Merits—A Journal of Virtues and Talents and Human Resources

By way of introducing our new journal, Merits, allow me first to explain what the word “merits” means to me.

At the beginning of 2021, one of my favorite journals I launched at MDPI, Laws, was accepted by Web of Science [1]. The 10th volume of Laws was also published in 2021. I come from an Asian country with a completely different social system, but I have been lucky enough to receive a diverse education, including civics, not just in my home country, but also from my teachers and mentors both in the US and in Switzerland. Through my education, I have come to appreciate some of the merits of western societies, such as Switzerland, Spain, the UK, and Japan, and in particular the legal and social systems they have in place that allow them to offer their citizens a wide range of social benefits and political rights. The rule of law is a cherished institution worldwide, of course, but it often comes at a social cost. Social and political rights, however, are not mutually exclusive—and though there have been examples in recent history where this was forgotten, including in western societies, I firmly believe that western civilization is at its heart a system that can combine both, offering its people amazing opportunities to succeed.

Our largest journal is Sustainability, and our largest academic conference is the World Sustainability Forum [2,3]. Sustainability is not a pillar of society in the same way law has been throughout most of human history, but it has grown in importance rapidly since its emergence. In the spirit of this, and in accordance with the goals of Sustainability and the World Sustainability Forum, it is my hope that social systems that can combine social benefits and political rights grow and remain sustainable, creating a world with a great potential for the future.

We also recently launched another journal related to our values, Standards, which focuses on metrics [4]. MDPI is one of the top four scholarly journal publishers of the world [5,6], but we continue to grow daily, and it is both my privilege and that of my colleagues at MDPI to launch one more journal that furthers our goal of contributing to a fairer, more sustainable society that treats its people and peoples equally, both socially and politically, as well as in other ways. It was originally planned for two independent journals, Virtues and Talents, to be launched. However, we have decided to merge these two into one title, Merits, as a scientific journal of human resources.

How should a company choose the most suitable candidate for an opening? What would be considered “fair play” when it comes to competing for a post of extreme significance—for example, the President of the United States? What role do identity politics, diversity, equity, and inclusion play in business decisions today, and what role should they play in the future? Should personal views and values be considered when making a decision to hire someone, or should we exclusively focus on skills and capabilities? Which of the two is more important, if either? Are wealth (money, budget, grants, etc.) and honor (credit, medals, prizes) awarded based on merit solely, or do other factors come into play? Clearly, there are many remarkably interesting topics to study in this field, and it is pertinent to devote a scholarly journal to them. I would therefore like to personally invite scholars and experts carrying out diligent research on these issues to use this new journal as a forum for their findings.

We will maintain the same fast and rigorous peer review process [7] for this new journal that you have grown accustomed to through our other publications. I hope you enjoy publishing with us.