anti-fouling polymers and peptides as a potential solution to prevent or suppress electrochemical biosensor fouling (adsr.202300170).

In the last article, by Phan et al., novel flexible mechano-acoustic sensors for real-time, wireless monitoring of low frequency body sounds have been developed (adsr.202400039).

We hope that our small selection of the above-mentioned articles will be of interest to you, and you may read them or other publications in their entirety. All articles are published fully gold open access and are therefore freely and permanently available online to everyone worldwide to read, share, download, and cite. To support the dissemination of key research findings, Wiley has several agreements established with Funders and Institutions to help authors publish open access and cover the associated Article Publication Charges (APCs). Authors who receive funding from an agency or institution with a Wiley Open Access Account do not pay directly. The charge is paid by the institution or funder (see the full Wiley Open Access funds here: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/open-access/affiliation-policies-payments/institutional-funder-payments.html).

Before coming to an end, we are particularly appreciative of the authors who have contributed numerous beautiful journal covers; a selection of our 2024 favorites is displayed in Figure 1.

Last but not least, we want to express our gratitude to our Advisory Board members, authors, reviewers, and readers for their support and interest in Advanced Sensor Research. We hope 2025 is a productive and healthy year for everyone!

With best wishes,

Marc Zastrow (Editor-in-Chief) and Marco Squillaci (Deputy Editor) on behalf of the Advanced Sensor Research team.