Event: MDPI Spain Summit 2026 – Valencia
Date: 21 May 2026
Organizer: MDPI Barcelona Office
Venue: SH Valencia Palace Hotel, Valencia, Spain

Executive Summary

The MDPI Spain Summit 2026 in Valencia successfully brought together 30 MDPI Editorial Board Members from the Valencia region to discuss the future of academic publishing, the evolving role of academic editors, peer review, research integrity, artificial intelligence, and publishers’ recognition with MDPI representatives. Held during the year of MDPI’s 30th anniversary and marking 10 years since the opening of MDPI offices in Spain, the event provided an open platform for direct dialogue between the academic community and MDPI leadership.

The summit featured keynote presentations, thematic sessions, a panel discussion, and extensive audience interaction. Participants openly shared both positive feedback and concerns regarding the current scholarly publishing landscape, with particular attention given to their editorial experience, peer review quality, reviewer recognition, editorial standards, AI usage in publishing, and MDPI’s recognition within academia in Spain.

Several recurring themes emerged throughout the discussions:

• The academic community values efficient publishing workflows but remains concerned about maintaining high scientific quality;
• Reviewers’ lack of recognition and the sustainability of peer review are becoming critical challenges;
• AI is increasingly influencing scholarly communication and raises both opportunities and ethical concerns;
• MDPI’s recognition varies significantly across disciplines and institutions in Spain;
• Participants appreciated MDPI’s willingness to engage transparently with criticism and feedback;

The summit generated valuable insights that can support future improvements in editorial processes, reviewer engagement, communication strategies, and institutional outreach.

Spain: A Strong Contributor to Global Open Access

The summit highlighted the importance of Spain within the global research landscape. Spain continues to strengthen its position as a leading contributor to the global OA and open science movement, producing 416.795 OA publications in the last five years. This reflects both the strength and productivity of its research community, as well as its long-standing dedication to making knowledge openly accessible, which is supported by a robust national policy framework and sustained institutional commitment.

In 2025:

• Spain ranked 9th worldwide in total OA publications, with 85,403 articles published in OA journals;
• 85% of publications in Spain were made in Open Access.

MDPI plays a significant role in the Spanish publishing ecosystem:

• #3 Open Access publisher in Spain in 2025;
• 14,376 MDPI publications from Spanish institutions in 2025.

Event Overview

The “MDPI Spain Summit 2026: Valencia” was designed as a regional engagement event to strengthen collaboration between MDPI and the Spanish academic community. The summit aimed at:

• Foster transparent dialogue with editors, reviewers, and authors;
• Address current challenges in scholarly publishing;
• Discuss the evolution of peer review and research integrity;
• Explore the impact of AI on publishing workflows;
• Gather direct feedback regarding MDPI’s recognition and publishing practices.

The event combined presentations from MDPI representatives with interactive Q&A sessions, a presentation from one of our Editorial Board Members and a final panel discussion, allowing participants to openly share experiences and recommendations.

Despite criticism, many participants appreciated MDPI’s willingness to openly discuss these challenges and engage directly with the academic community.

Panel Discussion Highlights

The panel discussion entitled “The Future of Academic Publishing” generated valuable qualitative insights regarding the daily experiences of editors and reviewers, under the moderation of Dr. Marta Colomer. She guided the discussion, posed questions to the panelists, and invited the audience participation throughout the session. The panelists were the following: Prof. Luis Ruiz, EBM of the journal Remote Sensing; Prof. Marta Feliz, EBM of the journal Catalysts; Stefan Tochev, CEO; Dr. Enric Sayas, Product Owner, AI Technology Innovation. The discussion was grounded in the survey that Editorial Board Members completed before this event, which represented more than half of the audience in the room, giving us a highly representative snapshot of their perspectives, experiences, and priorities.
The conversation was structured around four main themes: The Editor’s Experience: The Evolving Role of Editors in Academic Publishing; The Future of Peer Review: Quality, Recognition, and Sustainability; Research Integrity, Ethics, and Trust in the AI Era; Visibility and Collaboration Between Academia and Publishers Topics discussed included: Final editorial decision responsibilities; Reviewer consistency; Resubmission procedures after rejection; Citation evaluation; Editorial communication quality; AI use in communication workflows.
	Participants described challenges associated with receiving manuscripts at late review stages, making final decisions more difficult. Concerns were also raised about communication quality and the perception that some editorial emails appeared automated or AI-generated. MDPI team clarified that editorial communication is always handled by staff members and that AI tools are used only as internal assistance mechanisms. The discussion demonstrated that many participants value direct and transparent communication with editorial offices and expect strong human oversight throughout the publication process.

Networking and Informal Engagement

The coffee break and lunch sessions facilitated informal networking between participants and MDPI representatives.

These conversations provided additional opportunities to gather feedback, discuss collaboration possibilities, and strengthen relationships with editors and researchers.

Some EBM commented that the format works well if it includes input from a broad range of editors and not only a few dominant voices. It was mentioned that it is important for these conversations to reflect the diversity of opinions across the editorial board, so that the feedback collected is balanced and representative rather than driven by a small group of participants.

The informal atmosphere contributed positively to participant engagement and encouraged more open dialogue regarding both challenges and future collaboration opportunities.

Overall Assessment

The “MDPI Spain Summit 2026: Valencia” successfully fulfilled its objective of creating a transparent and constructive dialogue between MDPI and the academic community.

The event demonstrated that:

• The academic community is highly engaged in discussions regarding the future of scholarly publishing;
• Peer review sustainability and scientific quality remain major concerns;
• AI is rapidly transforming publishing practices and requires careful governance;
• Recognition management and trust-building remain critical priorities for MDPI.

Although some discussions included strong criticism, the summit provided an important opportunity for open exchange and mutual understanding.

Participants generally appreciated:

• The transparency of MDPI leadership;
• The willingness to listen to criticism;
• The opportunity for direct interaction;
• The focus on future improvements.

The summit also highlighted the importance of continuing institutional outreach and maintaining ongoing dialogue with researchers, reviewers, and editors.

Recommendations and Follow-Up Actions

Based on the discussions and feedback gathered during the summit, the following recommendations and follow-up actions are proposed:

Editorial and Peer Review:

• Continue strengthening desk rejection procedures;
• Improve reviewer selection and matching processes;
• Increase oversight of Special Issues;
• Maintain stronger editorial involvement throughout review workflows;
• Explore mechanisms to improve review consistency.

Reviewer Engagement:

• Expand reviewer recognition initiatives;
• Explore additional non-financial and institutional recognition models;
• Continue evaluating sustainable reviewer incentive strategies;
• Strengthening collaboration with universities regarding reviewer recognition.

Research Integrity and AI:

• Develop clearer AI usage guidelines for authors, reviewers, and editors;
• Promote transparency regarding AI-assisted writing;
• Continue investing in internal AI-detection and integrity tools;
• Prioritize human oversight in all integrity-related decisions.

Institutional Outreach:

• Continue focusing on improving journal quality and selectivity;
• Strengthen communication with universities and evaluation committees;
• Increase transparency regarding editorial standards and rejection rates;
• Promote success stories and examples of high-quality research published with MDPI;
• Continue organizing regional engagement events to foster trust and dialogue.

Conclusion

The “MDPI Spain Summit 2026: Valencia” provided an important platform for constructive discussion about the evolving landscape of academic publishing.

The summit revealed both the opportunities and the challenges facing publishers, editors, reviewers, and researchers in an increasingly complex scholarly environment.

Key themes such as peer review sustainability, editorial quality, research integrity, AI governance, and academic recognition will continue shaping the future of scholarly communication.

The event reinforced the importance of transparency, responsiveness, and ongoing collaboration between publishers and the academic community.

MDPI’s willingness to openly address criticism and engage directly with participants was positively received and represents an important foundation for future relationship-building efforts.