Ethics FAQ

1. I would like to ask for permission to reuse the content in a published paper in one of the MDPI journals.

All articles published by MDPI are published using a CC-BY license, which means that the author keeps their copyright. Articles can be used freely provided that they are appropriately referenced and cited.

2. I found some errors in the manuscript and would like to update it, how can I do this?

Please carefully review MDPI's policy on Updating Published Papers and contact the Editorial Office if necessary.

3. I should be included as a co-author of this publication, please advise me how to proceed.

MDPI follows ICMJE guidelines on authorship. Contributors who meet fewer than all four criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. You can get in touch with the Editorial Office of the relevant journal should you need to make any correction to authorship. All listed authors would be required to fill in and sign an authorship change form.

For the authorship dispute, please contact the authors or institute/university first. According to the guideline of COPE, it is not the role of the journal editors to determine who qualifies or does not qualify for authorship or to arbitrate authorship conflicts. If agreement cannot be reached about who qualifies for authorship, the institution(s) where the work was performed should be asked to investigate.

4. I found this publication has suspected plagiarism, please withdraw/retract it.

Please contact the Editorial Office and send the details of the manuscript(s) concerned.

5. Can I submit our article to MDPI while using the platform for preprint publishing?

MDPI supports authors uploading their manuscripts onto preprint servers prior to submission and peer review, and this will not cause any conflict in regard to our plagiarism checks.