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6 December 2024
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #18 - MDPI UK, Basel Job Fair, CETEF'24
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
MDPI’s First UK Summit Held in Manchester
On 29 November, we hosted our first annual MDPI UK Summit, bringing together over 30 Chief Editors and Editorial Board Members (EBMs) to discuss MDPI’s mission, achievements, and collaborations in the UK.
Throughout the day we had talks from several members of MDPI, roundtable discussions on the peer-review process and upholding research integrity, and an engaging presentation from the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of MDPI journal Mathematics, Francisco Chiclana, about his involvement with the Research Excellence Framework.
“This was a great first summit for MDPI UK and received excellent feedback”
In the following I highlight some of the sessions and the discussion topics covered in each session.
Session 1: Opening Speech and Introduction to MDPI
I shared an overview of MDPI’s mission, achievements, and commitment to quality. The Q&A touched on key topics such as perception and reputation management, expanding our arts and humanities portfolio, and funding challenges for open access (OA) in the UK.
A takeaway from this session was that in 2025, we will circulate a mini annual report to all editors, helping them understand MDPI’s mission and achievements beyond the context of their specific journals.
Session 2: MDPI and the Research Excellence Framework (REF)
Prof. Francisco Chiclana (EiC of Mathematics) highlighted MDPI’s role in REF, its purpose, and future directions.
Session 3: Editorial Process, Ethics, and Research Integrity
Dr. Giulia Stefenelli presented on the various editorial roles and responsibilities, quality metrics, and procedures for dealing with misconduct. The Q&A centred on AI in publishing, institutional roles in research integrity, and better data management practices.
Session 4: Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP)
Becky Castellon presented on IOAP benefits, including MDPI’s partnership with JISC, which includes more than 60 UK institutions, and highlighted the advantages of pure OA over transformative agreements.
Session 5: Round Table Discussion
Colleagues from our MDPI Manchester office Jaime Anderson and Dr. Michael O’Sullivan, along with colleagues from our Basel office Damaris Critchlow and Giulia Stefenelli, discussed innovations in peer review, challenges in maintaining scientific integrity, and future solutions.
Session 6: MDPI PR and the Voice of the Customer
I recapped our customer satisfaction drivers, including speed and editorial support. I also spoke about tackling misinformation about OA and MDPI in general, and outlined a way forward for us all to participate in advocating for open science.
This was a great first summit for MDPI UK and received excellent feedback from our EiCs, SEiCs, and EBMs. A BIG thank-you to our Manchester team (pictured below) and everyone else involved in organizing this event. Their hard work and dedication are much appreciated!
Impactful Research
MDPI and UK Publications
The UK is an important market for MDPI, ranking ninth in total submissions to MDPI and eighth in total MDPI publications, with over 72,200 publications to date. As at October 2024, there were more than 3,600 EBMs from the UK, 48% of whom have an H-index above 26. We also have 46 EiCs, and 63 SEiCs in the UK, some of whom joined us in Manchester for the UK Summit.
The UK is a strong advocate of OA publishing, with nearly three quarters of all articles in 2023 published on open access platforms. The country enjoys a large academic market, producing high-quality papers, and is home to some of the world’s top universities. Among MDPI’s 825 IOAP agreements, over 60 of these are in the UK, facilitated through our partnership with JISC.
“The UK is a strong advocate of OA publishing”
Visit to MDPI’s Manchester Office
Last week, I visited our Manchester office to see the expanding office space, connect with our staff, and present at the MDPI UK Summit held in Manchester.
Throughout the day, I met with various teams to better understand their work and discuss their future development plans in greater depth. Hearing from group leads about the progress we have made and the challenges we face offered many valuable insights. I also had the chance to connect personally with members of the content team. It’s great to see how this young and ambitious team is coming together.
I also took the opportunity to address the entire office about the role of MDPI UK within the wider company. During this session, I answered questions about growth and public relations initiatives. Giulia Stefenelli joined us to address questions about the role of AI in MDPI’s future.
Jaime Anderson (Office Manager) and the Manchester team have done a great job of growing the office since its establishment in 2019. Today, it has around 150 staff members across various departments, including English editing, editorial services, marketing and communications, and IOAP. The team is highly active in local marketing initiatives, such as author training sessions, scholar visits, and conferences.
For more information and updates on our Manchester office, follow MDPI UK on LinkedIn.
Inside MDPI
Basel Job Fair
In November, the HR team from our Basel office connected with over 300 young professionals at the Basel Job Fair 2024. This is my biased opinion, of course, but we had the best branded booth and merchandise, which drew a lot of attention from young talent wanting to learn about current and future job opportunities at MDPI.
Our HR team also helped review CVs on the spot, providing advice on how to improve them and making a positive impression on the future workforce in Basel.
This is a reminder that MDPI is not only focused on supporting young researchers but that we also recruit and develop young talent. We have seen MDPI HR do this really well throughout all of our offices, from Asia Pacific to Europe and North America.
HR plays an important role in our growing company, helping us meet our recruitment targets as well as providing support for local teams, guidance on management and best practices, a safe space for employees, and brand recognition for MDPI, among many other things.
“MDPI is not only focused on supporting young researchers: we also recruit and develop young talent”
This is a quick appreciation post to all HR staff working to support MDPI and our colleagues, cultivating talent and supporting careers at every stage. Thanks HR staff, keep up the great work!
Coming Together for Science
Pharmaceuticals 2024 – Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences Towards a Healthy Life (The 20th Anniversary)
I am pleased to share that the Pharmaceuticals 2024 – Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences Towards a Healthy Life took place from 27 to 29 November 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. It was chaired by Prof. Dr. Amelia Pilar Rauter from the Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Dr. Alfredo Berzal Herranz from Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra (IPBLN) CSIC, Spain; and Prof. Dr. Mary Jane Meegan from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
The conference took place in Casa Convalescència, a part of the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site. The three-day event included three plenary sessions and eight invited speakers, from eight countries, and 29 selected talks. Of the presentations on site, there were 32 posters and 29 oral presentations.
The main goal of the ‘Pharmaceuticals 2024’ international conference was to cover the newest technologies and research areas including medicinal chemistry, natural products, organic synthesis, radiopharmaceuticals, pharmacology, toxicology, and biomolecular and glycosciences, in a meeting that brought together experts to present their latest findings on combatting infection, inflammation, pain, and neurodegeneration, to mention just a few of the topics that were discussed.
“The main goal of ‘Pharmaceuticals 2024’ was to cover the newest technologies and research areas”
20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals
The year 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Pharmaceuticals – a journal dedicated to medicinal chemistry and related drug sciences, which is published monthly online by MDPI. To honour this milestone, we are reflecting on our past accomplishments and embarking on an exciting new chapter. This celebration is also one of the reasons why we organized the conference Pharmaceuticals 2024. With an Impact Factor of 4.3 and a CiteScore of 6.1, the journal is covered in Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, PMC, Embase, CAPlus/SciFinder, and other databases. Pharmaceuticals has published over 6,000 papers from more than 37,000 authors. More than 10,000 reviewers have reviewed for it at least once.
20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals: The Video
This video captures the experiences of the conference chairs, honorary guests and committee members of the conference.
Thank you to our partnering societies
A special thank-you is due to our partnering societies the Spanish Society Of Medicinal Chemistry (SEQT) and the Spanish Society For Biochemistry And Molecular Biology (SEBBM) for their support of the Pharmaceuticals 2024 conference. I am also pleased to report that we presented two awards, sponsored by the journal Pharmaceuticals, including the Best Presentation Award and the Best Oral Presentation Award, recognizing the contributions of our participants.
Closing Thoughts
Presenting at the 4th Central European Technology Forum
I visited Krakow, Poland in November to participate in the 4th Central European Technology Forum (CETEF’24), which took place on 18 and 19 November.
CETEF is an international conference that has been jointly organized since 2014 by the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Advanced Technologies (IZTECH) and the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations, with the support of the European Parliament and the European Commission, in cooperation with universities, research institutes and the high-tech industry. The 2024 event focused on presentation to advance the European science and technology agenda for 2025–2030.
MDPI participated as a key publishing sponsor. We had an exhibition booth and held two key presentations during the conference. On Monday, I presented MDPI’s vision, purpose, and achievements.
On Tuesday, Dr. Giulia Stefenelli shared how MDPI supports advancements in high technology and energy transition, highlighting our portfolio, services, tools and initiatives for promoting progress and interdisciplinary collaboration.
We received positive feedback from scientists and government representatives in attendance.
A big thank-you goes to our colleagues from the Krakow office for their support in organizing our participation and managing the MDPI booth.
Special thanks are owing to Weronika Gorka-Kumik, Igor Matic, Vincent Di, Agnieszka Rydz, Ksenia Shubenkova, Anna Krakowka and Klaudia Kasprowicz.
Below is a photo with the President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce conference (centre), along with MDPI colleagues Giulia Stefenelli, Weronika Gorka-Kumik, and Igor Matic (left to right).
“This year’s event focused on ideas and proposals to advance the European science and technology agenda for 2025–2030”
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
4 December 2024
685 MDPI Editors Named Highly Cited Researchers in 2024
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 685 Editorial Board Members of our journals – from 39 different countries and territories – who have been recognized as Highly Cited Researchers for 2024 by Clarivate. This distinction highlights their exceptional scientific achievements and significant contributions, which transcend academic boundaries to advance global knowledge, sustainability, security, and well-being.
Clarivate's annual Highly Cited Researcher™ list identifies the most influential scientists of the past decade, whose work has had a profound and widespread impact across various scientific and social science disciplines. Their impactful papers rank among the top 1% by citations in one or more of the 21 fields analyzed within the "Essential Science Indicators," marking them as leaders in their respective domains.
"Highly Cited Researchers have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research," according to Clarivate. In 2024, a total of 6,886 Highly Cited Researcher designations were awarded to 6,636 individuals.
The following is a list of MDPI's Editorial Board Members named Highly Cited Researchers in 2024. We congratulate them for their achievement and their contributions to advancing knowledge in their respective fields.
Abate, Antonio |
Jiang, Lianzhou |
Song, Jibin |
5 November 2024
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #17 - OA Week, Basel Open Day, Beijing Graphene Forum
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Open Access Week: Forging the Future of Open Access through Global Reach and Collaboration
From 21 to 27 October, we celebrated International Open Access Week (OAW), highlighting the importance of making research accessible to everyone. This campaign reinforced our commitment to advancing open access (OA) and showcased how we are helping research communities worldwide adopt OA as their standard.
“OA publishing is now a cornerstone of global research”
Throughout the week, we featured MDPI’s efforts to support quality open research through blog posts on topics such as how Research Integrity Promotes OA Practices, our Preprints.org platform, and supporting societies with different OA models. These initiatives capture our commitment to making research more inclusive and accessible to all.
OA publishing is now a cornerstone of global research, with more researchers choosing OA over traditional paywalled models, and embracing new, community-driven models.
Benefits of Open Access and Open Research
- Accelerated Discoveries: OA speeds up scientific progress by allowing immediate access to findings, enabling researchers to build on each other’s work faster.
- Community-Led Innovation: Open research empowers communities to manage their own platforms, creating collaboration and shared knowledge.
- Increased Visibility: OA broadens the reach of your research, leading to greater recognition, collaboration, and impact.
- Cross-Disciplinary Connections: By removing financial and geographical barriers, OA unites diverse fields, sparking innovation across disciplines.
MDPI Singapore Celebrates Open Access Week
MDPI Singapore also hosted its first-ever OAW event at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, bringing together academics, researchers, and students to discuss the future of open scholarship. Conversations focused on the potential of new publishing models, alternative funding strategies, and the importance of communicating research to wider audiences.
As OA evolves, MDPI remains a committed partner in advancing open science and creating a transparent, inclusive research environment. For a full recap of the week’s highlights and resources, visit our campaign page.
Impactful Research
MDPI Connection to Nobel-Winning Protein Research
David Baker, an American biochemist, and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper, two scientists from Google DeepMind, have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking advancements in better understanding the structure of proteins, the molecular engines of life’s processes.
One half of the prize was awarded to Professor David Baker from the University of Washington for his development of revolutionary protein design software enabling the creation of novel proteins for vaccines, nanomaterials, and sensors. Prof. Baker co-authored a 2016 paper in MDPI’s Toxins journal on protein-based therapeutics.
Meanwhile, DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper received recognition for AlphaFold, the AI model that predicts protein structures from amino acid sequences, fulfilling a long-held scientific dream.
“We congratulate this year’s Nobel laureates for their groundbreaking contributions to the study of life”
Nobel Prize Laureates Entrust MDPI with Their Research
As at October 2024, 45 Nobel laureates had contributed to more than 115 articles across
35 MDPI journals. The privilege of hosting the research of such contributors, who significantly influence the open access movement, resonates deeply with our editorial teams.
We are proud to list the names of Pierre Agostini, Hiroshi Amano, Werner Arber, Aaron Ciechanover, Robert H. Grubbs, Oliver Hart, Gerard ‘t Hooft, Michael Houghton, Harald zur Hausen, Katalin Karikó, Jean-Marie Lehn, Gérard Mourou, Ferid Murad, Shuji Nakamura, William Nordhaus, Kostya S. Novoselov, Giorgio Parisi, Charles M. Rice, Alvin E. Roth, Donna Strickland, K. Barry Sharpless, George F. Smoot, Anne L’Huillier, Drew Weissman, Kurt Wüthrich, Ada Yonath, Tomas Lindahl, Thomas C. Südhof, Stanley B. Prusiner, Roger Kornberg, Robert F. Engle, Richard J. Roberts, Ōmura Satoshi, Kenneth J. Arrow, John B. Goodenough, Jennifer Doudna, Hamilton Othanel Smith, Eric R. Kandel, Carlo Rubbia, Bernard Feringa, Barry J. Marshall, Anthony J. Leggett, Andrew Victor Schally, and David Baker.
Notable MRNA Published in Cells
On 7 October 2024, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function. Some interesting papers about microRNA research are published in the MDPI journal Cells. I invite you browse through the notable papers related to microRNA research in Cells.
Inside MDPI
Basel Open Day
On 21 October, we held the Basel Open Day at our headquarters, welcoming a group of journal Editors-in-Chief (EiC) and Editorial Board Members (EBMs) for a full-day workshop. The event featured presentations and discussions on MDPI’s latest editorial updates, data integrity policies, society collaborations, and local market insights.
The following MDPI journals were represented during the visit: Physics, Journal of Personalized Medicine (JPM), Sci, Remote Sensing, Animals, Cells, Buildings, Histories, Sensors, and International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH).
This was a great opportunity to showcase our new office space while gathering feedback from leading journal stakeholders. To get everyone on the same page, we took 60 minutes for round-table introductions, which helped set a collaborative tone and ground us in MDPI’s mission of disseminating open science.
“This was a great opportunity to gather feedback from leading journal stakeholders”
The general feedback from the day highlighted positive developments around our editorial and ethics policies, as well as areas for improvement, including flexibility regarding reviewer deadlines. There was a genuine appreciation and push for our ongoing efforts to share more about MDPI, including company updates and promoting high-quality research through our blog, announcements, and social media channels, which we have been growing and expanding.
Our Basel Open Day was a positive experience, bringing together key journal stakeholders and gathering insights to guide MDPI’s continued engagement with the academic community. We look forward to hosting future events of this kind and welcoming more scholars to our headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Coming Together for Science
ncRNA 2024 Conference in Basel
I am pleased to share that we held Non-coding RNA World 2024: Exploring Mechanisms, Designing Medicines (ICM 2024) in Basel, Switzerland this past 7–9 October.
The three-day event attracted just over 100 attendees, including two Chairs, 10 invited speakers and two keynotes from Prof. Mauro Giacca and Prof. Ling-Ling Chen. Of the presentations on site, there were 35 posters and 44 oral presentations.
The overall feedback was positive, with people enjoying the intimate event and the unique activities offered, including a guided tour around Basel’s Old Town (a must-see for anyone visiting the city) and a memorable conference dinner.
It was cool to see the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine announced during the conference days. This was exciting for attendees, as the winners discovered a new class of RNA molecules (miRNAs). As one invited speaker put it, “It's exciting to be among fellows when something that important for the field is announced.”
“It's exciting to be among fellows when something that important for the field is announced”
Every attendee receives a conference survey, and I’m always pleased to see a high percentage of ‘Very Satisfied’ responses when asked about ‘treatment from conference personnel’. Kudos to our conference team for meeting our attendees’ needs. These events are a great opportunity for us to reach new audiences, as 92% of the respondents had never been to an MDPI conference, so I am thrilled to see us connecting with a new demographic of your researchers in the RNA field.
A special thank-you to our partnering societies The Epigenetics Society, The French Society of Genetics, LS2 / USGEB (Union of Swiss Societies for Experimental Biology), and The RNA Biology Group, as well as to our sponsors New England Biolabs and Arraystar for their support of the ncRNA 2024 conference. I am also pleased to report that we presented two awards, including the Best Presentation Award and two Best Poster Award, recognizing the contributions of our participants.
Upcoming In-Person Event
27–29 November 2024
Pharmaceuticals 2024 – Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences Towards a Healthy Life
Location: Barcelona, Spain
The discovery of new molecules, their properties, and actions to enhance human health and quality of life.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Closing Thoughts
Beijing Graphene Forum 2024
I am pleased to share that we had a successful time at the Beijing Graphene Forum 2024, which drew around 1,000 attendees, including Konstantin Novoselov (2015 Nobel Prize in Physics) and other high-profile scholars in materials science and chemistry. It was a great opportunity to present MDPI on the big stage, with university presidents from institutions such as Peking University also in attendance.
I had the honour of awarding Prof. Zhongfan Liu, Chairman of the Chemical Science Committee, with a medal and presenting certificates to the members of the Chemical Science Committee; this is an important initiative to help expand MDPI’s journals and influence in China. These are highly respected scholars, and we enjoyed connecting with them over lunch as well.
“This is an important initiative to help expand MDPI’s journals and influence in China”
I also had the chance to speak about MDPI and open access, giving a five-minute speech during the opening ceremony and a 20-minute presentation at the close. MDPI hosted a sub-forum where both academic scholars and MDPI members shared insights, and we engaged with attendees at our MDPI booth.
This was a great opportunity to spotlight MDPI as the main publishing partner for the event, and I was proud to represent us on stage. We also met with scholars to discuss topics such as their publishing needs and institutional policies, open access, impact journals, and IOAP.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
16 October 2024
MDPI's Newly Launched Journals in September 2024
Five new journals covering a diverse range of subjects launched their inaugural issue in September 2024. Like other journals in MDPI’s portfolio, these journals are dedicated to sharing the latest research through open access, reflecting our commitment to making knowledge accessible to all.
We extend our sincere gratitude to the Editorial Board Members for their dedication to the launch and development of our new journals. Each journal will ensure its high-quality output via excellent editorial and rigorous peer-review processes so that the published articles achieve significant impact and broad visibility.
We invite you to explore and learn more about these new journals below.
Journal | Founding Editor-in-Chief | Journal Topics (Selected) |
Prof. Dr. Nejat Düzgüneş, University of the Pacific, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue | biological therapy and stem-cell therapy; drug therapy; chemotherapy; radiation and other nonsurgical therapeutic strategies | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Prof. Dr. Magda Tsolaki, Greek Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease, Greece; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece | Editorial | view inaugural issue | surgical/procedural complications; complications; perioperative adverse events; postoperative adverse events | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Prof. Dr. Steven R. Fassnacht, Colorado State University, USA; Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue | ice as a mineral; atmospheric ice; sea ice; freshwater ice; ice sheets; ice caps and ice shelves | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Dr. Francisco Epelde, Hospital Universitari Parc Tauli, Spain; University Autonoma of Barcelona, Spain | Editorial | view inaugural issue | hospital management; hospital facilities; hospital services; hospital risk management; health law | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Prof. Dr. Nicola Ferri, University of Padova, Italy | Editorial | view inaugural issue | lipids in cells and whole organisms; lipid structure and function; lipid products and processes; dietary lipids and nutrition | view journal scope | submit an article |
We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to send an application here or contact the New Journal Committee ([email protected]) if you would like to create more new journals.
4 October 2024
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #16 - UNGA79 Science Summit, OASPA, Peer Review Week
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
MDPI Joins the Science Summit at UNGA79 (23–27 September 2024, New York)
On Friday 27 September, I had the privilege of giving the opening talk at the “Youth at the Science Summit” panel during the Science Summit conference, held in New York at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Together, we discussed the future of science, publishing, innovation, and sustainable development.
It was a great opportunity to learn from our young leaders, whose voices must be included in the conversation as science shapes the future of artificial intelligence, climate mitigation, healthcare, technology, and more. This was also a powerful reminder of how essential global collaboration is in solving the major challenges we face. I left inspired by the dedication of these young researchers to making the world a better place!
Today’s youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow – they are already leading the change today.
Stefan Tochev (second from left) at the UNGA Science Summit 2024: “A great opportunity to learn from our young leaders.”
MDPI Supports the Future Generation of Scientists
This aligns with MDPI’s mission to support the next generation of scientists and early-career researchers by recognizing their achievements through our various MDPI awards, including the Young Investigator Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, Travel Awards, and more.
Our presence at this global event showed our commitment to advancing Open Science as a key driver for sustainable development. As a leading Open Access (OA) publisher, MDPI’s role at the summit was to emphasize the critical importance of democratizing scientific knowledge, making it accessible to all, and promoting global collaboration.
Through OA publishing, we aim to address pressing global challenges such as climate change, public health, and inequality, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We aim to address pressing global challenges”
MDPI and the SDGs
In 2020, the SDG Publishers Compact was launched to accelerate implementation of the SDGs by promoting content that informs, develops, and inspires action. MDPI joined this initiative in 2021 and subsequently launched the MDPI SDG Hub in 2022, offering free access to recent research within the scope of each of the 17 SDGs.
During the summit, we highlighted the connection between Open Science and the SDG Publishers Compact, supporting the core objective to “Leave No One Behind” (LNOB). The transformative promise of the SDGs relies heavily on the Open Access model, which serves as a fundamental enabler of Open Science. We advocate for the wider adoption of Open Science practices in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Impactful Research
Presenting at the 1st International Conference of Environmental Medicine
In September, MDPI and our journals IJERPH and Diseases sponsored and participated in the 1st International Conference of Environmental Medicine: Environmental Threats to Human Health: From Genetics to Epigenetics, held in Chieti, Italy.
The conference was organized in collaboration with various societies, including the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), one of more than 160 societies partnering MDPI journals.
The conference brought together influential figures from the Italian scholarly community, such as Antonio Felice Uricchio (President of the National Agency for University Research Assessment [ANVUR]), Alessandro Miani (President of SIMA), and Liborio Stuppia (Director of ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara), among others.
MDPI was the sole publishing sponsor of the conference, at which I had the opportunity to present on behalf of the company. I provided an overview of MDPI, covering key facts and figures, the peer-review process, our strong collaboration with the Italian market, and insights into Nobel Prize winners who have published with MDPI, ahead of Sir Richard Roberts’ Nobel lecture.
“As at September 2024, 44 Nobel laureates have contributed to over 115 articles across 35 MDPI journals”
The keynote speaker at the event was Sir Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate and 1993 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, recognized for his discovery of split genes.
Nobel Laureates’ Contributions to MDPI
As at September 2024, 44 Nobel laureates have contributed to over 115 articles across 35 MDPI journals. I’ll share more details on this in the October newsletter.
Hosting such prominent figures in their respective fields, who play a significant role in advancing the OA movement, of which we are leaders in, resonates deeply with our editorial teams.
Sponsoring and supporting academic conferences is something we do on a large scale, and it continues to grow. Attending and speaking about MDPI shows our commitment by taking the time to connect with the scholarly community in person.
MDPI’s Presence in Italy
Italy ranks third globally in total MDPI publications, with nearly 130,000 contributions. We collaborate with about 12,000 Editorial Board Members in Italy, over 6,100 of whom have an H-index of more than 25.
We have 83 Editors-in-Chief and 209 Section Editors-in-Chief from Italy. We also support 20 Italian universities through our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) agreements with major institutions such as Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Milan, and the University of Pisa, among others.
Inside MDPI
Celebrating Peer Review Week, 23–27 September 2024
As we conclude another productive month at MDPI, I am pleased to highlight our participation in this year’s Peer Review Week (PRW), which took place from 23–27 September 2024. This global, community-driven celebration underscores the vital importance of peer review in maintaining the integrity and reliability of academic work. PRW provide a platform for institutions, publishers, and scholars to come together and reflect on the processes that uphold the quality of scholarly communication.
“We remain committed to enhancing the peer review process”
The theme for PRW 2024 was ‘Innovation and Technology in Peer Review.’ At MDPI, we were proud to contribute through various online and in-person events, including webinars from Europe, Asia-Pacific, and a roundtable discussion on innovation and technology in peer review. These events offer an opportunity to explore new tools and technologies that are shaping the future of peer review, particularly the integration of AI. As a company, we remain committed to enhancing the peer review process with innovative solutions while preserving the essential human expertise that makes it effective.
Peer Review Innovation and Technology at MDPI
Our efforts to improve peer review extend beyond the activities of this week. We also released a blog article discussing New Tools for Advancing Research Integrity and Peer Review, where we highlight two tools that MDPI has developed to support research integrity: Eureka – Reviewer Recommender and Online Proofreader. We are continually refining SuSy, our in-house submission system, to provide a seamless experience for authors and reviewers alike.
Listening to MDPI’s Authors and Reviewers
We highly value the time of our reviewers, and so do the authors who contribute to our journals. Our editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of over 6,000 diligent, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform designed to ensure efficient processes.
We make it a point to continually improve the experiences of both our authors and our reviewers throughout the entire editorial process, from submission to publication. This is why we regularly ask for feedback by conducting surveys. Here is what some of our respondents recently had to say about working with MDPI:
Coming Together for Science
ICM 2024 – Advances in Material Innovation
I am pleased to share that we held The 5th International Conference on Materials: Advances in Material Innovation (ICM 2024) in Basel, Switzerland this past 25–27 September.
This intimate event brought together leading scientists, researchers, and industry experts to exchange insights on recent advancements in materials characterization, processing, and manufacturing. Key focus areas included nanotechnology in material sciences and engineering, optical, electrical, and magnetic materials, soft, biological, and biomaterials, fibres, membranes, thin films, sensing materials, as well as materials and devices for energy and solar fuels. In addition, discussions featured the integration of AI and machine learning in materials research.
We received 90 abstract submissions. Over the course of the three-day event, 18 posters were displayed, and 34 talks were delivered, including three plenary speeches, seven invited talks, and 24 selected oral presentations.
A special thank-you to our partnering societies The Polish Membrane Society and The North American Thermal Analysis Society, as well as our sponsor, Nanomegas, for their support of the ICM conference. I am also pleased to share that we presented three awards, including the Best Presentation Award and two Best Poster Awards, recognizing the outstanding contributions of our participants.
Upcoming In-Person Event
7–9 October 2024
Non-coding RNA World 2024: Exploring Mechanisms, Designing Medicines
Location: Basel, Switzerland
ncRNA 2024 will explore the latest advances in the field, covering topics from basic biology to medical and technological applications.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Closing Thoughts
Reflections from OASPA 2024 Conference in Lisbon (16–18 September)
Amidst my September travels, I also had pleasure of attending the OASPA 2024 Conference in Lisbon from 16–18 September. It’s the first in-person Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) event in five years, and being in the sunny city of Lisbon made it even better! MDPI has long been a member of OASPA, and attending this conference gave us an opportunity to connect with other key members of the organization to see the latest developments in the OA movement.
“I believe that publishers have a lot to offer in terms of data and insights”
Main Themes from OASPA 2024
The main themes covered were equity and inclusivity, diamond OA, AI and openness, OA books, research integrity, and how OA can address broader societal challenges such as climate change. While it was great to see the latest developments in these areas, it was also clear that certain voices were missing, particularly those of major publishers. Although it’s not easy to incorporate every perspective, I believe that publishers, including MDPI, have a lot to offer in terms of data and insights. During the membership meeting, a few of us raised the point that large-scale publisher input could add value to these discussions.
It’s important to participate in industry conferences such as OASPA in order to be part of the discussions and remain at the forefront of the OA movement.
It’s an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with organizations that share our commitment to OA.
While sponsorship is one way to show our support, it’s clear that being part of the conversation through participating in the OASPA groups and committee is what really makes a difference.
It took the last 20 years for more than 50% of the world's research to be published via open access. This provides a sobering reminder that flipping the remaining 50% will be a big challenge.
An important takeaway for me was that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution for OA challenges: different regions and different stakeholders need different forms of support, whether it is infrastructure, funding, education, or policy, for example. I also enjoyed Rebecca Ross' presentation on how OA can drive action on climate. A few panellists shared the need for transparency in the peer-review process, advocating for open review reports, which is something we have been offering since 2014.
Speaking of openness, we are excited to celebrate Open Access Week 2024 with the scholarly community from 21–27 October. I look forward to sharing a recap of our activities in the next newsletter.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
29 September 2024
MDPI New Journal Proposal—Invitation to Shape the Future of Open Science Together
As a leader in open access publishing, MDPI is eager to explore new collaboration opportunities, including the launch of new journals and the transfer of existing ones. At present, MDPI publishes over 400 journals, more than 160 of which have established partnerships with academic organizations. Additionally, we publish 19 association journals.
In order to enhance exchange and cooperation with scientific researchers and share the results of open science, MDPI invites experts and scholars from various fields to submit proposals for new journal collaboration opportunities. If your proposal is approved, you could take on the role of Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, or Editorial Board Member of the journal. This position allows you to manage the manuscript review process alongside our editorial department, participate in calls for papers, strengthen your network with scholars in the field, expand scientific research cooperation, enhance your personal and academic influence internationally, and play a leading role in academia.
Once the new journal is online, MDPI will provide a variety of promotional channels to market the journal internationally.
MDPI will offer various promotional channels to enhance its visibility and promote it internationally.
How can you determine the theme of a new journal?
- Assess research hotspots/academic frontiers;
- Assess pioneers in the field/key research directions of universities;
- Determine whether MDPI has already established a journal in the field.
You can browse MDPI’s existing journals at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.
Advantages of collaborating with MDPI:
- MDPI is a global leader in open-access publishing with extensive academic resources.
- MDPI offers a professional publishing team that provides comprehensive support throughout the publishing process.
- MDPI’s diverse promotional platforms and channels help journals quickly increase their international visibility and influence.
We invite you to submit new journal proposal here, and contribute to academic development! In addition, if your institution (university, institute, college, national key laboratory, society, etc.) intends to establish a journal, you can also submit a draft to MDPI on its behalf.
27 September 2024
MDPI’s 2023 Travel Awards—Winners Announced
MDPI journals frequently grant travel awards to empower junior researchers to showcase their latest research at academic conferences, thereby amplifying their impact within their research fields.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 103 recipients of MDPI's 2023 Travel Awards from different countries and territories for their exceptional presentations. These outstanding individuals were selected by the journal editors based on the strength of their research proposals and the anticipated impact of their presentations at academic conferences. We commend their exceptional contributions and wish them continued success in their academic endeavors.
MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community. To learn more about the list of awardees, please visit the following pages:
- Biology and Life Sciences;
- Chemistry and Materials Sciences;
- Engineering;
- Environmental and Earth Sciences;
- Medicine and Pharmacology;
- Public Health and Healthcare;
- Others.
About MDPI Awards:
To reward the academic community, especially young researchers, and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
19 September 2024
Meet Us at the 23rd International Conference “Life Sciences for Sustainable Development”, 26–28 September 2024, Cluj, Romania
MDPI will attend the 23rd International Conference “Life Sciences for Sustainable Development”, which will take place from 26 to 28 Sep 2024 in Cluj, Romania, at The University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca.
This conference is a dynamic forum for the exchange of scientific experiences, innovative ideas and concepts, future prospects in agriculture, plant and animal science, food science and technology, biotechnology, and veterinary medicine, as well as other interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary areas.
The 23rd International Conference “Life Sciences for Sustainable Development” includes invited conferences, presented by known international and national personalities, and oral and poster presentations, where recent advanced scientific and technical results can be seen, especially now, in the context of the new European Research Program “Horizon 2020” and of the national Research, Technological Development and Innovation Program, related to life sciences.
The following MDPI journals will be represented:
- Agriculture;
- J;
- Foods;
- Plants;
- Veterinary Sciences;
- Sustainability;
- Dairy;
- Crops;
- Aquaculture;
- Poultry;
- Ruminants;
- Seeds.
If you plan to attend this conference, we invite you to visit our booth and converse with our delegates at the conference venue (The University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Romania). We are excited to meet you in person and address any questions that you may have. For further details about the conference, please visit the following website: https://symposium.usamvcluj.ro/.
11 September 2024
MDPI’s 2023 Best PhD Thesis Awards—Winners Announced
MDPI’s Best PhD Thesis Awards are granted to promising young scholars whose PhD theses are deemed exceptional within their respective research fields. These awards aim to encourage young scholars to continue their outstanding accomplishments and further contribute to their field.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 54 winners of the 2023 Best PhD Thesis Awards and wish them success with their future research endeavors.
MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community. To learn more about all the awardees and their research projects in your field of study, please visit the following pages:
About MDPI Awards:
To reward the academic community, especially young researchers, and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
3 September 2024
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #15 - CHORUS, Best Paper Award, August Events
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
I am pleased to share that MDPI is now an Affiliate Member of CHORUS, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring public access to articles reporting on U.S. government-funded research. This partnership highlights our long-standing commitment to advancing Open Access (OA) publishing and meeting funders’ open research requirements.
Read the full announcement here.
With the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 2022 memorandum calling for immediate public access to all federally funded research by 2026, this partnership positions MDPI to further support academic institutions in adhering to national mandates while providing authors with fully compliant (CC-BY) OA journals.
The CHORUS platform went live in July 2014 and includes NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation.
“This partnership positions MDPI to further support academic institutions in adhering to national mandates”
Joining CHORUS perfectly aligns our mission as the leading OA publisher, which is to drive transparency and innovation in scholarly publishing, with that of CHORUS itself, which is to advance Open Access research. It will also support MDPI publications from organizations such as NASA, with 1,200 research papers published by NASA-affiliated authors as at 31 August 2024.
Impactful Research
MDPI’s Best Paper Awards—Award-Winning Papers in 2023 Announced
MDPI is committed to supporting and recognizing the academic community and is proud to announce the recipients of the 2023 Best Paper Awards, which recognize high-quality papers of significant scientific merit and impact. Each year, the editors of our journals carefully select papers that showcase outstanding scientific achievement.
This year, 115 Best Paper Awards were presented, chosen from 346 exceptional papers in a highly competitive selection process. Congratulations to the authors for their remarkable contributions!
To learn more about all the awardees and their research projects, visit the following pages:
- Biology and Life Sciences
- Business and Economics
- Chemistry and Materials Sciences
- Computer Sciences and Mathematics
- Engineering
- Environmental and Earth Sciences
- Medicine and Pharmacology
- Public Health and Healthcare
- Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
- Physical Sciences
About MDPI Awards
MDPI regularly offers various awards to recognize researchers, particularly young scientists, and to promote communication within the scientific community. These awards exist to inspire and acknowledge talented scientists who have made significant contributions to advancing their fields.
To find out more MDPI awards, please click here.
“Our awards exist to inspire and acknowledge talented scientists”
Inside MDPI
MDPI AI Team Presented at EuroSciPy 2024 in Poland
As part of the CEO Letter, I hold dear this ‘Inside MDPI’ section, where I have an opportunity to highlight various projects, teams and updates within our organization. As such, I’m happy to showcase the following presentations from members of MDPI’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) team, which were recently presented at the EuroSciPy 2024 (16th European Conference on Python in Science). This conference took place in Szczecin, Poland from 26–30 August.
“This event was a great opportunity to reinforce our commitment to innovation and excellence in publishing”
MDPI colleagues Frank Sauerburger (AI Tech Leader) and Daniele Raimondi (Senior Data Scientist) both presented at the conference. Frank discussed MDPI’s AI infrastructure, while Daniele showcased a new methodological approach we have been developing to track the journey of rejected academic manuscripts. This approach combines AI, data science and analytics to improve the identification of manuscripts and authors, enhancing our understanding of publishing dynamics.
This event was a great opportunity to reinforce our commitment to innovation and excellence in publishing. It also allowed us to contribute to the academic discussion on integrating AI and data science into scholarly communication.
From data analysis in Jupyter Notebooks to production applications: AI infrastructure at reasonable scale – Frank Sauerburger
Frank’s presentation on MDPI’s AI infrastructure provided a chance to showcase the advanced technological frameworks that power our operations. Given the technical and academic focus of EuroSciPy, this talk demonstrated how MDPI’s AI capabilities are not only cutting-edge but also central to driving efficiency and innovation in scholarly publishing. Engaging with the EuroSciPy community helps position MDPI as a leader in applying AI within the publishing industry, fostering potential collaborations and attracting interest from top researchers.
A Qdrant and Specter2 framework for tracking resubmissions of rejected manuscripts in academia – Daniele Raimondi
Daniele’s talk on the novel methodological approach that combines AI, Data Science, and Analytics was crucial in highlighting how MDPI is advancing the precision and effectiveness of manuscript and author identification. This approach is pivotal in enhancing our understanding of publishing dynamics and ensuring the quality and integrity of the academic content we manage. By presenting at EuroSciPy, we had the opportunity to engage with an audience deeply involved in scientific computing, gaining feedback and insights that could further refine our methodologies.
Thank you, Frank and Daniele, for representing MDPI so well!
I will share more about MDPI’s AI team and projects in upcoming CEO Letters, as we have a well-rounded AI and Data Team working on an exciting suite of AI products for MDPI and the scholarly community at large.
Coming Together for Science
The 1st International Conference on AI Sensors & The 10th International Symposium on Sensor Science
I am pleased to share the success of our MDPI conference The 1st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sensors and the 10th International Symposium on Sensor Science in Singapore this past 1–4 August.
With nearly 400 attendees, the event brought together researchers and industry experts from China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India and other countries to share their findings on the latest developments in sensors, sensing technology, artificial intelligence for sensing applications and AI-enhanced sensing systems.
We accepted a total of 355 abstracts, featuring 772 authors from 28 countries. Over the course of the four-day event, 66 posters were displayed and 296 talks were delivered, including 4 plenary talks, 46 keynote speeches, 122 invited talks, and 124 selected oral presentations. View the event gallery here.
I am pleased to announce the winners of the four awards, including Best Presentation and Best Poster, recognizing the contributions of our participants during the conference.
Looking ahead, the 2nd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers is scheduled to take place from 29 July to 5 August, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Thank you to our Conference team, including Ionut Spatar, Teodora Nicoleta Cremene, Ang Kai Lin, Benjamin Tay, Leong Jin Yue Esther, Wong Jolin, Judith Wu, Alethea Liu and Flora Li, who were involved in making this event a success. A big thank-you also goes to our local MDPI colleagues for their support: Yu Nwe Soe, Hen Chu Yang, Kwah Zhi En Watcharapong, Zephan Yang, Daphne Neo, Huimin Cheng, Nathan Li and Ting Yin.
Upcoming In-Person Event
25–27 September, 2024
The 5th International Conference on Materials: Advances in Material Innovation
Location: Basel, Switzerland
ICM 2024 will unite experts to share insights on recent advancements in Materials Characterization, Processing and Manufacturing.
7–9 October, 2024
Non-coding RNA World 2024: Exploring Mechanisms, Designing Medicines
Location: Basel, Switzerland
ncRNA 2024 will explore the latest advances in the field, covering topics from basic biology to medical and technological applications.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Closing Thoughts
The 2nd Sustainable Publishing Forum
In 2022, the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) outlined three goals to reflect the academic community’s shared aspirations: promoting Open Science, maintaining research integrity and fulfilling social responsibility. Open Science has evolved from the Open Access movement of the early 2000s to become a preferred model in academic publishing. Publishers and academic journals play a crucial role in ensuring research integrity, with efforts to prevent misconduct markedly on the increase now.
As the world faces sustainability challenges, the academic publishing industry is increasingly committed to contributing the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many publishers are implementing strategies to support these objectives, including ours, which you can view here.
The 2nd MDPI Sustainable Publishing Forum provided a platform for global editors and publishers to discuss these themes, aiming to strengthen collaboration and advance the contributions that scientific publishing can make to academia and society.
“Open Science has evolved to become a preferred model in academic publishing”
The 2nd Sustainable Publishing Forum
We hosted MDPI’s 2nd Sustainable Publishing Forum in Beijing, China, on 15–16 August, attracting nearly 120 attendees from local and international publishers, university presses, scientific and technical journal associations, libraries and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The event focused on promoting Open Science, maintaining research integrity, and fulfilling social responsibility.
This was an excellent opportunity for us to share more with conference attendees about the approach of our research integrity team. Our Head of Publishing, Peter Roth, also participated, speaking on how to identify and avoid predatory publishers and about the principles that underpin ethical academic publishing.
I extend my thanks to all of our conference speakers, including Hylke Koers (STM Solutions), who presented on STM Trends 2028 and shared insights on the STM Integrity Hub, of which MDPI is a member.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
19 August 2024
MDPI’s 2023 Young Investigator Awards—Winners Announced
MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising early career scientists, acknowledge their contributions, and foster collaboration within the scientific community. We are proud to announce the recipients for 2023, who were carefully selected by the journals’ esteemed Award Evaluation Committee.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 79 winners of MDPI’s 2023 Young Investigator Awards for their excellent contributions in their research field. We look forward to seeing these rising stars continue to contribute to the advancement of science.
MDPI will continue to support and recognize the academic community. To explore details about the awardees by field, please visit the individual pages listed below:
Congratulations to all the winners for their exceptional contributions and dedication to advancing scientific research.
About MDPI Awards:
To support the academic community, particularly young researchers, and to enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help to elevate the profiles of talented individuals who have made outstanding achievements and are making significant contributions to advancements in their respective fields.
To find out more about MDPI awards, please click here.
7 August 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #14 - New Headquarters, Marketing, Poland
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
MDPI Moves to New Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland
I am excited to share that MDPI has moved to a new state-of-the-art office space in Basel, Switzerland. This move consolidates our operations by bringing together our two previously separated Basel offices into one central location.
We are always growing our talent pool and encourage you to view our Careers Page for the positions available in Basel and across our offices.
New Address: Grosspeteranlage 5, CH-4052 Basel, Switzerland
Effective Date: 1 July 2024
This new chapter in our company’s journey is designed to continue our mission of positioning MDPI as a leader in Open Access (OA) publishing, highlighting our commitment to making scholarly research accessible to everyone.
Boasting modern amenities, improved meeting and event spaces designed to support our growing needs, the new location provides a more collaborative and efficient working environment for our employees. The location offers convenient accessibility to public transportation and is situated near the Basel SBB railway station, with a variety of nearby services and amenities.
In fact, I can see the trains right outside of my window as I write these lines!
This move marks an exciting milestone in MDPI’s development, and I am confident that the new headquarters will serve as an inspiring and productive space for everyone. We also very much look forward to welcoming visitors here. You can read more about MDPI's history here.
“This new chapter continues our mission of positioning MDPI as a leader in OA publishing”
For Those New to MDPI
A pioneer in scholarly, Open Access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to Open Science by making a greater proportion of the research conducted worldwide free and accessible to everyone. To date, over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6,000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform designed to ensure efficient processes within its 440 fully Open Access titles. MDPI supports more than 800 academic institutions worldwide, helping them adhere to national mandates while facilitating authors’ publication in fully compliant (CC BY) Open Access journals.
Impactful Research
New and Emerging MDPI Journals Making an Immediate Impact
Unpacking some of the Impact Factor updates from the June CEO Letter, I wanted to dive a little deeper into the 137 MDPI journals which received Impact Factor for the first time.
Academic authors highly value efficient publishing processes, robust editorial support, and the opportunity to publish in high-impact journals. We are proud that our newly launched journals typically achieve coverage in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of the Web of Science within just a few years, with a median time of only three years from release to inclusion.
As part of our commitment to advancing academic research and providing high-quality OA publishing, we actively seek new research areas to expand our portfolio of journals. We have a proven track record of successfully establishing new journals.
Our dedicated teams excel in fostering dynamic editorial boards and working closely with Editors-in-Chief (EiC) to define the precise scope and focus of each new journal. Our expertise extends to collaborating with indexing services, ensuring that our journals comply with best practices and are indexed promptly in all relevant databases.
Emerging Titles Ranked for the First Time
Our commitment to excellence is reflected in the annual impact metrics released this past June. The latest edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) showcases the integration of journals from the ESCI in the new unified category rankings, providing a simplified and more complete view of all journals within each subject category, including newly established titles.
Out of 137 new and developing MDPI journals ranked in the 2024 release, 79 are in the top half (Q1 or Q2) of their categories. Here is a breakdown of the number of MDPI’s ESCI-indexed journals by quartile in the JCR:
Quartile | No. of journals |
Q1 | 17 (12.4%) |
Q2 | 62 (45.3%) |
Q3 | 43 (31.4%) |
Q4 | 15 (10.9%) |
Not ranked (humanities-related journals) | 2 |
These rankings highlight our success in rapidly establishing high-impact new journals. Among those that made it directly into the top 25% of their category are the International Journal of Neonatal Screening, Journal of Xenobiotics, Polysaccharides, Smart Cities, and thirteen other journals.
You can browse MDPI journals by Indexing. Simply visit our Journals page and select from the list of Indexing bodies in the top left-hand corner.
Inside MDPI
MDPI Corporate Marketing Strategy and Team Meeting 2024
In July, I hosted the annual Corporate Marketing strategy and team-building activity with 15 of our team members.
The aim was to align the Corporate Marketing strategy with MDPI's goal of becoming the world's most trusted OA publisher. While we provide a high-level publishing experience for our authors, as seen from our surveys, we need to keep building on our transparent and open communication to foster trust within the scholarly community and continue enhancing our reputation.
The Corporate Marketing team plays an important role as the mouthpiece for all our major activities within MDPI, especially those that model what it means to be a trusted partner. The purpose of the strategy meeting was to develop a feeling of trust in one another and an understanding of how to inspire trust in the stakeholders with whom we interact.
“We need to keep building on our transparent and open communication to foster trust within the scholarly community”
We conducted a set of activities to facilitate that sense of mutual trust and trustworthiness. Examples of some activities we worked on during this strategy-building event include:
- Exploring what trust means
- ‘Letter to self’
- ‘The brand I most trust’
- Most Trusted Academic Publisher
- ‘The brand I would like MDPI to become’
- ‘The 2029 MDPI Annual Report’
- Voice of Customer and Share of Voice – survey/data update on MDPI Brand Experience and Brand Perception
- Integrate Trust-Based Objective into Marketing Plan
- ‘Becoming the MDPI experience’
- ‘Trusting the next steps’
While two days is not enough to finalize a marketing strategy, it is sufficient to get everyone who attended into the mindset of the direction in which we are working. From here, we will develop a program with next steps on main projects, update communications, and collaborate with team leads to incorporate this approach into our work going forward.
As a marketing team, we can communicate our messages, but trust has to be built at every touchpoint in the stakeholder journey. Just talking about it isn’t enough. We need to be about it. That’s a role each of us plays, from editorial to IT, from marketing to HR. We must build trust from the inside out. It starts with each manager and resonates out via every team member.
As a company, our goal is to give all stakeholders with whom we interact – whether internal or external – the experience of working with an organization it can trust.
Coming Together for Science
MDPI in Poland: Krakow Office
In July, I had the pleasure of visiting our Krakow office, following my recent trip to Warsaw to meet with the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
During these visits, I prioritized meeting with our Office Manager, Editorial Director, Group Leads, and members from various teams, including editorial, production, marketing, and journal relationship specialists, to understand their roles and current challenges. Instead of a formal presentation, I opted for an open discussion, sharing updates from headquarters to engage with colleagues in a more personal way.
Our Krakow office has many things to be proud of, including a large number of PhD colleagues (over a third of its staff holds a PhD degree). Krakow provides an opportunity for expanding beyond the 100 colleagues we currently have, by adding new hires in departments including editorial, production and marketing, among others.
About our Krakow office
- Opened in 2020
- 99 staff members as at 1 August 2024
- Main Departments include Editorial, Production, English Department, JRS, PR
Our Krakow office participates in international conferences, conducts author trainings and scholar visits, and engages in local market outreach. The office is also a member of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Technology (IZTECH) and is working on expanding its local engagement.
Krakow is the second-largest city in Poland, with a population of about 800,000. It also has a large student population of around 128,000, with seven universities. This means that roughly one in every eight residents is a student.
Poland and MDPI
Poland is a crucial market for MDPI. From 2020 to June 2024, Poland ranked 7th in submissions and 5th in publications for MDPI research articles. As at 31 July 2024, Poland ranks 7th in total MDPI publications, with approximately 70,000 research papers.
Between 2020 and June 2024, 61,500 authors from Poland published with MDPI. As at 30 June 2024, there are 1,205 active Editorial Board Members (EBMs) from Poland, with 661 EBMs (55% of the total) having an H-index over 25.
We also have four Editors-in-Chief (EiC) from Poland leading our journals: Coatings, Venereology, Advances in Respiratory Medicine, and Limnological Review, along with six Section EiC.
In 2023, we received approximately 21,000 submissions from Polish-affiliated authors, of which 12,032 were published.
“Poland is a crucial market for MDPI”
Meeting with Ministry of Education
On 22 July, we visited Warsaw to meet with the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
We were pleased to learn that they are strong supporters of the OA publishing model and value MDPI’s approach to the peer-review process, including our high ethical standards for quality control.
In 2023 Polish authors predominantly published their papers in OA, with MDPI holding the largest market share in OA publications within the country.
Our commitment to collaborating with Polish institutions is evident through our 33 Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) agreements with prestigious institutions such as the University of Warsaw, the University of Wroclaw, the Jagiellonian University, and Gdańsk University of Technology. Through IOAP discounts, a healthy waiver rate, and our peer-review voucher system, we provide the Polish scholarly community with significant savings in OA publishing. The Minister greatly appreciated these efforts and our commitment to offsetting some of the APC costs.
We discussed industry concerns about the threat of papermills and presented the preventive measures MDPI has in place to mitigate this risk and uphold high ethical standards. We informed them of our commitment to combating papermills, including our involvement with United2Act and the STM Research Integrity Hub, as well as our efforts to expand our research integrity team and explore proactive measures.
Closing Thoughts
MDPI Thought Leadership Op-ed on Open Access is Now Live on Politico
I am pleased to share that our thought leadership Op-ed piece on Open Access (OA) is now live on Politico. This is a nice push for continued influence and support of OA among policymakers and industry leaders.
Why Politico?
Politico's reputation as a highly credible and influential news platform makes it an important venue to reach key opinion leaders (KOL) from academia, policymakers, and thought leaders from many industries. This visibility helps promote the OA philosophy.
Open Access: A Moral Imperative for Progress
In this piece, I discuss the necessity of making scientific research freely available to all. I argue that publicly funded research should be publicly accessible, highlighting how OA democratizes scientific knowledge, accelerates research availability, and fosters collaboration.
“Open Access is a fundamental right for all citizens”
Democratizing scientific communication
The impulse to democratize scientific communication is nothing new. OA may seem like a recent innovation, but its principles have historical roots traceable to Europe in the 15th century. Just as the printing revolution accelerated the dissemination of new ideas, OA publishing unlocks new scientific insights that would otherwise only be accessible to a few.
Benefits for scholars: amplifying impact through Open Access
Authors publishing in an OA journal can expect more citations of their work, increasing its potential impact. Research findings that are freely available are more likely to be cited than those hidden behind a paywall. Freedom of access greatly increases the potential audience for each paper, fostering a sense of community among researchers worldwide. Heightened visibility can attract prospective collaborators and employers for young scientists. At MDPI, we believe that all these factors can only accelerate the advance of science. Additionally, authors retain copyright in their work instead of signing it away, permitting broader dissemination under Creative Commons licenses and increasing its capacity for impact.
The moral imperative
OA is not just a matter of scientific policy; it is a fundamental right for all citizens and a prerequisite for a brighter, more informed future. Publicly funded research should be a top priority, and I am pleased to see policy moving in this direction. Our capacity to generate transformative scientific insights has to be democratized. The question today is no longer whether we can afford to embrace OA; rather, it is whether we can afford not to.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
2 August 2024
MDPI Romania Author Training Sessions in May
In May, MDPI Romania held three author training sessions – one endorsing an external event and two stand-alone sessions.
The National Session of Scientific Student Communications took place at Technical University Cluj on 17 and 18 May 2024. MDPI Romania sponsored this event and contributed an author training session on the production of research papers and case study analyses. JRS Norbert Kiss gave a presentation called The World of Open Access to explain different open access publishing models and the benefits of open access publishing. His presentation highlighted the impact of open access publishing on scientific progress and innovation.
On 29 May 2024, MDPI Romania hosted an author training session for Ph.D. students, early career researchers, and professors at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In collaboration with Prof. Andreea Arsene, JRS Ioana Paunescu prepared two presentations: The Steps of the Publishing Process and Elaboration of a Peer Review Report. In her first presentation, she delved into MDPI’s history and mission, MDPI’s editorial process, and MDPI journals of various scopes that are accepting submissions. Her second presentation outlined the types of peer review, the contents of a peer review report by an MDPI reviewer, and the responsibilities of an MDPI reviewer.
MDPI Romania also hosted an author training session at the Iasi University of Life Sciences on 29 May 2024. JRSs Laurentiu Preda and Cosmin Artan gave four presentations: Efficient Writing of an ISI-Indexed Scientific Article, Benefits of Publishing in the Open Access Model, Various Methods of Open Access Publishing, and MDPI Guide for the Article Review Process. The first three presentations offered guidance on how to improve academic writing, the fourth focused on how to write peer review reports. A highly interactive discussion followed the presentations, during which the JRSs provided extensive answers to attendees’ questions.
MDPI is grateful for all the attendees, speakers, and organizers involved in these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.
10 July 2024
MDPI's Newly Launched Journals in June 2024
Five new journals covering multiple subjects have launched their inaugural issue in June 2024. We are excited to be able to share with you the newest research rooted in the value of open access.
We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all the Editorial Board Members and each journal will ensure its high-quality output using excellent editorial and rigorous peer review processes, to ensure that the articles achieve high impact and visibility.
Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.
Journal |
Founding Editor-in-Chief |
Journal Topics (Selected) |
Prof. Dr. Marco Ranucci, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Italy |
anaesthetic medications; blood and fluid management; pain management; critical care; critical illness | view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Dr. Giovanni E. Cacciamani, University of Southern California, USA |
surgical/procedural complications; complications; perioperative adverse events; postoperative adverse events | view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Gassan Hodaifa, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain |
laboratory management; laboratory safety; protective equipment; laboratory problems and challenges; laboratory Innovation | view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Jan S. Suchodolski, Texas A&M University, USA |
companion animals health and disease; veterinary care and nutrition; genetics and genomics; behavior and welfare; human-animal relations | view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco De Paola, University of Naples Federico II, Italy |
real estate appraisal; economic and financial valuation of real estate projects; sustainable real estate; housing and urban economics | view journal scope | submit an article |
We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to send an application here, or contact the New Journal Committee ([email protected]) if you would like to create more new journals.
20 June 2024
2023 Impact Factors for MDPI Journals Released
MDPI is pleased to announce the inclusion of 237 journals in the 2024 release of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and share the key results (see above).
This year, journals covered in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) received category ranks together with journals in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Overall, 139 MDPI journals indexed in ESCI are included in the new unified rankings for the first time.
Enhanced Comparability of Data
According to Clarivate, "the creation of unified category rankings [provides] a simpler and more complete category view for the evaluation of journal performance. [...] The category-first approach simplifies journal performance assessment with a holistic view of all journals in each subject category."
We are thrilled to announce that 72% of our ranked MDPI journals (171 of 237) are above average, in Q1 or Q2. Twenty-nine of our journals received their first Impact Factor this year, accounting for more than 5% of the journals accepted into the Web of Science last year.
MDPI Journals Ranked in JCR
The following data includes all MDPI journals indexed in SCIE, SSCI, ESCI and AHCI.
Journal |
Impact Factor |
Rank Quartile |
Category |
Q3 |
Acoustics |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q2 |
Management |
||
Q3 |
Respiratory System |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Aerospace |
||
Q1 |
Agronomy |
||
Q2 |
Agricultural Engineering |
||
Q1 |
Agronomy |
||
Q1 |
Plant Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Theory & Methods |
||
Q1 |
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science |
||
Q1 |
Veterinary Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Infectious Diseases |
||
Q1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q3 |
Immunology |
||
Q1 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q1 |
Chemistry, Medicinal |
||
Q1 |
Food Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Telecommunications |
||
N/A |
Humanities, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical |
||
Q1 |
Audiology & Speech-language Pathology |
||
Q1 |
Mathematics, Applied |
||
Q2 |
Electrochemistry |
||
Q2 |
Energy & Fuels |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Psychology, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Food Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q1 |
Computer Science, Theory & Methods |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Biomedical |
||
Q1 |
Biology |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Medicine, Research & Experimental |
||
Q1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Biomaterials |
||
Q1 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q1 |
Chemistry, Analytical |
||
Q1 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q2 |
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology |
||
Q3 |
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology |
||
Q1 |
Ornithology |
||
Q3 |
Neurosciences |
||
Q2 |
Construction & Building Technology |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Civil |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Oncology |
||
Q4 |
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q2 |
Cell Biology |
||
Q1 |
Materials Science, Ceramics |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Chemical |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Analytical |
||
Q2 |
Electrochemistry |
||
Q1 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q2 |
Pediatrics |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Environmental |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q3 |
Clinical Neurology |
||
Q3 |
Neurosciences |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Coatings & Films |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q2 |
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q3 |
Physics, Condensed Matter |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Dermatology |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Theory & Methods |
||
Q2 |
Crystallography |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Oncology |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Multidisciplinary Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine |
||
Q3 |
Dermatology |
||
Q3 |
Endocrinology & Metabolism |
||
Q1 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q2 |
Medicine, Research & Experimental |
||
Q2 |
Biodiversity Conservation |
||
Q3 |
Ecology |
||
Q1 |
Remote Sensing |
||
Q3 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Ecology |
||
Q3 |
Economics |
||
Q2 |
Economics |
||
Q1 |
Education & Educational Research |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q3 |
Energy & Fuels |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Genetics & Heredity |
||
Q4 |
Critical Care Medicine |
||
Q4 |
Dermatology |
||
European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education |
Q1 |
Psychology, Clinical |
|
Q2 |
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Ecology |
||
Q1 |
Forestry |
||
Q2 |
Fisheries |
||
Q2 |
Marine & Freshwater Biology |
||
Q3 |
Mechanics |
||
Q3 |
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas |
||
Q1 |
Food Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Multidisciplinary Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Forestry |
||
Q1 |
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q3 |
Energy & Fuels |
||
Q3 |
Engineering, Chemical |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Astronomy & Astrophysics |
||
Q4 |
Economics |
||
Q4 |
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q4 |
Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods |
||
Q3 |
Gastroenterology & Hepatology |
||
Q4 |
Gastroenterology & Hepatology |
||
Q1 |
Polymer Science |
||
Q3 |
Ethnic Studies |
||
Q4 |
Family Studies |
||
Q3 |
Sociology |
||
Q2 |
Genetics & Heredity |
||
Q2 |
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Geriatrics & Gerontology |
||
Q2 |
Health Care Sciences & Services |
||
Q2 |
Health Policy & Services |
||
Q4 |
Hematology |
||
Q4 |
Hematology |
||
N/A |
Humanities, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Multidisciplinary Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Horticulture |
||
N/A |
Humanities, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Water Resources |
||
Q4 |
Immunology |
||
Q2 |
Infectious Diseases |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Construction & Building Technology |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Civil |
||
Q2 |
Transportation Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear |
||
Q1 |
Entomology |
||
Q2 |
Business, Finance |
||
Q1 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Genetics & Heredity |
||
Q1 |
Pediatrics |
||
International Journal of Turbomachinery Propulsion and Power |
Q2 |
Engineering, Aerospace |
|
Q3 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Geography, Physical |
||
Q2 |
Remote Sensing |
||
Q2 |
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems |
||
Q1 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Composites |
||
Q3 |
Developmental Biology |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Biomedical |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Biomaterials |
||
Q1 |
Sport Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Microbiology |
||
Q1 |
Mycology |
||
Q3 |
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology |
||
Q1 |
Psychology, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Manufacturing |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Marine |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Ocean |
||
Q2 |
Oceanography |
||
Q2 |
Health Care Sciences & Services |
||
Q1 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Telecommunications |
||
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research |
Q1 |
Business |
|
Q1 |
Toxicology |
||
Q2 |
Biodiversity Conservation |
||
Q2 |
Communication |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Studies |
||
N/A |
Language & Linguistics |
||
Q2 |
Linguistics |
||
Q1 |
Law |
||
Q1 |
Biology |
||
Q2 |
Management |
||
Q2 |
Operations Research & Management Science |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q3 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Chemistry, Medicinal |
||
Q1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Condensed Matter |
||
Q2 |
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q1 |
Mathematics |
||
Q1 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Chemical |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Polymer Science |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering |
||
Q3 |
Biochemical Research Methods |
||
Q3 |
Microbiology |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Analytical |
||
Q2 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q3 |
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q2 |
Microbiology |
||
Q2 |
Geochemistry & Geophysics |
||
Q2 |
Mineralogy |
||
Q2 |
Mining & Mineral Processing |
||
Q3 |
Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q4 |
Chemistry, Organic |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence |
||
Q2 |
Computer Science, Cybernetics |
||
Q3 |
Computer Science, Information Systems |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Applied |
||
Q2 |
Clinical Neurology |
||
Q3 |
Clinical Neurology |
||
Q4 |
Neurosciences |
||
Q4 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q2 |
Genetics & Heredity |
||
Q1 |
Nursing |
||
Q1 |
Nutrition & Dietetics |
||
Q3 |
Marine & Freshwater Biology |
||
Q3 |
Oceanography |
||
Q4 |
Optics |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Organic |
||
Q3 |
Astronomy & Astrophysics |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Nuclear |
||
Q3 |
Physics, Particles & Fields |
||
Q2 |
Microbiology |
||
Q2 |
Pathology |
||
Q3 |
Pediatrics |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Medicinal |
||
Q1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q3 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q2 |
History & Philosophy of Science |
||
N/A |
Philosophy |
||
Q2 |
Optics |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Plant Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas |
||
Q1 |
Polymer Science |
||
Q1 |
Polymer Science |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Chemical |
||
Q4 |
Materials Science, Biomaterials |
||
Q2 |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
||
Q4 |
Psychiatry |
||
Q1 |
Information Science & Library Science |
||
Q3 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Characterization & Testing |
||
Q4 |
Quantum Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
||
N/A |
Religion |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology |
||
Q2 |
Remote Sensing |
||
Q3 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q4 |
Obstetrics & Gynecology |
||
Q4 |
Reproductive Biology |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Business, Finance |
||
Q2 |
Robotics |
||
Q3 |
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health |
||
Q3 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
||
Q2 |
Chemistry, Analytical |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Instruments & Instrumentation |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Analytical |
||
Q2 |
Medicine, General & Internal |
||
Q3 |
Psychology, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Womens Studies |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q1 |
Urban Studies |
||
Q2 |
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Sociology |
||
Q2 |
Soil Science |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Sport Sciences |
||
Q4 |
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
||
Q3 |
Statistics & Probability |
||
Q3 |
Chemistry, Physical |
||
Q3 |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q4 |
Surgery |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Studies |
||
Q3 |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Multidisciplinary Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary |
||
Q1 |
Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
||
Q3 |
Telecommunications |
||
Q4 |
Hematology |
||
Q2 |
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q1 |
Toxicology |
||
Q2 |
Food Science & Technology |
||
Q1 |
Toxicology |
||
Q2 |
Infectious Diseases |
||
Q2 |
Parasitology |
||
Q1 |
Tropical Medicine |
||
Q2 |
Astronomy & Astrophysics |
||
Q2 |
Physics, Particles & Fields |
||
Q3 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Environmental Studies |
||
Q2 |
Geography |
||
Q3 |
Regional & Urban Planning |
||
Q2 |
Urban Studies |
||
Q1 |
Immunology |
||
Q1 |
Medicine, Research & Experimental |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q2 |
Transportation Science & Technology |
||
Q2 |
Veterinary Sciences |
||
Q3 |
Engineering, Mechanical |
||
Q3 |
Mechanics |
||
Q2 |
Virology |
||
Q2 |
Environmental Sciences |
||
Q2 |
Water Resources |
||
Q2 |
Economics |
||
Q2 |
Political Science |
||
Q1 |
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary |
||
Q2 |
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
||
Q2 |
Transportation Science & Technology |
Source: 2023 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports TM (Clarivate, 2024)
About MDPI
A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 440 fully open access titles.
18 June 2024
EGU General Assembly 2024 Closes Successfully in Vienna, Highlighted by MDPI's Booth and Geosciences Award Ceremony
From 14 to 19 April 2024, the EGU General Assembly 2024, a highly anticipated event in the global earth sciences community, was held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Austria. The conference not only provided a platform for earth scientists from around the world to exchange the latest research findings and discuss academic frontiers, but also witnessed several thrilling moments. In particular, the Outstanding Reviewer Award and Travel Award ceremony for Geosciences journal (ISSN: 2076-3263) stood out as a significant highlight of the conference.
During the week-long event, MDPI had a dedicated exhibition booth, showcasing its diverse range of journals and unique publishing characteristics. Concurrently, Geosciences journal organized an award ceremony, during which Section Editor-in-Chief (SEiC) Prof. Dr. Olivier Lacombe presented the Outstanding Reviewer Award to Dr. Simone Bello, who was represented by Prof. Dr. Rita de Nardis in receiving the honor, and Dr. Yuchen Wang, and the Travel Award to Dr. Andrea Maffeis.
Prof. Dr. Olivier Lacombe, the SEiC of Geosciences journal, served as the guest presenter at the award ceremony. Not only is he a dedicated supporter and contributor to the journal, but he has also achieved remarkable accomplishments in the field of earth sciences. He presented the winners with their certificates and expressed high recognition and praise for their academic achievements.
Prof. Dr. Rita de Nardis; Dr. Andrea Maffeis; Ms. Bojana Mijanovic; Mrs. Oana Irina Karadag; Prof. Dr. Olivier Lacombe; Dr. Yuchen Wang (From left to the right)
The Outstanding Reviewer Award recognizes reviewers who have demonstrated excellence in their peer-review work for the journal and made significant contributions to the academic quality. These reviewers, with their profound academic knowledge and rigorous reviewing attitude, have provided valuable support for the journal's development. The Travel Award, on the other hand, aims to encourage young scholars to actively participate in international academic exchanges and enhance their research capabilities. The awarded young scholars have demonstrated remarkable research potential and academic pursuit in the field of earth sciences.
During the award ceremony, the winners shared their research insights and academic aspirations. They expressed that receiving recognition and encouragement from Geosciences journal is a great affirmation of their academic achievements and a driving force for them to continue moving forward.
In addition to the award ceremony, our representatives actively participated in various conference activities, engaging in in-depth exchanges and discussions with scholars from around the world. They not only shared the latest research findings and academic progress, but also had lively discussions on cutting-edge issues in the field of earth sciences. These exchanges broadened their academic horizons and provided new ideas and directions for their future research.
Dr. Stefano Luigi Gariano
Dr. Paolo Madonia
Dr. Olga Petrucci
Dr. Doris Folini
Dr. Silvia Kohnova
Dr. Samuele Segoni
Dr. Cheng-Yu Ku
Dr. Annalisa Cappello
Dr. Raffaele Albano
Dr. Linda Lee
Prof. Paolo Reggiani
More MDPI Moments:
The successful conclusion of the EGU General Assembly 2024 and the triumphant award ceremony for Geosciences journal not only showcased the latest achievements and academic style in the field of earth sciences, but also provided a platform for global scholars to communicate and collaborate. It is believed that in the future, MDPI will continue to uphold its mission of “promoting the development of earth sciences and fostering academic exchanges and cooperation”, contributing significantly to the prosperity and advancement of the earth sciences field.
7 June 2024
MDPI Calls for Greater Open Access to Science for Ocean Protection
On UNESCO’s 2024 Oceans Day, MDPI encourages the scientific community to increase the accessibility of ocean research to accelerate ocean conservation.
Basel, Switzerland, June 7, 2024: MDPI, a leading open access (OA) publisher, is proud to announce its active support for World Oceans Day 2024, celebrated under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade framework. MDPI’s CEO, Stefan Tochev hopes that “the latest ocean research can be made freely accessible to help empower scientists and communities at large to save our oceans,” under UNESCO’s Ocean Decade until 2030.
Open Access: A Catalyst for Ocean Action
MDPI’s presence at the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference 2024 highlights our unwavering commitment to using OA to advance ocean science, support research communities, and promote sustainable ocean management.
"Our involvement in the UNESCO Ocean Decade Conference underscores MDPI's commitment to the underfunded Ocean SDG. By promoting OA to scientific articles and books on SDGs, we aim to inspire critical actions," said Tochev. "Our initiatives, like the World Sustainability Award and Emerging Sustainability Award, further demonstrate our dedication to advancing sustainability.”
Showcasing MDPI’s Contributions to Ocean Research
Over the past three years, MDPI has published 30,000 papers focused on ocean research and related topics. Key MDPI journals contributing to this body of work include:
- Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (4.9k papers)
- Remote Sensing (2.6k papers)
- Sustainability (2k papers)
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) (1.7k papers)
- Marine Drugs (1.5k papers)
- Water (1.5k papers)
These publications highlight MDPI’s contributions to ocean science, reinforcing our role in the broader sustainability agenda by promoting blue innovation and economy.
Additionally, MDPI has launched Oceans, an international, peer-reviewed forum specifically aimed at publishing studies related to all branches of oceanography with an emphasis on the functioning of the ocean and the sustainable use of its resources and ecosystem services.
Affirming MDPI’s Commitment to Ocean Science
MDPI’s commitment to OA is pivotal in addressing critical global challenges, from climate change to ocean sustainability. Our efforts resonate with Outcome 4 of the UNESCO Ocean Decade action roadmap: an accessible ocean with open and equitable access to data, information, technology, and innovation. By aligning with UNESCO’s goals, MDPI continues to contribute to shaping a sustainable future for our oceans, reinforcing our position as a forward-thinking publisher dedicated to environmental stewardship and scientific excellence.
For more information, contact Rui Duarte at [email protected] or +41764313242.
About MDPI
A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of over 6000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 430 fully open access titles.
5 June 2024
MDPI Sets a New Benchmark for Publishing Excellence
95% of authors rate MDPI’s publication process as excellent or good, setting a new benchmark in scientific publishing – reveals 2023 Annual Report.
Basel, Switzerland, June 4, 2024: MDPI, the leading open access (OA) publisher, proudly announces the release of its 2023 Annual Report, detailing remarkable achievements and reaffirming its leadership in advancing OA publishing. In 2023, MDPI received 655,065 submissions, of which 285,244 articles were published. The company now commands a 17% market share in gold open access articles, with a median publication time of six weeks.
Stefan Tochev, MDPI's CEO, stated, "As a pioneer in open access publishing, MDPI has long been a game-changer in the scholarly community, serving millions of authors around the world to ensure the latest research is freely available. Reflecting on our incredible journey at MDPI, 2023 has been marked by growth in paper submissions, ambitious projects and initiatives aimed at improving our internal processes and delivering top-notch services to our scientists."
MDPI's 2023 Annual Report highlights several key achievements:
- 17% market share in gold open access articles across all disciplines.
- Record satisfaction rates: 95% of authors, 82% of reviewers, and 85% of guest editors.
- Enhanced editorial standards and feedback processes.
- Increased reach and impact with 54 new MDPI journal inclusions in Scopus, 29 in Web of Science, and 77 in DOAJ.
MDPI’s unwavering commitment to advancing OA has transformed the landscape of scholarly publishing, making high-quality research freely accessible to the global scientific community. The continuous improvement in our editorial standards and feedback processes underscores MDPI’s dedication to ensuring academic integrity and excellence.
Global Reach and Collaboration
MDPI’s global footprint continues to expand, with authors from diverse regions: 37% from Asia/Pacific, 36% from Europe, 15% from the Americas, and 12% from other parts of the world. The company’s fully OA platform attracted nearly 14 million monthly visitors in 2023, reflecting its widespread influence in the scientific community.
Commitment to Partnerships
With over 800 institutional partners, MDPI continues to demonstrate its dedication to providing reliable and collaborative publishing services. The introduction of a transparent flat-fee model highlights MDPI's ongoing efforts to enhance affordability and support to the academic community. For more details read our 2023 Annual Report.
For more information, contact Rui Duarte at [email protected] or +41764313242.
About MDPI
A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of over 6000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 430 fully open access titles.
4 June 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #12 - First Term as CEO, Tu Youyou Award, Books Report
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Renewed Term as CEO of MDPI
I released the first CEO Letter at the end of June 2023, reflecting on my first month as CEO. Looking back at the first release, I’m pleased to see a marked consistency of content – from talking about open access (OA) and highlighting the great work being done at MDPI, to bringing together the science community with our conferences and building relations with our editorial board members and our industry as a whole.
For example, in the first letter, I highlighted our meeting with Dr. Eric O. Freed, the founding and current Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of our journal Viruses. Meeting with Eric is a pleasure, as he has a strong commitment and clear vision for the journal.
On 21 May, 2024 we met with EiC Prof. Dr. Antonino Carbone, and Section EiC Prof. Dr. Alberto Signore (pictured on the left), of our journal Hemato (tracked for Impact Factor, and indexed in Scopus), showing our continued and active collaboration with our chief editors to develop the visions for the journal. Over the course of the day, we gathered feedback and gained an understanding of the journal's expectations and focus on strategic growth.
Reflections on my first year as CEO: achievements and initiatives
During my first year as CEO, there have been many remarkable moments, including a strong focus on bringing people together, focusing on company communications and performance.
According to a recent study of 3,400 people across 10 countries, “Managers impact employees’ mental health (69%) more than doctors (51%) or therapists (41%) — and even the same as a partner (69%).” This is an important topic for me, and perhaps that’s why I place a high value on management culture due to its tangible impact on people’s lives.
When I joined MDPI, I created a weekly meet-up for the Corporate Marketing department and their team leads. On the final Thursday of every month, we hold a Global Marketing meet-up to present projects, share knowledge, and conduct training. For years, I’ve maintained the tradition of ending each of our monthly global calls with a group photo to boost morale, motivation, and productivity, and to finish on a positive note.
In keeping with this, when I stepped into the role of CEO, I launched a bi-weekly management meeting, chairing over 20 MDPI Management Team meetings in my first year. These sessions provide an opportunity for managers to present their team’s work, focusing on their achievements and the challenges they face, while at the same time creating space for sharing knowledge.
“I firmly believe that OA is the future of publishing”
I co-organized and co-led the 2023 MDPI Strategy Management meeting this past October, from which we established an Executive Task Force that meets monthly to prioritize projects aimed at building MDPI into the world’s most trusted publisher. To achieve our goals, we as managers need to maintain collaborative communication and connect to the bigger picture.
As CEO, I focused on leadership communication by publishing 12 CEO Letters, one for each month of my tenure, to share more about MDPI news and achievements. I also produced ten videos to help further communicate our message.
I was happy to attend eight publishing and conference events, including STM in Frankfurt and Washington, APE, and R2R, and facilitate critical company meetings with Elsevier, Web of Science, ResearchGate, DOAJ, and others. It was a pleasure to meet and have discussions with key organizations and governing bodies such as CAS in China and ANVUR in Italy.
The best part was the opportunity to visit seven MDPI offices across Europe and Asia-Pacific, meeting with local managers and colleagues and supporting them in person. As part of this, I conducted training sessions while continuing to lead the Corporate Marketing department.
Looking ahead
My goal for my second year as CEO is to continue building on the initiatives from the past, including leadership communications, public relations, educational marketing, and company culture, while representing MDPI to the best of my ability. Additionally, I have a few new projects I hope to launch that I believe will be valuable to MDPI and the industry at large.
I firmly believe that OA is the future of publishing, and I am grateful to be in a position to advocate for this belief as part of MDPI, the world's leading open access publisher.
Thank you to our staff and industry friends for your genuine support in this role.
Impactful Research
Nominations Open for the Prestigious Tu Youyou Award 2024
I am pleased to share that MDPI has opened nominations for the 2024 Tu Youyou Award, a prestigious recognition established in honour of Professor Tu Youyou, Nobel Laureate, whose work has significantly transformed the global fight against malaria.
The Tu Youyou Award offers CHF 100,000
In 2015, Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin, significantly reducing mortality rates from malaria and shaping global health policies. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are now the standard treatment endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), saving countless lives, especially in regions heavily burdened by malaria.
MDPI Special Issue
To mark Professor Tu’s 80th birthday in 2009, MDPI’s journal Molecules issued a Special Issue focusing on her contributions to medical research. Recognizing her continuous contribution, MDPI created the Tu Youyou Award in 2016 to honour outstanding achievements in natural products and medicinal chemistry.
The deadline for nominations is 31 December 2024
Nominations are open to scientists excelling in natural products and medicinal chemistry. Eligible nominators include academic institutes, universities, and societies. The deadline for nominations is 31 December 2024, with the winners to be announced on 30 April 2025. The Tu Youyou Award offers CHF 100,000, split equally among the winners.
MDPI encourages the academic community to nominate individuals who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in line with Professor Tu’s legacy. This award not only honours individual achievement but also encourages further scientific exploration and discovery in critical areas of medicine.
This award embodies our deep commitment to groundbreaking research that drives societal progress and celebrates the legacy of one of the greatest medical innovators of our time.
Inside MDPI
2023 MDPI Books Report
In past CEO letters, I have highlighted our publishing process and the impactful peer-reviewed articles that represent the core output of scholarly publishing. However, scholarly books are another pillar of publishing that MDPI also services, which our core audience may not be fully aware of. In this section, I highlight the 2023 MDPI Books report, released by our MDPI Books team in May 2024.
Download the 2023 MDPI Books Report
In the report, you will find a summary of MDPI Books’ 10th anniversary, the books indexed in the Web of Science Book Citation Index, our market outreach, and our outlook for 2024.
MDPI Books celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023
MDPI Books published its first OA Reprint, “From the Renaissance to the Modern World,” in 2013. Over the past ten years, MDPI Books has seen a significant increase in both the volume and nature of published Reprints. As of December 2023, our catalogue includes a total of 7,369 Reprints, with 1,811 of them added in 2023 alone. MDPI Books includes monographs, book series, edited books and reprints of special issues and topical collections, among other book types.
We’re also celebrating the 10-year MDPI anniversary of Laura Wagner, Head of MDPI Books.
Laura Wagner (Head of Books Division)
Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and History from the University of Basel. After her studies, she started her career at an art gallery in Basel.
Since joining MDPI in 2014, Laura has held several roles within the company. This included editorial work, development of reprint and book services, and the temporary management of the journal Arts.
Currently Laura holds the role of Head of Books Division and is in charge of the development and strategic direction of MDPI Books.
MDPI Books indexed in Web of Science Book Citation Index
Another milestone in 2023 was the indexing of four book titles in the Web of Science Book Citation Index. The indexing of our open access books is crucial for their reach and accessibility, ensuring higher visibility within the open science community.
- Self-Representation in an Expanded Field: From Self-Portraiture to Selfie, Contemporary Art in the Social Media Age by editor Ace Lehner
- Towards Socially Integrative Cities: Perspectives on Urban Sustainability in Europe and China by editors Bernhard Müller, Jian Liu, Jianming Cai, Paulina Schiappacasse, Hans-Martin Neumann, and Baojun Yang
- Transitioning to Gender Equality by editors Christa Binswanger and Andrea Zimmermann
- Under Construction: Performing Critical Identity by editor Marie-Anne Kohl
If you would like to learn more about MDPI Books, please visit: www.mdpi.com/books
If you are thinking of writing or editing a book, you can submit your proposal at www.mdpi.com/books/publish-with-us, or email us at [email protected].
Coming Together for Science
Polymers 2024 – Polymers for a Safe and Sustainable Future
Our conference team successfully managed the Polymers 2024 – Polymers for a Safe and Sustainable Future international conference which took place from 28–31 May 2024 in Athens, Greece. The conference was chaired by Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Bikiaris and Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Triantafyllidis from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and Dr. Ioanna Deligkiozi from AXIA Innovation, Germany. In total, the conference had 259 accepted abstracts and over 300 attendees from 22 different countries.
The conference featured three keynote speakers and 12 invited speakers, including esteemed scholars from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Canada. It included 60 selected talks and 189 posters, chosen by the 24 members of the Scientific Committee along with the three Conference Chairs. The event explored the latest scientific advancements and innovations in polymer science, focusing on creating safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly materials. Emphasizing green polymer chemistry and the use of bioresources, the conference promoted the synthesis of biobased and biodegradable polymers.
The conference featured esteemed scholars from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Canada
Conference awards
The conference also presented three awards: two sponsored by the journal Polymers – The Best Poster Award (€500) and the Best Oral Presentation Award (€600) – and one sponsored by Ossila, the Best Student Poster Award (€500).
Thank you to our 16 sponsors, three partnering societies (Hellenic Polymer Society, European Polymer Federation, and North American Thermal Analysis Society [NATAS]) and eight media partners.
Upcoming in-person event
1–4 August, 2024
The 1st International Conference on AI Sensors & The 10th International Symposium on Sensor Science
Location: Singapore
The AI Sensors 2024 Conference will unite innovators and experts in the realms of sensors, sensing technology, and artificial intelligence.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Closing Thoughts
3rd World Forum Principles of Scientific Publications
I’m pleased to share that MDPI sponsored and attended the 3rd World Forum on Principles of Scientific Publications, which took place from 22–24 May in Malaga, Spain. The event brought together academic professionals and leading researchers to discuss critical topics in the realm of publishing and research. Presentation topics included Open Science, AI in Publishing, Predatory Journals, Fake Publications, Challenges for Non-native English Speakers, and more.
“It was great to see strong support from MDPI authors in the audience”
MDPI presentations
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) presenting at the 3rd World Forum Principles of Scientific Publications
I had the privilege of attending and presenting at the event, along with my colleague Dr. Enric Sayas (Business Analyst, MDPI) from our Barcelona office, who explored the ethical concerns and opportunities brought by AI in publishing.
I took the opportunity to present on Open Science, the benefits of Open Access, and MDPI’s performance, operations, and investment in ethics. Special thanks to Evan Escamilla (Project Manager, MDPI Books) and Facundo Santomé (Sr. Marketing Manager, MDPI) who also joined the conference.
It was great to see strong support from MDPI authors in the audience who shared their positive experiences publishing with us. Their story reflects the experience of the vast majority of authors who choose to work with MDPI.
We also encountered some conservative views on OA, which created an opportunity for open discussion aimed at addressing concerns about OA and MDPI. Engaging in such discussions is important, as scepticism sometimes arises from misinformation or from a misunderstanding of who we are and how we operate. When we engage in open and honest discussion, we tend to see people getting a better understanding of MDPI, which helps address any misconceptions they may have had.
Left to right: Dr. Enric Sayas (Business Analyst, MDPI), Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Facundo Santomé (Sr. Marketing Manager, MDPI), and Evan Escamilla (Project Manager, MDPI Books) at 3rd World Forum Principles of Scientific Publications
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
23 May 2024
Transfer Service in MDPI
We are pleased to announce MDPI’s Transfer Service.
This service provides a convenient method of transferring your manuscript file, along with any reviewer comments, to another journal within our publishing portfolio.
We are committed to helping authors find the right home for their research, and we will provide authors with guidance and technical support through all stages of the transfer process. Authors will be able to choose to transfer in the following two situations:
1. Select alternative journals on submission.
2. Authors are encouraged to transfer manuscripts to other MDPI journals.
More details about the Transfer Service can be found at the following link:
17 May 2024
Tu Youyou Award—Open for Nominations
In acknowledgment of the groundbreaking achievements of Professor Tu Youyou, the Nobel laureate credited with the discovery of artemisinin, MDPI is proud to announce the Tu Youyou Award. This award, inaugurated in 2016, seeks to honor scholars who excel in the fields of natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
Prize:
- CHF 100,000 in total (If there is more than one winner, the prize will be divided equally amongst the winners);
- An award medal for each winner.
Who should be nominated?
- Scientists with outstanding achievements and contributions in the fields of natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
Who can submit a nomination?
- Academic research institutes
- Universities
- Academic societies
Any personal nominations are not accepted.
How do I submit a nomination?
Candidates’ institutional affiliations need to submit their nominations for final candidates to the Tu Youyou Award Team directly by email after internal screening, and each institution can only nominate a maximum of two candidates for each edition of the Tu Youyou Award. Please note that the nominations cannot be modified once they are submitted and confirmed by the Tu Youyou Award Team.
Required nomination materials:
Nomination Form (Download)
Schedule:
Nomination deadline: 31 December 2024;
Winner announcement: 30 April 2025.
Contact:
Tu Youyou Award Team ([email protected])
More information can be found on the Tu Youyou Award official website. For any inquiries, do not hesitate to contact the Tu Youyou Award Team.
16 May 2024
MDPI Romania Author Training Academic Events in April
MDPI Romania sponsored four events over the month of April, contributing author training sessions to each event.
The NutriSciLabs 2024 conference was held at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy on 12 April 2024. Organized by the Association of Students from the Faculty of Pharmacy Studies, the conference aimed to enhance students’ academic writing and research skills, and bolster their confidence in participating in the academic world. Ioana Paunescu, journal relations specialist for MDPI Romania, led the training session. Paunescu first outlined MDPI’s history and core values, then explained academic writing techniques, ethics, and similarity percentages. The presentation covered the entire editorial process, highlighting the amount of attention paid to details throughout manuscript processing. Paunescu also discussed common errors that authors make while writing, and how to avoid such errors.
On 13 April 2024, the NextGEN 2.0 Student Conference took place at the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. NextGen Healthcare organized this event with the university’s European Students’ Society to discuss European and international current affairs. MDPI Romania contributed an author training session called Steps of the Publication Process. Irina Codruta Zaharia, journal relations specialist, began the session with a general introduction of MDPI before diving into different article types, different layout formats, possible journals to submit to, the MDPI submission checklist, and the MDPI editorial process. By explaining the fundamentals of writing and publishing academic papers, Zaharia imparted valuable industry knowledge to the curious minds present. Participants were eager to engage with Zaharia in the subsequent Q&A session.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the International Conference “Students for Students” has long been a gathering place for undergraduate and postgraduate students of all nationalities to present their work and exchange ideas with each other. This year’s conference was held on 18 April 2024, with MDPI Romania contributing an author training session called The World of Open Access. Key speakers included Dr. Norbert Kiss from MDPI Romania and Prof. Dragos Horvath from Strasbourg University. Dr. Kiss discussed the history of open access, differences between open access publishing and traditional publishing, and implications for open access in the future. Attendees expressed keen interest in the subject, approaching Dr. Kiss with questions about academic publishing as well as his career trajectory.
Most recently, on 26 April 2024, MDPI Romania sponsored the National Symposium of Students from Geology and Geophysics Faculties. The AAPG Students Chapter at the Babes-Bolyai University organized this event as an opportunity for geology students from all Romanian universities to present their work and confer with other researchers. Dr. Kiss gave his lecture The World of Open Access at this event as well.
MDPI is thankful to all the participants, speakers, and organizers who attended these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.
2 May 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #11 - 2023 Annual Report, MDPI Awards, STM
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
2023 Annual Report
This is an exciting time of year at MDPI, as we have just released our annual report 2023, recapping the past year and sharing the progress and changes that took place during it.
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI)
Reflecting on 2023, I can't help but think of the changes that have occurred not only at MDPI but also within our industry as a whole. In light of this, I’m reminded that change is the only constant, and that for a publishing enterprise that has experienced rapid growth, adapting to change becomes not only a necessity but also a catalyst for sustained success.
Looking back on the significant ground we covered in 2023, I am pleased to report that the year was marked by a rise in paper submissions, along with a range of initiatives aimed at improving our internal processes and delivering top services to our scientists.
2023 Top-line MDPI Numbers
An important priority for 2023 was to strengthen our editorial policies. Despite a notable increase in the number of papers submitted from 603,000 to 655,000 (+8.6%), there was a decrease in the number of papers published from 303,000 to 285,000 (-5.9%), consistent with the overall trend in the scholarly publishing market. MDPI’s market share in gold open access articles published reached 17% in 2023 (according to Dimensions data).
2023 Open Access Numbers
For over two decades, MDPI has been at the forefront of reshaping the academic publishing landscape, with OA surpassing subscription-based publishing in 2020. This trajectory is deeply rooted in our history and reflects our unwavering commitment to, and vision for, an open future. This momentum continued in 2023, with 39% of the 4.16 million articles and reviews published as gold full-OA, 15% as gold hybrid-OA, 8% as bronze-OA, and 3% as green-OA, relative to 35% behind a paywall. In terms of gold OA (full or hybrid) articles and reviews published, MDPI leads the way in terms of total articles published in 2023.
MDPI is the trusted and preferred OA publisher for the scholarly community
However, in 2023, we saw a downward trend in publication numbers compared to 2022. This trend was also seen in total OA publications. While the number of submissions increased, the decline in MDPI publications can be attributed to several factors, such as improved scrutiny in our peer-review process, including the evaluation of content scope and higher rejection rates, and a post-pandemic decrease in research related to COVID-19 papers.
Download 2023 MDPI Annual Report.
Access 2023 Digital Report.
Impactful Research
Recognizing Scholars – MDPI Awards
MDPI is committed to empowering young researchers as they embark on their careers. In 2023, our journals hosted a total of 400 awards, receiving 8,839 applications and nominations. The evaluation committees selected 959 winners, with the total budget for these awards amounting to CHF 546,500.
For more information about MDPI awards, applications, and winners, please click here
The following awards recognize scholars and the impact of their research, including Young Investigator Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, and Travel Awards for junior researchers.
MDPI Awards – The following awards require an application or a nomination.
Young Investigator Award (CHF 1000–2000 for each winner)
This award acknowledges the achievements of young investigators in research areas relevant to the journal’s scope. Candidates must have received their PhD no more than 10 years prior to the award announcement date and must be nominated.
Best PhD Thesis Award (CHF 500–800 for each winner)
This award recognizes young scholars who have completed outstanding PhD theses in research areas relevant to the journal’s scope. It aims to encourage them to continue their excellent work and make further contributions to their field.
Travel Award (CHF 500–800 for each winner)
This award encourages junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences relevant to the journal’s scope, thereby increasing their impact.
Distinguished Scholars
Additionally, 220 awards were granted to the most distinguished authors and reviewers in our journals through Best Paper Awards and Outstanding Reviewer Awards. The following awards are selected by the editorial staff of the journal and do not require an application or a nomination. They exemplify the excellent contributions made by our authors, reviewers, and editors.
These awards exemplify the excellent contributions made by our authors, reviewers, and editors
Best Paper Award (CHF 200–500 for each winner)
This award is granted annually to highlight publications of high quality, scientific significance, and extensive influence.
Outstanding Reviewer Award (CHF 500 for partial winners)
This award is given annually to recognize reviewers who generously contribute their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate thoroughness, professionalism, and timeliness in their reviews.
MDPI also offers awards for specific topics in various research fields:
Carbon Neutrality Award (CHF 500–800 for each winner)
Sponsored by MDPI journal Sustainability, this award recognizes applicants who have made exceptional academic or societal contributions to carbon neutrality, either in general or in relation to a specific carbon-neutrality-related issue.
Intelligent Manufacturing Award (CHF 500–800 for each winner)
Administered by MDPI journal Machines, this award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding academic or societal contributions to the field of intelligent manufacturing.
Granted: World Sustainability Awards
Inside MDPI
MDPI Opens Office in Seoul, Korea and Appoints Claude Seo as Office Manager
As CEO of the world’s leading OA publisher, I am pleased to announce the official opening of our Korean branch office. With this addition, MDPI now operates 21 offices in 12 countries worldwide, improving on our position as a truly global publisher. This expansion represents more than just an increase in our physical footprint; it is a pivotal step in our ongoing commitment to making scientific knowledge more accessible across the globe.
MDPI now operates 21 offices in 12 countries worldwide, improving on our position as a truly global publisher
Claude Seo (MDPI Korea Office Manager, Seoul)
Claude Seo, who has over 15 years of experience in the academic publishing industry, has been appointed as the Office Manager of the Seoul office. The launch of our Seoul office allows us to better support the Korean scientific community and to further promote the publication of OA journals in the region.
Reflecting on his role, Claude shared that he is:
“Delighted to have been entrusted with this position within MDPI, the no. 1 scholarly OA publisher. As we establish our presence in Korea, we are dedicated to integrating ourselves into the local community and contributing to its vibrant culture. Our commitment goes beyond business growth; it is about creating a more informed and innovative society by embracing and promoting diversity within the scientific community.”
Sungkyunkwan University Joins MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program
Additionally, I am pleased to share that Sungkyunkwan University has joined MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). This program offers free access to MDP’s online submission system for institutions and provides APC discounts to affiliated authors. Thirteen major Korean universities, including Sungkyunkwan University, Kyunghee University, Chung-Ang University, and the Catholic University of Korea, have adopted IOAP in Korea.
Learn more about MDPI’s collaboration in Korea in my previous CEO Letter, in which I recap our visit to Seoul, South Korea.
Coming Together for Science
4th MMCS: Harnessing the Power of New Drug Modalities
Our conference team successfully managed the 4th Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium, held from 24–26 April in Barcelona, Spain. It was chaired by Prof. Dr. Diego Muñoz-Torrero from the Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), University of Barcelona, Spain, and Prof. Dr. Simona Collina from the University of Pavia, Italy. In total, there were 84 accepted abstracts and 102 conference attendees from 22 different countries.
From left to right: Prof. Dr. Rino Ragno (Scientific Committee), Dr. Maria Emilia Sousa (Scientific Committee), Prof. Dr. Claudio Viegas Jr. (Scientific Committee), Prof. Dr. Simona Collina (Chair), Prof. Dr. Diego Muñoz-Torrero (Chair), Alvina Wu (Managing Editor, MDPI), Prof. Dr. Roman Dembinski (Scientific Committee), Prof. Dr. Mariana Spetea (Scientific Committee).
The event comprised 12 Invited Speakers, 35 Selected Talks, 10 Flash Poster Presentations, and 39 Posters. The overarching topic of the conference was the impact of the emergence of new drug modalities on drug discovery, with thematic sessions covering topics such as photoactivatable drugs, candidates targeting RNA and epigenetic targets, covalent modifiers, and the development of new anti-cancer agents, among other medicinal chemistry projects.
We are pleased to have received feedback from attendees highlighting the professional approach of the conference chairs and participants, the high quality of the talks, and the overall outstanding organization on the part of the MDPI conference team.
Thank you to the conference sponsors, Fluorochem and IBUB, and to our partnering societies, The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), and the Spanish Society of Medicinal Chemistry (SEQT).
Upcoming In-Person Event
28–31 May, 2024
Polymers 2024 – Polymers for a Safe and Sustainable Future
Location: Athens, Greece
Conference Chairs: Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Bikiaris, Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Triantafyllidis, Dr. Ioanna Deligkiozi
We look forward to welcoming experts Prof. Damià Barceló, Prof. Minna Hakkareinen, and Prof. Armando J. D. Silvestre to this event.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Organize Your Event with MDPI’s Sciforum
Sciforum is MDPI’s platform dedicated to the organization of scientific events. In line with our mission to promote science, Sciforum supports scholars, societies, research networks, and universities at all stages of organizing in-person events, virtual events and webinars. Our platforms are efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective. We handle all steps related to event management. Contact us for details.
Closing Thoughts
A Report from the Future – STM US Annual Conference 2024
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Dr. Giulia Stefenelli and Dr. Ioana Craciun from MDPI’s Scientific Office Board.
MDPI has for a long time been a sponsor of the STM Annual Conferences, held yearly in the US and Frankfurt, and is a trusted partner and supporter of the STM organization. While I have attended the Frankfurt conference for the past three years, this was my first time visiting the Washington, DC session, and I am glad I did.
Although it was a brief trip, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend in the company of my colleagues Dr. Giulia Stefenelli and Dr. Ioana Craciun from MDPI’s Scientific Office Board. They always help map some of the new industry trends against MDPI’s operational framework and guidelines. It’s a great group for kicking ideas back and forth on what we can apply at MDPI.
In my experience, STM never fails to deliver. It’s always a great conference for reconnecting with fellow publishers, industry friends, and vendors. As usual, STM this year curated a diverse range of speakers and panels, who proferred valuable knowledge and insights from outside our industry, delivering thought-provoking insights into our field. An example of this was the ‘Trust Panel’ session, which included Alan Schiffres (Managing Director, InfoLinx), who shared a number of the learnings about fraud and risk management from his 40 years in financial services, to help address some of the challenges we are currently facing in the area of publishing integrity.
Launch of STM Trends 2028 Panel
I particularly enjoyed the ‘Launch of STM Trends 2028 Panel’, which presented a report focused on the integration of humans and machines in scholarly publishing. The session highlighted themes such as AI, digitization, and the evolving research ecosystem. The report envisions a future where technology blurs the lines between human and machine involvement in research processes, with significant implications for trust, reputation, and equity. While this presents opportunities for connectivity and knowledge dissemination, it also poses challenges such as disinformation, fragmentation, and geopolitical tensions. We must rely on a wise combination of technology and human agency to navigate this complex landscape and will have to carefully examine its potential impacts on communication and scholarly publishing.
MDPI has joined the STM Integrity Hub. Click here to learn more.
While every presenter brought their own knowledge and personal touch, I was particularly pleased to encounter new speakers such as Heather Whitney (Research Assistant Professor, Radiology, University of Chicago) and Igor Grossmann (Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Canada). Having studied Sociology at the University of Guelph, I have a soft spot for fellow social scientists from Canada, and I was very impressed by Igor’s presentation on ‘The Social Scientist: A View from the Future’ and his participation in the panel session ‘The Future Beyond the Article,’ which was one of my favourites from the conference, given the diversity of perspectives from the panel speakers.
Memorial Park in Washington, DC
On a personal note, this was my first-time visiting Washington, DC, and I’m glad we took an afternoon to visit the Memorial Park, with its incredible monuments to figures ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Abraham Lincoln. The magnitude of the monuments is deeply impressive. I particularly appreciated the Thomas Jefferson memorial and the following quote, which I think speaks to the importance of change and adaptation. It’s something we can apply not only in our industry but also in our personal lives.
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
– Excerpted from a letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
30 April 2024
MDPI Opens Office in Seoul, Korea and Appoints Claude Seo as Office Manager
MDPI, the leading Open Access (OA) publisher, announced on Monday that it opened its Korean branch office on 29th April 2024. With this addition, MDPI now operates 21 offices in 12 countries worldwide. Claude Seo, with over 20 years of experience in the academic journal publishing industry, including Nature Publishing Group (NPG), has been appointed as the Office Manager of the Seoul office.
With the establishment of a Seoul office, MDPI aims to actively support Korea scientific communities to further promote the publication of OA journals in the region. As of the end of 2023, Korea ranked sixth worldwide in both submissions and publications of MDPI research papers. MDPI is the number one OA publisher in Korea.
Sungkyunkwan University Joins MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program
In addition, MDPI announced that Sungkyunkwan University joined MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). This program offers free access to MDPI online submission system for the institutions and APC discounts to affiliated authors. Thirteen major Korean universities, including Sungkyunkwan University, Kyung Hee University, Chung-Ang University and Catholic University of Korea, have adopted IOAP in Korea.
OA aims to break down barriers that have traditionally restricted access to science, ensuring that knowledge is available to all, regardless of financial situation or institutional affiliations. Authors, academia, and scientific communities are rapidly moving toward OA. MDPI has been at the forefront of reshaping the academic publishing landscape, with OA surpassing subscription-based publishing in 2020.
MDPI CEO Visits Seoul, Korea
In March, Stefan Tochev, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MDPI, visited Korea and met with various stakeholders including government agencies, research and academic institutions, universities. During his visit, Stefan highlighted that MDPI continues to pave the way for a world where science is accessible to all, supporting a global community of inclusive innovation and collaborative solutions.
Stefan expressed excitement about the new venture, stating, "Today marks a significant milestone for MDPI as we celebrate the opening of our new office in Seoul, Korea. This expansion is more than just an increase in our physical footprint, it is a pivotal step in our ongoing commitment to making scientific knowledge more accessible, participatory, and inclusive across the globe."
Claude Seo, reflecting on his new role, commented, "I am delighted to have been offered this position of trust within MDPI, the no. 1 scholarly OA publisher. As we establish our presence in Korea, we are dedicated to integrating into the local community and contributing to its vibrant culture. Our commitment goes beyond business growth; it is about creating a more informed and innovative society by embracing and promoting diversity within the scientific community.”
For further inquiries, please contact our Seoul office directly.
About MDPI
A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to open science by making more research free and accessible to everyone. Over 3.3 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6000 diligent, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform that was designed to ensure efficient processes within its 430 fully OA titles.
2 April 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #10 - South Korea, IWD, U2A, Japan
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Left to right: Dr. Jisuk Kang (Scientific Officer, MDPI), Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), and Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Office Board, MDPI), during media meetings at Prain Agency office in Seoul, South Korea.
Visit to Seoul, South Korea
During my recent visit to South Korea, I had the privilege of meeting various stakeholders, including representatives of government, research institutions, and academia, to understand their needs and communicate MDPI’s commitment to accessible science. Accompanied by my colleagues Dr. Giulia Stefenelli and Dr. Jisuk Kang, I engaged with the Korean scientific community, which is increasingly embracing open access (OA).
As the leading OA publisher in South Korea, MDPI is trusted by local authors and in 2023 enjoyed an approximately 30% share of the OA market. South Korea ranks sixth globally for MDPI in terms of research papers submitted and published.
MDPI and South Korea by Numbers
As at 30 March, over 76,000 MDPI articles have been authored by individuals affiliated with Korean institutions. We have over 1,800 active editorial board members (EBMs) from South Korea, with more than 880 EBMs having an H-index between 26 and 50, including 10 serving as Chief Editors.
“South Korea is the sixth-largest contributor to our total publications”
Over the past five years (2019–2023), nearly 120,000 authors affiliated with South Korean institutes have published with MDPI. Specifically in 2023, we received approximately 25,000 submissions from South Korean authors, publishing close to 13,000 articles, resulting in a rejection rate of 47.4%, which is not far below MDPI’s overall rejection rate of 56.4% in 2023.
Institutional Partnerships with South Korea
I am pleased to share that MDPI has more than 825 institutional partnerships worldwide, with 12 in South Korea, including Kyunghee University, Chung-Ang University, and Inha University, among others.
Left to right: Dr. Jisuk Kang (Scientific Officer, MDPI), Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Office Board, MDPI), and Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) fielding media questions at Prain PR Agency office in Seoul, South Korea.
Over the past three years (2021–2023), we have had some of the most prestigious academic universities ranked among the top 10 Korean institutions publishing with MDPI. Seoul National University had the highest number of publications with MDPI during those three years, publishing nearly 6,000 papers. Universities such as Korea University and Yonsei University also rank among the top 10 Korean institutions publishing with MDPI.
MDPI Hosts Seminar for Academia and Media
As the world’s leading OA publisher, MDPI is actively democratizing science. This is reflected in the seminars we hosted on 21 March to address questions about our editorial processes and ethical standards. The visit garnered media coverage, reflecting our mission to providing high-quality services and fostering open dialogue in the community.
“MDPI is actively democratizing science”
MDPI in the News
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) leading a seminar on OA and MDPI at Prain PR Agency office in Seoul, South Korea.
Media coverage generated by our visit to Seoul included the following stories:
“Open access is an unstoppable trend…it will lead the development of the knowledge ecosystem.”
I greatly appreciate the contributions of everyone who took the time to meet with us, share their stories, and hold us accountable for continuing to provide high-quality publishing services while identifying areas for improvement. I am also excited to announce that we have opened an MDPI office in Seoul and will release a press release on MDPI.com, with details, by the end April 2024. The purpose of the office is to establish a local presence to connect with and support the South Korean academic community through institutional partnerships, conferences, author workshops, stakeholder communications, and more.
Impactful Research
Featured Articles on Women’s Leadership and Healthcare
In celebration of International Women’s Day (8 March 2024), MDPI curated a collection of research articles on various topics, including women’s leadership, reproductive health, preventive healthcare, and a selection of articles from our journal Women.
Women’s Leadership
- Women Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: Bibliometric Analysis and Emerging Research Trends
Sustainability 2022, 14, 9160. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159160 - Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment
Sustainability 2022, 14, 9154. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159154 - Women and Leadership in Higher Education: A Systematic Review
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12, 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100555 - Understanding Needs and Potentials for Gender-Balanced Empowerment and Leadership in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa
Sustainability 2022, 14, 9410. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159410 - Challenges Women Experience in Leadership Careers: An Integrative Review
Merits 2023, 3, 366-389. https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3020021
Women’s Reproductive Health
- Recreational Female Athletes’ Understanding of and Perceived Impact of the Menstrual Cycle on Physical Performance, Mood, and Sleeping Behaviour
Women 2023, 3, 445-456. https://doi.org/10.3390/women3030034 - Difficulties in Adaptation of the Mother and Newborn via Cesarean Section versus Natural Birth—A Narrative Review
Life 2023, 13, 300. https://doi.org/10.3390/life13020300 - The Main Theories on the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 4254. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24054254
Women’s Preventive Healthcare
- Insulin Metabolism in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Secretion, Signaling, and Clearance
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 3140. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043140 - Assessing Barriers Encountered by Women in Cervical Cancer Screening and Follow-Up Care in Urban Bolivia, Cochabamba
Healthcare 2022, 10, 1604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091604 - Updates on HPV Vaccination
Diagnostics 2023, 13, 243. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13020243
Featured Articles in MDPI Journal Women
Below are a few articles from Women, our journal focused on women’s health, the social determinants of health, and the healthcare system that serves women. The aim of Women is to encourage academics to publish their experimental and theoretical results in detail, to aid reproducibility, and in an engaging style, to aid comprehensibility.
- Premenstrual Syndrome and Exercise: A Narrative Review
Women 2023, 3, 348-364. https://doi.org/10.3390/women3020026 - Increasing Awareness of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine for Women 18–45 Years of Age
Women 2023, 3, 365-373. https://doi.org/10.3390/women3030027 - Addressing Women’s Needs with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Enhancing the Visibility of Pharmacists in the Public Health Arena
Women 2022, 2, 346-352. https://doi.org/10.3390/women2040032
Inside MDPI
Championing Women’s Healthcare and Access to Healthcare Information
MDPI colleagues from our offices joined in celebrating #IWD2024. In doing so, we emphasized key missions that encompass:
- Empowering women to assume leadership and decision-making roles in both business and science.
- Helping women and girls make informed decisions about their health.
- Recruiting and developing female talent and fostering inclusive workplace environments.
“We are thrilled to recognize the accomplishments of women scientists”
I am proud to see our colleagues enthusiastically supporting the International Women’s Day call to ‘Inspire Inclusion!’ The heart-hands in the collage below symbolize our appreciation of the achievements of women researchers and the recognition of the trailblazers who have courageously made a mark on societies past and present.
We are thrilled to recognize the accomplishments of women scientists through our many MDPI awards and by highlighting success stories. As inspirational figures, female scientists are paving the way for the next generation of women aspiring to pursue careers in engineering, life sciences, computing, and various other STEM fields.
“I consider myself lucky because I work with incredibly talented women who inspire me every day.”
– Dr. Alessandra Pasut, Winner of MDPI's ‘Biology 2023 Young Investigator Award’
“It’s really important to find a supportive and enabling environment in which to do your science; it would have a big impact on you as a person and on your scientific outputs.”
– Dr. Rhea Longley, Winner of the ‘Pathogens 2023 Young Investigator Award’
Open-access publishing, in particular, allows early-career women researchers to share their work more widely, potentially attracting mentorship opportunities and collaborations. This support is crucial for career development and advancement.
Coming Together for Science
MDPI Joins United2Act in Collective Fight to Stop Paper Mills
In my February 2024 CEO Letter, I highlighted some of our recent initiatives aimed at bolstering our commitment to research integrity, including joining the STM Integrity Hub and expanding our Research Integrity and Publication Ethics team (RIPE). Continuing our efforts in coming together for science, I am pleased to share our participation in the United2Act initiative.
The text below is taken from our official announcement:
United2Act represents an international group of stakeholders in the publishing industry committed to addressing the collective challenge posed to research integrity by paper mills.
Scientists and academic publishers have increasingly noted the alarming proliferation of paper mills, recognized as fraudulent entities seeking to manipulate the publication process for financial profit. These entities engage in fraudulent practices such as falsifying or fabricating data, selling co-authorship of fake papers, manipulating peer review, and including inappropriate citations. These actions pose a significant threat to the integrity of the scholarly record, prompting widespread concern among those involved in the academic community.
MDPI has been actively contributing to combat the undermining of the scientific record. Our editors employ a set of tools to detect potential ethical breaches within a manuscript and to tackle the issue of fake papers.
United2Act’s consensus statement is the outcome of a virtual summit held in May 2023. It involved the participation of research bodies, publishers, researchers/sleuths, universities, and publishing infrastructure from 15 countries and resulted in a Consensus Statement outlining five key areas of action for all stakeholders:
- Education and awareness
- Improve post-publication corrections
- Facilitate and organise research on paper mills
- Enable the development of trust markers
- Facilitate dialogue between stakeholders
MDPI is committed to promoting transparency and integrity in scholarly publishing and is continuing to work closely with the scientific community toward this goal.
Closing Thoughts
Left to right: Ryo Hirayama (Marketing Specialist, MDPI), Takashi Sasabe (Marketing Specialist, MDPI), Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Office Board, MDPI), Dr. Izumi Yamamoto (Marketing Manager, MDPI), and Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), at MDPI’s office in Tokyo, Japan.
Visit to Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan
In March, I had the opportunity to visit our Tokyo office and engage with stakeholders in Tokyo and Kyoto. During the visit, I also recorded a video message to welcome Japanese scholars working with MDPI and to highlight our operations in Japan.
We held meetings with Editors-in-Chief, librarians, scholars, and external consultants to gather feedback on our efforts to enhance our reputation and explore additional steps we can take in that direction. Japan's rich cultural heritage, characterized by tradition, respect, and formality, provided valuable insights into meeting the publishing needs specific to Japan.
Japan’s Open Access statistics
Over the years, we have seen a shift from subscription-only to gold OA publishing in Japan, despite the lack of an official mandate. Here are some statistics:
- 2012: 68% of articles were subscription-only, 6% were green Open Access, and 8% were gold Open Access.
- 2016: 55% of articles were subscription-only, 6% were green Open Access, and 20% were gold Open Access.
- 2022: 43% of articles were subscription-only, 7% were green Open Access, and 39% were gold Open Access.
To learn more about the history of OA in Japan as well as about future trends, please read this blog post.
“Japan is the ninth-largest contributor to our total publications”
Left to right: Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Dr. Izumi Yamamoto (Marketing Manager, MDPI), and Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Office Board, MDPI) visiting Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan.
MDPI and Japan by Numbers
As at 1 April, over 50,000 MDPI articles have been authored by scholars affiliated with Japanese institutions, making the country the ninth-largest contributor to our total publications. Over the past three years (2020–2023), nearly 90,000 authors affiliated with Japanese institutes have published with MDPI, and we have collaborated with over 4,600 Guest Editors from Japan.
In 2023, we published over 8,200 papers from authors associated with Japanese institutions. MDPI collaborates with 41 institutional partnerships in Japan, including the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University, and Nagoya University. We have over 2,100 active EBMs from Japan, more than 1,050 EBMs having an H-index between 26 and 50, including 13 serving as Editors-in-Chief.
General Feedback – a side note
A general takeaway from our discussions with stakeholders from around the world is that negative perceptions of MDPI often stem from misinformation, misconceptions, or misunderstandings about MDPI and our practices. While we acknowledge our mistakes and work diligently to address them, maintaining a strong editorial procedure and robust peer-review process, I find that educating stakeholders about our how we do what we do and our ongoing improvements tends to help shift opinions.
That said, we recognize the importance of addressing individual concerns. We take feedback seriously and are continuously working to get better while not compromising the core principles that millions of authors appreciate about MDPI.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
4 March 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #9 - Romania, Research Integrity, Viruses
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Reka Kovacs (Deputy Office Manager, MDPI), Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), and Sandra Ana Spatariu (Office Manager, MDPI) at the MDPI office in Cluj, Romania.
MDPI’s Impact on Romania
In February, I visited our office in Cluj, Romania. I worked closely with our senior office managers and various teams, including the departments of training, marketing and conferences, as well as our journal relationship specialists, reviewing our service to the local scholarly community. During the visit, I also met with representatives from Babes-Bolyai University and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. Our multifunctional Romanian office plays an important role in supporting our collaborations with the local market as well as helping to meet MDPI’s overall business needs.
Feedback and strategy meeting with a group of MDPI’s Journal Relationship Specialists at the MDPI office in Cluj, Romania.
With 22,436 articles, Romania ranks as a top 20 contributing country to MDPI’s total number of papers published as at 28 February 2024. This highlights the importance of our collaboration with Romanian-affiliated authors and the growing opportunity to support their publishing needs. MDPI is one of the few academic publishers with a significant presence in Romania, boasting over 360 colleagues across our offices in Bucharest and Cluj. We are also proud to hire colleagues from local institutions to launch their careers within publishing.
Romania ranks as a top 20 contributing country.
The Numbers: 2019–2023
MDPI has seen a healthy increase in submissions from Romanian authors over the past three years, from 8,439 in 2021 to 11,866 by end of 2023, with most submissions going to journals such as Sustainability, Medicina, Diagnostics, IJMS, Applied Sciences, and JCM. From 2019 to 2023, MDPI published articles from 32,145 authors affiliated with Romanian institutions. Over those years, we have worked with Romanian Guest Editors on nearly 3,000 occasions to support their Special Issue and Topical collections.
With more than 300 Editorial Board Members from Romania, 34 appear on the board of Mathematics, 27 on Materials, 19 on Polymers, 18 on Coatings, and 16 on Molecules, while three serve as Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiC) on our journals Coatings (3.4 IF, 4.6 Citescore), Magnetochemistry (2.7 IF, 3.5 Citescore), and Chemosensors (4.2 IF, 3.9 Citescore).
Institutional Open Access Programs
Our commitment to working with institutions is evident in Romania, where we have established eight Institutional Open Access Programs (IOAP) with esteemed institutions such as the University of Bucharest, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, and most recently the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics.
Our growth and presence in Romania are a true testament.
We also have IOAP agreements with Babes-Bolyai University and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, where I had the opportunity to meet senior stakeholders during my visit. Below are a few photos capturing our meeting with Prof. Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu (Head of Faculty of Chemistry, Babes-Bolyai University) at the MDPI office in Cluj, Romania, along with a photo from our meeting with Vice Deans Nicoleta Cobarzan, Nicoleta Ilies, and Hoda Gavril, from the faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Cluj, Romania.
Our growth and presence in Romania are a true testament to the service we provide to the scholarly community and the relationships we foster in that region. We look forward to continuing to support Romanian scholars and institutions by providing a valuable and trusted experience with MDPI, the leader in open access publishing.
Impactful Research
MDPI Joins the STM Integrity Hub
MDPI has long been a supporter and partner of STM, with our involvement ranging from sponsoring and attending events to helping organize event programs. By joining the STM Integrity Hub, we aim to further our commitment to STM initiatives aimed at safeguarding the integrity of science.
“We are pleased to welcome MDPI as the 35th organisation participating in the Hub. This expansion is critical, as every new member enhances our capacity to prevent fraudulent submissions from entering the academic record.”
Joris van Rossum, Director of Research Integrity, STM
MDPI operates in full alignment with STM Integrity Hub's values of shared data and experiences. We strongly believe in collaboration and open exchange for the purposes of creating a holistic approach to support research integrity at MDPI itself and across the entire academic publishing industry. The Integrity Hub is an excellent example of how publishers can come together to jointly address industry-wide challenges related to research integrity, such as manuscripts that breach research integrity standards and paper-mills.
I look forward to our Research Integrity and Publication Ethics Team (RIPE) team immersing themselves in this initiative, exchanging information, best practices, and tools for the benefit of the entire scholarly ecosystem. We believe that ethical publishing standards should be implemented across the board, and we aim to be rigorous in our approach, addressing research integrity issues and improving the impact of published research.
Inside MDPI
MDPI Expands Research Integrity and Publication Ethics Team (RIPE)
In addition to external collaborations and joint initiatives aimed at further strengthening our commitment to research integrity, we are also enhancing our internal efforts. This includes improving our processes and guidelines and expanding our teams and departments to ensure quality assurance throughout our publishing process.
We are pleased to announce the expansion of our Research Integrity and Publication Ethics Team (RIPE) at MDPI. The RIPE team has recently welcomed new colleagues, each bringing unique skills and a personal commitment to prioritize ethical considerations in all our work.
The demand for research integrity and high ethical standards in academic publishing is steadily rising across our industry. Our expanded RIPE team will work to enhance and align our practices with industry best practices, ensuring excellence in research integrity and publication ethics.
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) introduces Dr. Tim Tait-Jamieson (Research Integrity Lead, MDPI) for his presentation on MDPI’s Retraction and Approval Process to a group of Journal Relationship Specialists at the MDPI office in Cluj, Romania: “The demand for research integrity and publication ethics is steadily rising across our industry.”
Introducing our Research Integrity and Publication Ethics Team
Led by Dr. Tim Tait-Jamieson (Research Integrity Lead), the RIPE team comprises Dr. Ivana Resanovic (Research Integrity Manager), Dr. Lavinia Rogojina (Research Integrity Manager), Ms. Diana Apodaritei (Research Integrity Specialist), Dr. Zoltan Mihaly (Research Integrity Specialist), Mr. Aleksandar Đukić (Research Integrity Specialist), Ms. Ana Stankovic (Research Integrity Specialist), and Ms. Anna Pena (Publication Ethics Assistant).
Please click here to access everything that you need to know about MDPI’s Research and Publication Ethics.
With this span of complementary roles, the RIPE team collaborates directly with journal editorial teams and works closely with various departments, including our Scientific Office Board and our Journal Relationship Specialists. The team’s primary objectives are to help prevent issues regarding research integrity and publication ethics during peer review, uphold MDPI’s ethics policies, adhere to industry standards, and resolve publication ethics and research integrity issues and complaints.
Quality Updates to Special Issues Oversight
At MDPI, we are committed to reviewing policies pertaining to the quality of research. In this blog post, Shaheena Patel (Communications Associate, MDPI), outlines two recent updates to MDPI journal processes. These updates pertain to Special Issue (SI) quality guidelines, in line with criteria provided by COPE and DOAJ. Alongside the SI updates, details regarding the new minor corrections policy introduced in 2024 are provided in the blog.
The two updates we implemented include greater oversight and the verification of Guest Editor credentials. These guidelines require that Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) and Editorial Board Members (EBMs) take responsibility for overseeing SIs.
PS. Thank you, James Butcher, for featuring this up in your 67th issue of the Journalogy newsletter.
Read more:
Coming Together for Science
Viruses 2024 – A World of Viruses
I am pleased to share the success of our MDPI conference Viruses 2024 – A World of Viruses, held 14-16 February, in Barcelona. With 240 registrations, this event brought together top scientists, researchers, and industry experts from 40 countries to share their findings on the latest developments in viral pathogenesis and immune responses.
Attendees gathered for the 5th edition of the Viruses’ conference, where we hosted influential keynote speeches from Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Charles M. Rice and ‘Distinguished Senior Virologist’ Prof. Luis Enjuanes, along with 14 invited speakers, 47 selected speakers, and nine flash poster presenters, to discuss the most significant issues in virology today.
Recap on the #Viruses2024 Conference
Take a look at the key moments from MDPI’s Viruses event and please join us in commemorating a gathering for global knowledge and cooperation. A heartfelt thank-you to all attendees; their passion and engagement played a crucial role in making this event an engaging success!
Below are calls to action from the keynote speakers encouraging collaboration and communication:
“There’s never been a better time than now to really take the power that we have both in terms of basic research and also in biotech and pharma to develop antiviral agents.” - Dr. Charles M. Rice, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
“The collaboration between labs is absolutely essential. Improving initial detection and improving communication is a must for all of us working in science.” - Prof. Dr. Luis Enjuanes, National Center of Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
Our thanks go to our sponsors and partnering societies, our Viruses journal and editorial team, our Barcelona colleagues, and the social media, conference and other MDPI teams for making this event a memorable occasion. View the event gallery here.
Upcoming In-Person Event
24–26 April, 2024
4th MMCS – Harnessing the Power of New Drug Modalities
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Esteemed speakers at MMCS 2024 include Prof. Arun K. Ghosh, the mind behind the Darunavir molecule, and Prof. Paul Brennan, CSO of Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute.
Find more upcoming MDPI events here.
Organize Your Event with MDPI’s Sciforum
Sciforum is MDPI’s platform dedicated to the organization of scientific events. In line with our mission to promote science, Sciforum supports scholars, societies, research networks, and universities at all stages of organizing in-person events, virtual events and webinars. Our platforms are efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective. We handle all steps related to event management. Contact us for details.
Closing Thoughts
Researcher to Reader (R2R) Conference
From 20–21 February 2024, I had the pleasure of attending the Researcher to Reader (R2R) conference in London, which MDPI has proudly sponsored over the years. The conference programme offered a variety of session formats, including workshops, panel discussions, debates, interviews, presentations, and lightning talks, with opportunities to discuss relevant topics.
We take pride in supporting the scientific community, bringing researchers across the world together to network, exchange ideas and share the latest in science and publishing. In 2023, MDPI invested close to 2 million CHF in sponsoring over 2,000 scientific and publishing-related conferences worldwide.
R2R Peer Review Innovations Workshop
I found the R2R conference to be engaging, with the workshops being particularly enjoyable. My colleague Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Office Board) and I participated in the “Peer Review Innovations” workshop, which spanned four sessions over the two days. These sessions explored the future of peer review and how we can improve the peer review process for everyone involved. Notably, the large majority of attendees expressed their opinion that peer review, as currently practiced, requires significant improvement. Together, we collaborated on potential immediate and long-term improvements and innovative processes, aiming to create an ecosystem beneficial to all stakeholders by strengthening submission systems with the aim of reducing threats and making authors more responsible for their work. We also discussed the opportunity for academic institutions to better scrutinize the quality of the work produced and submitted to journals.
Our group comprised publishers, software providers, librarians, and more, bringing diverse perspectives to the discussions. These interactions were relevant to MDPI’s ongoing conversations, providing insights to our efforts. The session also made me appreciate that MDPI is doing well, as the group discussions included the subject of various quality checks that we have already embedded in our processes, ensuring that we keep abreast of industry standards.
The need for an optimized system to incentivize the activities of editors and reviewers was also a focus of discussion, as well as the support that reviewers need from publishers via the provision of strong reports through fixed forms, questionnaires and training.
At MDPI, we are currently auditing our reviewer program to improve reviewer recognition, guidelines, and methods for identifying suitable reviewers, while maintaining our commitment to quality and timeliness.
Congratulations to Mark Carden, Conference Director, and the R2R team for organizing a productive and successful event. PS: The break times were greatly appreciated as well!
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
31 January 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #8 - Altmetric and Flat Fee Agreement
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
MDPI and Digital Science Meeting
At MDPI, we are committed to providing our authors with the essential tools to publish, promote, and track their research. In line with this commitment, we have established a longstanding collaboration with Digital Science, a company specializing in research data and analytical insights for the research community. Our collaboration integrates their Altmetric tool, offering us and our authors the ability to track a variety of sources that monitor and report attention surrounding publications.
As part of our collaboration, we recently hosted Cathy Holland, Director of Global Publisher Business Development, and Helen Cooke, Managing Director of Publisher Sales, from Digital Science, at our MDPI headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Left to right: Facundo Santomé (Senior Marketing Manager, MDPI), Constanze Shelhorn (Indexing Manager, MDPI), Cathy Holland (Director of Global Publisher Business Development, Digital Science), Helen Cooke (Managing Director of Publisher Sales, Digital Science), and Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) in front of MDPI headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
During our meeting, we discussed MDPI’s publishing philosophy and explored further avenues for collaboration. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Digital Science, aiming to improve our services yet further and meet the needs of our authors more closely than ever.
What is Altmetric?
You will notice that MDPI articles feature an Altmetric score, a colourful doughnut capturing the score in the upper right corner of the article page. This score represents ‘alternative metrics,’ as distinct from traditional metrics such as Impact Factor, CiteScore, and Scimago Journal Rank.
Altmetrics complement traditional citation-based metrics by capturing online discussions related to a specific research topic. By analyzing both sets of data, we can obtain a comprehensive understanding of the attention a particular research output receives and the sources in which it is mentioned.
“Almetric provides visual insights into where research is being discussed”
Sources Tracked by Altmetric
Altmetric badge showing the Altmetric score and colour-coded mention sources.
Altmetric monitors various sources, categorizing them into segments such as policy documents, peer reviews, Wikipedia, news and blogs, and social media, among other sources. Each category is identifiable by a specific colour.
The Altmetric badge provides visual insights into where the research is being discussed. A more colourful badge indicates broader mentions across multiple platforms. Such tracking enables us to gauge the extent of an article’s online dissemination, noting that increased visibility may correlate with higher citation rates.
Read more:
Impactful Research
Ten High-Altmetric Articles Published by MDPI
As at 30 January 2024, Altmetric has tracked 670,500 MDPI research outputs from MDPI, resulting in over 4.3 million mentions. This includes over 71,894 mentions in policy and patents and 294,714 mentions in news and blogs, with some achieving an Altmetric score as high as 28,754.
So, what is a good Altmetric score? There are various ways to put this score into context. You can find out more about the score in context and how to evaluate your work by this means.
Here are ten MDPI papers ranking in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric.
“Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort” J. Pers. Med. 2017, 7(2), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/20477344 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 253 news stories from 209 outlets including Forbes, BBC, and Fox News. |
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“Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis” J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8030404 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/57654628 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 295 news stories from 207 outlets including Forbes, The Atlantic, and New York Times. |
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“The Preliminary Analysis of Cave Lion Cubs Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) from the Permafrost of Siberia” Quaternary 2021, 4(3), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4030024 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/111086701 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 182 news stories from 134 outlets including CBC News, CNN, and National Geographic. |
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“Not the Cat’s Meow? The Impact of Posing with Cats on Female Perceptions of Male Dateability” Animals 2020, 10(6), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10061007 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/83796184 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 124 news stories from 98 outlets including VICE, CNN and The Guardian. |
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“Behaviour and Welfare Impacts of Releasing Elephants from Overnight Tethers: A Zimbabwean Case Study” Animals 2022, 12(15), 1933; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151933 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/133463915 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 192 news stories from 186 outlets. |
How do I use altmetrics?
Altmetric Explorer provides a detailed step-by-step guide and instruction video for first-time users of the tool. The guide includes useful diagrams that make it easy to get started.
Sharing Research Online
For research to be tracked across different sources, Altmetric needs a research output with a persistent identifier: a DOI, ISBN, PubMed ID, handle ID, etc. When sharing research, it is important to include a link to the original research output.
“An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost” Viruses 2023, 15(2), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020564 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/142929875 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 250 news stories from 180 outlets including CTV, Fox News, and CNN. |
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“The Global Problem of Insufficient Sleep and Its Serious Public Health Implications” Healthcare 2019, 7(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7010001 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/53406248 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 252 news stories from 168 outlets including BBC, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes. |
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“A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(4), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041212 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/86529137 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 197 news stories from 150 outlets including BBC, The Tribune, and World Economic Forum. |
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“An Empirical Study of Chronic Diseases in the United States: A Visual Analytics Approach to Public Health” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(3), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030431 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/34714141 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 232 news stories from 149 outlets including Forbes, New York Times, and Harvard Business Review. |
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“Garden Scraps: Agonistic Interactions between Hedgehogs and Sympatric Mammals in Urban Gardens” Animals 2023, 13(4), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040590 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/142934305 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 172 news stories from 168 outlets including BBC. |
Inside MDPI
MDPI Annual Meeting Celebrations in China
On Thursday 25 January, over 1,300 MDPI colleagues from our two offices in Beijing gathered to kick off MDPI’s traditional ‘Annual Meetings.’ These celebrations take place in MDPI’s offices across China, including Dalian, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Nanjing.
The evenings include performances, informative talks and presentations, awards, and entertainment, providing an ideal platform to recognize our colleagues, celebrate their achievements, and set our sights on the future.
“It is essential that we stay connected and share best practices”
I sent a video congratulating everyone on their work and sharing our vision of building MDPI into the most trusted OA publisher, highlighting the roles each of us has to play in achieving that goal.
Unfortunately I could not join in person, but you may recall my recent trip, when I visited our offices in Beijing and Wuhan, which I look forward to visiting again this year.
Although our headquarters are in Basel, Switzerland, and we are expanding throughout Europe and North America, the majority of MDPI’s workforce is in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including offices in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and newly opened office in South Korea. It is essential that as a global organization, we stay connected and share best practices in order to grow collectively and continue providing the exceptional service to our authors.
The Annual Meeting is a moment to reflect and enjoy the year’s hard work and dedication.
I extend our best wishes to all for the Chinese New Year (Xīnnián kuàilè)!
Coming Together for Science
MDPI and TU Delft Adopt Flat Fee Model in Extended Partnership
We are excited to announce a renewed three-year partnership with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. This collaboration introduces a fixed lump-sum fee, covering publishing costs from 2024 to 2026.
“This initiative reflects our dedication to transparent and inclusive publishing”
TU Delft-affiliated authors will enjoy cost-free publishing in any MDPI journal during this period, aligning with our commitment to removing barriers for open access publishing. The agreement supports Plan S compliance and facilitates a seamless publishing process for TU Delft corresponding authors. This initiative reflects our dedication to transparent and inclusive publishing, providing stability and predictability both for authors and for institutions.
For further details on our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), please contact us.
Benefits to MDPI’s IOAP
At MDPI we have a long tradition of partnerships, including our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). IOAP supports institutions through simplification, access, transparency, APC discounts, and institutional repository deposits. The program simplifies administrative processes, offers central payment, and allows easy opting in and out. Participants gain free access to Susy, MDPI’s online submission system, with extensive article metadata and exportable data. APC discounts and Book Processing Charge discounts are available for affiliated authors. Automated deposits to institutional repositories and streamlined matching of papers to IOAP participants enhance the overall experience.
For further information, see our IOAP FAQ.
Closing Thoughts
Reflections on the 2024 APE Conference
MDPI was proud to co-sponsor the Academic Publishing in Europe (APE) 2024 Conference that took place in Berlin, Germany, from 9–10 January 2024.
The conference theme, ‘Keep the Conversation Going!’, explored the evolving landscape of scholarly communication. APE is one of the key conferences I make a point to attend each year. January offers a valuable opportunity to engage with new contacts, reconnect with familiar faces, and participate in impactful discussions and presentations among professionals, scholars, and practitioners in the field.
“It's fascinating to see how other publishers are leveraging AI”
Highlights
Some of the standout panels for me include: the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the publishing industry. It was encouraging to hear the current status quo, though I was eager also to learn about the exciting projects planned for 2024 and beyond. These will allow us to track progress in subsequent years. At MDPI, we remain committed to promoting Open–Access (OA) content on SDGs through scientific articles and books. Furthermore, we extend our commitment to sustainability by financially supporting researchers through initiatives such as the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award, as well as waiving the APC for feature papers on each SDG.
In recent years, discussions on AI have become increasingly prominent at such conferences. It’s fascinating to see how other publishers are leveraging AI to meet the evolving needs of their audiences while at the same time using it to safeguard the scientific process. Other engaging panels that I enjoyed included updates on transformation beyond transformative agreements, the principles of lean change, incentive structures related to research integrity, and the panel on reviewer incentives.
“We can share best practices and lessons learned”
Incorporating MDPI’s Insights into Conferences
I must confess that I sometimes feel overlooked when MDPI is not invited to participate in crucial industry discussions. As the leading open access publisher and the third-largest publisher overall, we possess extensive experience in many of these areas and can offer valuable contributions to these discussions. We can share best practices, lessons learned, and our thinking about future trajectories. For instance, in panels discussing reviewer incentives, at MDPI we offer a discount voucher to reviewers for future submissions, reflecting our commitment to fostering a robust peer review process. In 2022 alone, MDPI collected over 1.4 million peer review reports, informing the decision-making processes of our editors. Given our expertise in these areas, it would be natural to include MDPI in such discussions. I therefore extend an invitation to future conference organizers to consider MDPI for speaking engagements and collaborative opportunities.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
26 January 2024
Acknowledgment of the Reviewers of J in 2023
In recognizing the exceptional efforts of our reviewers in 2023, we express our sincere gratitude for upholding the high standards of J. Their commitment ensured the rigorous peer review that is integral to quality academic publishing.
In 2023, J received 158 review reports, from 153 reviewers. This past year, we worked with reviewers from 41 countries and regions, reflecting the diversity in our collaboration with research communities. Their dedication shapes scholarly discourse and advances global research. The editorial team expresses gratitude for the vital role played by each reviewer in the J family throughout 2023, and we look forward to their continued support in 2024.
The following are the reviewers who have consented to show their names:
Alessandro Medoro | Josefina Pons |
Alvaro Manuel Rodriguez-Rodriguez | Kamran Dawood |
Amara Jabeen | Krupa Navalkar |
Anand Paramasivam | Kunichika Tsumoto |
Anandkumar Mariappan | Lei Huang |
Anna Presicci | Maria Bezerra |
Arash Yoosefdoost | Marouan Zoghbi |
Arman Goudarzi | Marta Reboiro |
Chengbin Yu | Mi-Yeon Eun |
Christos K. Yiannakopoulos | Muhammad Arshad |
Ciro Vasmara | Nadezhda Zhuk |
Constantinos Zacharis | Petro Pukach |
Damir Blažević | Rifki Terzioglu |
Edmund Yamba | Roberto Sanchez-Cabrero |
Eman Tawfik | Roman Szafran |
Enrico Leoni | Rosa María Oliart-Ros |
Filippo Pierini | Sathish Thirunavukkarasu |
Gabriela Egly Feresin | Sree Krishna Chanumolu |
Giuseppe Ruscica | Timothy Sly |
Hany Abdo | Trushit Upadhyaya |
Hussein Maghrabie | William Moscoso |
Jianping Shi | Xiao Xu |
Jorge Brizuela Mendoza | Zohra Benzarti |
2 January 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #7 - Nobel Laureates Entrust MDPI with Their Research
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Nobel Prize Laureates Entrust MDPI with Their Research
The Nobel Prize stands as a hallmark of distinction, honouring ground-breaking research across disciplines. Annually, the Nobel Prizes are awarded in six categories: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine or Physiology, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.
Through the years, renowned scholars have entrusted MDPI with their work. As at December 2023, 26 Nobel laureates have contributed to more than 75 articles across 25 MDPI journals, including: Antibiotics, Applied Sciences, Biology, Biomedicines, Cancers, Catalysts, Cells, Crystals, Entropy, Games, IJMS, Life, Materials, Micromachines, Molecules, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutics, Photonics, Quantum Beam Science, Remote Sensing, Sensors, Solids, Universe, Vaccines, and Viruses.
The best of the best trust us with their work.
Nobel Prize Laureates Who Have Published with MDPI
We are proud to list the names of Pierre Agostini, Hiroshi Amano, Werner Arber, Aaron Ciechanover, Robert H. Grubbs, Oliver Hart, Gerard ‘t Hooft, Michael Houghton, Harald zur Hausen, Katalin Karikó, Jean-Marie Lehn, Gérard Mourou, Ferid Murad, Shuji Nakamura, William Nordhaus, Kostya S. Novoselov, Giorgio Parisi, Charles M. Rice, Alvin E. Roth, Donna Strickland, K. Barry Sharpless, George F. Smoot, Anne L’Huillier, Drew Weissman, Kurt Wüthrich, Ada Yonath.
The privilege of hosting such contributors resonates deeply with our editorial teams. For instance, in this interview, the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Universe speaks on the significance of publishing a paper by Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft within the journal.
2023 Nobel Prize Winners Published by MDPI
Nobel Prize Winners, 2023: Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Anne L’Huillier (Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach)
Three laureates from the 2023 Nobel Prize cohort have trusted MDPI as their publishing platform. Notably, in a 2022 Pharmaceutics paper, molecular biologist Katalin Karikó and her team presented a methodology for evaluating mRNA capping efficiency, pivotal for therapeutic applications. Pharmaceutics had previously dedicated a Special Issue to “mRNA Therapeutics: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Katalin Karikó”, spotlighting ten articles from August 2021 to February 2022.
In the journal Vaccines, Professor Drew Weissman, collaborating with scholars from Pennsylvania University and George Mason University, contributed an influential review titled “Nanomaterial Delivery Systems for mRNA Vaccines”. His collaborative efforts spanned five papers across MDPI journals between 2021 and 2023.
Furthermore, Anne L'Huillier of Lund University, only the fifth female recipient of the Physics Prize, co-authored an article in Applied Sciences focusing on "Advanced EUV and X-Ray Optics". Similarly, Pierre Agostini, an Emeritus Professor from Ohio State University, co-authored an article featured in the special issue "Attosecond Science and Technology: Principles and Applications".
We extend heartfelt congratulations to all Nobel Prize laureates and express sincere gratitude for their confidence in MDPI as a platform for their scholarly contributions.
Read more:
Impactful Research
MDPI Journals Newly Indexed in 2023
The aim of indexing is to enhance the quality and credibility of published research, ensuring that researchers access the most credible resources available. While the principle behind citation indexing is straightforward, it remains one of the most dependable methods for tracking an idea's evolution across various scientific disciplines.
Throughout the year, MDPI works to expand the reach of our publications across premier multidisciplinary databases like Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and ProQuest. This initiative is spearheaded by MDPI's Indexing team, under the leadership of Dr. Constanze Schelhorn.
In 2023, MDPI achieved 54 new acceptances in Scopus, 29 in Web of Science, 52 in EBSCO, and 83 in DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals.
The team prioritizes ensuring that our journals feature in numerous specialized databases, including PMC, PubMed, MEDLINE, Inspec, CAS, and FSTA, among others. Currently, MDPI collaborates with over 65 renowned international databases, consistently enhancing our database affiliations annually.
MDPI’s journals are indexed in all major global databases.
Furthermore, we collaborate with universities and government organizations to list our journals in country-specific ranking lists and relevant institutional repositories. This ensures compliance with requirements often set by funders or institutions for authors to publish in specific journals.
Web of Science Adds 24 MDPI Journals to Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
Clarivate recently analysed MDPI’s new journals, resulting in 24 journals, mainly established in 2020, being added to the ESCI in November and December 2023. Additionally, five journals passed this assessment earlier in the year. For a complete list of our journals in Web of Science, refer here. Journals in the ESCI meet 24 quality criteria, ensuring editorial rigor. They may be considered for inclusion in broader indices like the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), or the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), based on four impact criteria.
Read more:
Inside MDPI
MDPI Appoints New Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Alistair Freeland returned to MDPI and assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer in November 2023, a position he previously held from 2013 to 2019. He succeeds Dr. Yu Lin, who will remain a member of MDPI’s Board of Directors, overseeing significant financial decisions for the company. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Yu Lin for his service as COO.
Alistair brings extensive experience not only in scholarly publishing but also in technology and business management. Prior to rejoining MDPI, he was associated with SIX Group, the entity responsible for Switzerland's financial market infrastructure. There, he played a pivotal role in developing the blockchain-based platform SDX (SIX Digital Exchange), which has gained traction among major Swiss banks and the Swiss National Bank.
As COO, Alistair will collaborate with the MDPI management team to improve the practices and services we offer to scholarly communities. I am pleased to welcome Alistair back to MDPI and look forward to his contributions going forward.
Coming Together for Science
MDPI’s 2024 In-Person Academic Events Schedule
MDPI's Conference Team is dedicated to organizing and hosting in-person academic events across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. We recognize conferences as invaluable platforms for scientific collaboration, scholarly exchange, discussions on contemporary topics, networking, and forging collaborations.
Here's a glimpse of the notable events we currently have scheduled for 2024:
14–16 February, 2024 |
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24–26 April, 2024 |
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28–31 May, 2024 |
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1–4 August, 2024 |
Upcoming events with details to be announced:
- September 2024, Materials 2024 – Basel, Switzerland
- 19–21 September 2024, International Conference on Nanomaterials Sciences 2024 – Beijing, China
- October 2024, ncRNA 2024 – Basel, Switzerland
- November 2024, Pharmaceuticals 2024 – Barcelona, Spain
- 22–26 November 2024, International Conference on Science of Electronics – Wuhan, China
- Stay tuned for more details on the Sustainable Publishing Forum 2024.
Click here for all upcoming MDPI events.
Organize Your Event with MDPI’s Sciforum
Sciforum is MDPI’s platform dedicated to the organization of scientific events. In line with our mission to promote science, Sciforum supports scholars, societies, research networks, and universities at all stages of organizing in-person events, virtual events and webinars. Our platforms are efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective. We handle all steps related to event management. Contact us for details.
Closing Thoughts
Reflecting on 2023 and Looking Ahead to 2024
As we approach 2024, I reflect on the incredible journey we’ve had together at MDPI this year. The past 12 months have been marked by ambitious projects and initiatives to improve our internal processes, and a commitment to continue delivering top-notch services to our stakeholders. I’d like to thank each and every one of our staff members for contributing to the positive experiences our stakeholders have reported in our surveys. Your dedication to speed, efficiency, and effective communication with our stakeholders is very much recognized and appreciated.
Becoming a stronger organisation
While we have encountered challenges in 2023, it’s important to understand that these are a part of our growth process. Difficulties provide us with opportunities to reflect, address problems at their roots, and ultimately evolve into a stronger organization. Our stakeholders expect us to overcome tough times, and it’s an expectation that we have for ourselves.
I extend my sincere appreciation to every MDPI employee, from our editorial office and IT department to marketing, indexing, IOAP, societies, Scientific Office board, products, production, conferences, finance, operations, admin, and beyond. To our newest team members, a warm welcome; to our longstanding colleagues, your dedication is invaluable.
“I am committed to taking MDPI to a new level of excellence.”
Interacting with many of you during my visits to our offices and representing MDPI at external events has been a personal highlight. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Lin for entrusting me with the role of CEO of MDPI. Looking forward, I am committed to working closely with our management team to lead MDPI and take it to a new level of excellence, aiming to establish it as the most trusted publisher in open access worldwide. This is a collective endeavour, with each of us shaping MDPI’s reputation. I therefore encourage us to take pride in our work, as it represents not only our craft but also MDPI as a whole.
Accountability and communication
As we look forward to 2024, there’s a lot to be excited about. Together, we’ll navigate challenges, seize growth opportunities, and refine our practices. To solidify MDPI’s position as the premier open access publisher globally, we must bolster accountability, improve stakeholder communication, share MDPI’s best practices, champion the open access philosophy, and educate stakeholders about our mission, methodologies, and motivations.
Thank you for engaging with the CEO Letter over the past six months of 2023. I will continue to release this newsletter as a method of sharing the great work being done at MDPI. Please feel free to connect directly with any insights or questions.
Here’s to a joyous and prosperous 2024!
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
30 November 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #6 - MDPI Spain Summit and ResearchGate
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
MDPI Spain Summit
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) gives the opening speech at the MDPI Spain Summit.
On Friday 10 November 2023 I was in Barcelona, Spain, to deliver the opening presentation and participate in a panel at MDPI’s Spain Summit, a two-day event, inspired by our salon events in China.
With 16 Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) and 20 Editorial Board Members (EBMs) in attendance, the event, organized by our conference team and Barcelona office, featured presentations on open access (OA), MDPI, and publishing market trends in Spain.
The event provided a great opportunity to engage with stakeholders from various MDPI journals, including Nutrients, Vaccines, Buildings, IJMS, and others. We were able to gather feedback and have open conversations around manuscript quality, the peer-review process, and journal development, as well as accreditation agencies.
The main objective of this Summit was to bring together Editors representing MDPI journals across various disciplines within Spanish universities and research centers, primarily from the Barcelona area. The aim was to facilitate an open and fruitful discussion regarding the development of their journals, the future of OA in Spain, and to provide meaningful interactions and networking opportunities.
Connecting with Editorial Board Members
Stefan Tochev in conversation with Summit participants: "Our EBMs are passionate about the journals they serve."
Interacting with our EBMs in person provides a valuable opportunity to show how important it is to us to connect with them, hear their perspectives on their journals and learn more about their own experience collaborating with MDPI.
From my conversations, it was clear that our EBMs are passionate about the journals they serve. I know the advice they provide may sometimes involve just small tweaks, but these can lead to important improvements. As the saying goes, small hinges swing open big doors.
As at November 2023, MDPI has over 6,300 EBMs affiliated with Spanish institutions, with more than 30 of them serving as EiCs or section EiCs. Furthermore, over 68,000 Spanish scholars have contributed as reviewers in MDPI journals.
Open Access in Spain
In 2023, Spain implemented legislation mandating immediate OA for all publicly funded research, aligning with the EU’s Plan S initiative to expedite the transition to OA. The Spanish government also approved a four-year, €23.8 million annual budget for the first national OA strategy, aiming to make publicly funded research freely accessible upon publication. This strategy aims to strengthen the quality and transparency of research in Spain, and to help promote movement towards a digital, low-carbon economy.
For further details of Spain's OA policy and the history of government mandates, click here.
Spain has already seen a notable decline in subscription-only articles, decreasing by 62% over a 10-year period, while gold OA increased by 42%. Green OA slightly decreased, suggesting a shift towards publishing in gold OA journals rather than traditional subscription-based ones. Here are some statistics from Scopus.
A big thank-you to the various MDPI teams, including our conference team and the Barcelona office, for organizing this very successful event!
MDPI colleagues from various offices gathered to host and support the first MDPI Spain Summit, in Barcelona, Spain.
I think this type of gathering has the potential to become an annual event in various locations. For example, Manchester could be an option, as we have over 30 EiCs and over 3,000 EBMs in the UK, a top market for MDPI that publishes high-quality research.
Impactful Research
769 Editorial Board Members of MDPI Journals Recognized as Highly Cited Researchers in 2023
Congratulations to our 769 Editorial Board Members from 40 countries/territories who have been awarded Highly Cited Researcher status for 2023 by Clarivate. This recognition is based on their outstanding scientific research contributions and significant influence in various fields, as evidenced by Web of Science data.
Click here to view the full list of 769 Editorial Board Members.
Clarivate's Highly Cited ResearchersTM list identifies individuals with exceptional impact in scientific and social science domains over the past decade. Their papers rank in the top 1% of citations in 21 fields analysed in ‘Essential Science Indicators,’ showcasing their substantial influence.
This year, 7,125 Highly Cited Researcher 2023 designations were issued to 6,849 individuals from 67 countries, representing just 1 in 1,000 researchers worldwide.
These researchers demonstrate exceptional influence, representing a small fraction of contributors pushing the boundaries of knowledge, contributing to global well-being, sustainability, and security.
Congratulations to these scholars for their remarkable achievement: we are honoured to have them on board with our journals!
Inside MDPI
Corporate Marketing and Communications Strategy Session
Members of MDPI’s Corporate Marketing & Communications team.
For the past few years, I have led the Corporate Marketing & Communications department in our annual strategy session.
This typically involves 2–3 days of focused sessions covering key topics including budgeting, hiring targets, campaign reviews, and planning for the upcoming year, department strategy, and structure.
We are constantly exploring ways to optimize the Corporate Marketing & Communications department to support MDPI’s primary objectives and better convey the MDPI story while serving the scholarly community.
The strategy session also serves as a team-building activity, during which the team voted on bowling!
Strategy Session
In this strategy session, we looked at how to align our teams in order to better streamline our content with our campaigns, build a dedicated marketing team to strategically support our core MDPI products, expand our communications teams and functionalities to focus on company-critical campaigns and press releases, align our new brand design system with our marketing initiatives, set up a community and engagement team to support various teams with their outreach and communication efforts, and increase our use of data in the evaluation of campaign performance.
To grow in these areas, we will be hiring for various positions, including those of Public Relations Manager, Communications Manager, Internal Communications Manager, Campaign Manager, Marketing Associate, and Editorial Engagement Manager.
I am grateful for the way our Corporate Marketing & Communications department has grown and gelled over the years, and I look forward to supporting the department teams and their ideas for the future.
Coming Together for Science
ResearchGate and MDPI Partner to Boost the Visibility of Open Access Content through Journal Home
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) and Sören Hofmayer (Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, ResearchGate) meet in Berlin, Germany to take their ongoing discussion further.
When I assumed the role of CEO at MDPI, my primary focus was to initiate the building of essential partnerships and collaborations within our industry. After all, I am a firm believer in achieving our goals by helping others achieve theirs and focusing on co-opetition wherever there is an opportunity. I first touched on the notion of co-opetition in MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #3, particularly when discussing collaborations with Elsevier.
In light of this, Sören Hofmayer (Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at ResearchGate) and I connected recently to continue a discussion that had been ongoing for months. I was quickly brought up to speed and felt there was an opportunity for MDPI journals to pilot the Journal Home service that ResearchGate had launched. This would provide a new way for MDPI to engage with authors and readers and amplify the visibility of our journals.
While I receive many offers and opportunities for discussions with vendors, I am a firm believer that timing is everything, and in this case, the time for us is now. Sören and I met in person during my recent visit to Berlin and decided to proceed with piloting ten MDPI journals with the Journal Home service.
The press release below provides further details.
Press Release: Berlin (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland), 15 November 2023
ResearchGate, the professional network for researchers, and MDPI, the largest open access publisher in the world and a pioneer in open access publishing, today announced a partnership that will see ten of MDPI’s open access journals benefit from an enhanced presence on ResearchGate through its innovative Journal Home offering.
This new partnership will expand the reach and visibility of MDPI’s participating flagship journals with ResearchGate’s highly relevant community of more than 25 million researchers globally.
Around 210,000 version-of-record articles from these 10 titles will be readily available on ResearchGate, including the full archive material and all new articles as they are published. These journals also benefit from enhanced brand visibility, with dedicated journal profiles, prominent representation on all associated article pages and all relevant touchpoints across the ResearchGate network – keeping the journals top-of-mind with their reader and author audiences. All articles covered by the new partnership will automatically be added to the authors’ publication records in ResearchGate. This not only reduces MDPI authors’ needs for direct management but also offers them valuable insights into the impact of their work, including data about readership and citations.
Closing Thoughts
November is Men’s Health Awareness Month
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) listening to music as he writes at a coffee shop in Basel, Switzerland.
November is dedicated to raising awareness of various men’s health issues. I have been fortunate to have positive male role models in my life, and I strive to share my experiences with others.
I used to take part in Movember, growing my moustache throughout November to raise awareness and funds and to help “change the face of men’s health.” With male family and friends impacted by physical and mental health issues, I have recently become more interested in men’s overall well-being.
Men often face stigma involving the perceived need always to be strong and have things figured out. Recently, I’ve had meaningful conversations with male friends and colleagues about issues we rarely discuss, and it was a positive experience.
Various factors impact men’s health and well-being, all too easily leading to risky health behaviours including a lack of health awareness, poor health education, and negative, culturally induced, behaviour patterns in our work and personal lives. I hope we can break down these barriers in our work environment.
Healthy men help build healthy families and a healthy society
Men are less likely than women to seek help with their physical and mental health struggles. This is a reminder to prioritize your overall well-being. I hope that as men, we will continue to open up to one another, becoming vulnerable in order to share what we are going through. By sharing and by supporting each other, we can learn and grow together. You are not alone, and when you fall, you can still get up and stand tall.
From one broski to another, you are loved and appreciated. I hope this mindset carries into December and beyond.
Mindfulness
Our content team recently released a handful of articles on mindfulness, a practice that I believe provides a good opportunity for stress release and self-reflection:
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
21 November 2023
769 Editorial Board Members of MDPI Journals Achieve Highly Cited Researcher Recognition in 2023
We extend our sincere congratulations to the 769 Editorial Board Members of our journals – from 40 different countries/territories – who have been recognized as Highly Cited Researchers for the year 2023 by Clarivate. They are being recognized for their high-quality scientific research achievements and outstanding contributions to their professional fields, as indicated by Web of Science data.
Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited ResearchersTM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade who stand out for their significant and broad influence in various scientific and social science domains. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 21 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.
This year, 7,125 Highly Cited Researcher 2023 designations were issued to 6,849 individuals from 67 countries, representing just 1 in 1,000 researchers worldwide.
This means that these researchers have demonstrated an incredible level of significant and broad influence in their chosen field or fields over the last decade. They represent a small fraction of the researcher population whose contributions disproportionately push the boundaries of knowledge, enhancing global well-being, sustainability, and security.
Congratulations to the scholars for their noteworthy achievement – we are honored to have them on board with our journals!
Abate, Antonio |
Jaiswal, Amit K. |
Shen, Zexiang |
1 November 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #5 - OA Week, UK, and Strategy
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Open Access Week 2023 – the Global Drive to Open Continues
As the world's largest open-access (OA) publisher, we believe that unrestricted access to research findings is the cornerstone of transparency, efficiency, and quality control across scientific disciplines. At MDPI, we provide free, immediate access to scientific papers, empowering scientists to examine, validate, replicate, and build upon existing results. This minimizes redundancy, optimizes resources, and fosters innovative approaches.
International OA Week, held from 23 to 29 October 2023, provided a unique opportunity to link the global movement toward open sharing and open science with the progress of policy changes at the local level. Our mission, during OA Week and all the year round, is to offer educational resources highlighting the benefits of open-access publishing. The MDPI Blog is a valuable resource for information on open access and open science.
Core principles of OA publishing
Accessibility, transparency, and collaboration are core principles of OA publishing. OA aims to break down barriers that have traditionally restricted research access, ensuring that knowledge is available to all, regardless of financial situation or institutional affiliations. Our commitment to diverse pathways for OA publishing worldwide includes discounts for researchers. You can learn more about how MDPI supports scientific communities here.
One of the key strengths of OA publishing is its ability to facilitate interdisciplinary research. By removing paywalls and promoting knowledge-sharing across disciplines, OA encourages collaboration and innovation. Researchers from various fields can access and build upon each others’ work, fostering a holistic approach to addressing complex global challenges.
OA holds the potential to democratize knowledge, advance science, and drive positive societal change.
Policy driving change
Governments, institutions, and funding agencies have recognized the transformative potential of OA and have implemented policies to promote it. These policies often require publicly funded research to be made openly accessible, accelerating the growth of OA repositories and journals. Check out our spotlights on OA policies in the US, EU and China.
OA publishing is continuously evolving, with community-driven models and technologies shaping its future. Initiatives such as “Plan S” and “cOAlition S” promote OA publishing from the perspective of national funders, requiring grantees to publish their research openly. A new policy announced by the US administration last year mandates that, with effect from January 2026, all US federally funded research should be freely and immediately available after publication.
Additionally, preprint servers such as MDPI's Preprints.org, which allow researchers to share their findings before formal peer review, have gained popularity, enhancing the speed at which new knowledge is disseminated. The rise of blockchain technology is also being explored to ensure transparency and authenticity in scholarly publishing.
For more than two decades, OA publishing has been revolutionizing academic publishing by promoting accessibility, transparency, and collaboration. Its support for interdisciplinary research, evolving policies, and innovative practices all contribute to its growing influence in the global research community. As OA continues to expand, it holds the potential to democratize knowledge, advance science, and drive positive societal change.
MDPI is proud to lead the transition to open access.
Read more:
Impactful Research
Spotlight on Smart Cities
Smart cities will serve as a cornerstone for future human development. Their implementation will help us tackle many of the significant challenges we are facing – climate change, ageing populations, waste management, public safety, travel, and so on. Recognising the importance of this multifaceted field, MDPI launched the inaugural issue of Smart Cities in 2018 to provide an advanced forum for research into smart technology and society. Here we take a look at how this journal has developed, and its impact in this exciting field.
As at 30 October, 2023, Smart Cities has published 421 papers and has an Impact Factor of 6.4. It also has a CiteScore of 8.5, and more than one quarter of its published papers – 124 – have been cited 10 times or more.
Highly cited papers in Smart Cities
Below are several highly cited papers recently published in Smart Cities. Citation metrics are current as at 31 October 2023.
1. “Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, Resilience and Place Identity in Future Post-Pandemic Cities”
Authors: Carlos Moreno, Zaheer Allam, Didier Chabaud, Catherine Gall and Florent Pratlong
Smart Cities 2021, 4(1), 93-111; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010006
Citations: Crossref (338), Scopus (366), Web of Science (270), Google Scholar (710)
The paper discusses the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 on cities, including increasing inequalities and rising unemployment. It introduces the concept of the "15-Minute City," a form of "chrono-urbanism," as a response to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
2. “A Review on Electric Vehicles: Technologies and Challenges”
Authors: Julio A. Sanguesa, Vicente Torres-Sanz, Piedad Garrido, Francisco J. Martinez and Johann M. Marquez-Barja
Smart Cities 2021, 4(1), 372-404; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010022
Citations: Crossref (359), Scopus (363), Web of Science (268), Google Scholar (558)
This paper provides an overview of the progress in Electric Vehicles (EVs), focusing on battery technology, charging methods, and emerging research challenges. It also analyzes the global EV market and its future outlook.
3. “IoT in Smart Cities: A Survey of Technologies, Practices and Challenges”
Authors: Abbas Shah Syed, Daniel Sierra-Sosa, Anup Kumar and Adel Elmaghraby
Smart Cities 2021, 4(2), 429-475; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4020024
Citations: Crossref (121), Scopus (151), Web of Science (91), Google Scholar (215)
This paper gives an overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the context of Smart Cities, discussing the fundamental components, technologies, architectures, networking technologies, and artificial algorithms that underpin IoT-based Smart City systems.
4. “Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Smart Grid: A Survey”
Authors: Olufemi A. Omitaomu and Haoran Niu
Smart Cities 2021, 4(2), 548-568; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4020029
Citations: Crossref (76), Scopus (94), Web of Science (57), Google Scholar (120)
This survey paper reviews the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the context of the smart grid. It covers various applications of AI in load forecasting, power grid stability assessment, fault detection, and security issues in the smart grid and power systems.
5. “The Metaverse as a Virtual Form of Smart Cities: Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability in Urban Futures”
Authors: Zaheer Allam, Ayyoob Sharifi, Simon Elias Bibri, David Sydney Jones and John Krogstie
Smart Cities 2022, 5(3), 771-801; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5030040
Citations: Crossref (72), Scopus (75), Web of Science (43), Google Scholar (176)
This paper discusses the concept of the Metaverse, a virtual world introduced by Meta (formerly Facebook), and its potential impact on urban life. It explores how emerging technologies such as AI, Big Data, IoT, and Digital Twins could reshape urban design and services in the context of the Metaverse.
Testimonial
“It was indeed a great and pleasant experience with MDPI regarding our recent publication. The submission process was very straightforward and less time-consuming than the norm. The review process was very fast compared to many other open access journals, which is praiseworthy. The support from the Editorial Office during the revision process was highly useful as well. We look forward to publishing with MDPI in the future, and I will most definitely recommend MDPI to my colleagues and collaborators.” – Dr. Luís Rosa, University of Minho
Article in Smart Cities: Mobile Networks and Internet of Things Infrastructures to Characterize Smart Human Mobility
Inside MDPI
MDPI Manchester office, UK Visit
Allie Shi (Editorial Director, MDPI), Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Jamie Anderson (Manchester Office Manager, MDPI), Michael O’Sullivan (Senior Scientific Officer, MDPI), Hushneara Akhtar, and Becky Castellon (IOAP Team Lead, MDPI), dining out in Manchester, UK.
In October, I visited MDPI’s new office in Manchester. During the visit, I connected with our English Editing (EE) managers, Scientific Officer, members of the Editorial team, the Marketing team, and IOAP Team Lead.
Our Manchester office focuses primarily on EE services and provides local support for the UK market. Additionally, we regularly visit Editorial Board members and participate in local conferences.
I would like to thank Jamie Anderson, Manchester Office Manager, and her team, for their deep commitment to our Manchester staff and to MDPI’s impact on the UK market.
The UK by numbers
The UK is a hub for the world’s top universities, making it a key market for MDPI and the publishing world in general. It is home to two of the top-five-ranked universities globally, 11 in the top 100, and 15 in the top 200.
As a result, the UK plays a key role in MDPI’s global market. As at October 2023, it ranks as the seventh-largest contributor to the total number of papers published by MDPI. We have 3,500 Editorial Board members affiliated with UK institutions, including 34 serving as Editors-in-Chief (EiCs). Our commitment to collaboration with institutions is evident in the UK, where we have successfully established some 60 Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) agreements with esteemed institutions, such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh, and more.
According to InCites Dataset + ESCI for the period 2018–2022, as at October 2023, nearly 65% of UK papers are now published as OA. Just over 10% of total OA publications are by UK authors. UK papers are known for their high quality, with an average of 11 citations per paper. Furthermore, 2.16% of UK papers are in the top 1% of cited papers, and 14.61% are in the top 10% of cited papers, showcasing their impact.
We are currently hiring EEs in various locations worldwide.
English Editing at MDPI
Our English Editing (EE) department consists of two main branches, Quality Control and Learning and Development, reflecting our priorities. We are continuously enhancing the quality of our English Editing services and have raised the relevant standards, which now extend to company-wide communications. English editors participate in international interviews, conduct English assessments, and provide colleagues with presentations on ways to improve their use of written and spoken English.
While expanding, the EE department has proactively refocused its efforts on the quality of our work and how the English Editing department can benefit the company more broadly. We currently have approximately 140 full-time English Editors based across five offices worldwide, supplemented by over 700 freelance English editors.
Our Manchester office serves as the hub for the EE Department, with EE Managers situated there, except for Kurtis Jackson, who serves as the Head of EE and is located in our Basel office. Manchester EEs play a critical role in establishing and developing EE teams in our other offices, overseeing management and recruitment. The EE department plays a vital role in MDPI’s operations, as it is the department that touches every published paper. If this work interests you, I encourage you to explore our available EE positions, whether you are seeking full-time or freelance opportunities.
Testimonials
“MDPI provides an excellent service compared to any other previously used services. It delivers fast and high-quality results but at an affordable price.” – Ardha Apriyanto, University of Potsdam
“In my role as a professor, I consider that MDPI Author Services offer an excellent quality in the editing of Western academic writing while maintaining the required standards of clarity, precision and rigor. Additionally, delivery times are fast compared to other available services.” – Jesus Insuasti, University of Nariño
Read more:
Coming Together for Science
STM and Frankfurt Book Fair
Attending STM
MDPI has been a proud sponsor of the STM Conference for several years. The STM Conference is a dynamic event featuring interactive sessions, expert panellists, idea-sharing, and ample networking opportunities. On 16 October, the event kicked off with arrival drinks, sponsored by MDPI, followed by a welcoming dinner, providing a great chance to connect and network with industry professionals. The following day was filled with speakers, sessions, and further opportunities to connect. STM exemplifies the collaborative spirit of the scientific community, with session topics including achieving open, visible, and impactful research at scale; maintaining research integrity in a rapidly changing world; and exploring the impact of ever-evolving technology in the scholarly community.
Meeting with Web of Science
On a personal note, one of the highlights of STM was a candid and productive conversation with Nandita Quaderi, Editor-in-Chief and SVP at Web of Science. During our discussion, we talked about MDPI, Web of Science, the IJERPH delisting, and ways of moving forward. This open conversation aimed at fostering better collaboration for the future.
“We discussed ways to improve our communication and collaboration.”
I appreciated our frank discussion and felt that Nandita wholeheartedly supports open access. She also expressed her appreciation for the monthly CEO Letter, which she sees as a way to add personality to the MDPI brand and provide insight into the great work we do at MDPI. While we highlighted the positives, we also discussed ways to improve our communication and collaboration moving forward. This meeting alone made the trip worthwhile, and I hope Nandita doesn’t mind my sharing that she found our chat to be “the most honest and constructive discussion” she’s had with someone from MDPI in recent years.
75th Frankfurt Book Fair
Jelena Milojevic (Book Editor, MDPI), Jovana Dubajic (Book Editor, MDPI), Evan Escamilla (Project Manager, MDPI), Laura Wagner (Head of Books, MDPI), and Jenny Knowles (Commissioning Editor, MDPI), at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
For the 75th time, the Frankfurter Buchmesse opened its doors in October to celebrate exciting stories and their authors. If you haven’t yet had the chance to visit the Frankfurt Book Fair, I highly recommend it. It’s the largest book fair in the world, attracting thousands of visitors from around the globe. This is the place to gain valuable industry insights from top-class publishing professionals, connect with publishers directly, and learn about the latest trends in publishing.
MDPI Books
Our Books team was also present at the Frankfurt Book Fair, networking and learning from various panels. Did you know that our MDPI Books department publishes OA Books?
The book publishing program includes monographs, book series, edited books and reprints of special issues and topical collections, among other book types.
If you have a book proposal you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact our Books team to understand the benefits and methods of publishing your next book with the OA model.
Closing Thoughts
MDPI Strategy Meeting
As the newly appointed CEO, this is my first year leading the MDPI Senior Management Strategy session. I saw it as an opportunity to explore what MDPI has the potential to become in the next five years. Guided by the vision of its founder and President, Dr. Shu-kun Lin, the company has accomplished remarkable feats over the past 27 years and currently holds the position as the world’s third-largest academic publisher, following Springer Nature and Elsevier.
Our primary objective is to build upon the milestones of the past decades and consolidate MDPI’s position as well-established publishing brand. The two-day meeting emphasized the importance of communicating MDPI’s values more actively via its brand and adopting a straightforward yet impactful approach to managing MDPI as a mature academic publisher.
“Our primary objective is to consolidate MDPI’s position as well-established publishing brand”
As the world’s number one open-access publisher, MDPI has long been a game-changer in the scholarly community, serving millions of authors. The challenge in being a trailblazer is the need to continuously improve and at the same time explore the next blue-ocean strategy, while also maintaining the smooth operation of the business. Our collection model, featuring guest-curated thematic topics in the form of Special Issues, has disrupted the industry. Other publishers closely study us and attempt to replicate our models. The future of this collection model is something we are actively addressing – while, of course, looking ahead to what comes next!
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
19 October 2023
Open Access Week 2023 – the Global Drive to Open Continues
MDPI has been a strong proponent of the open access publishing model right from the beginning. As one of the pioneering fully open access publishers, we firmly believe that unrestricted access to research findings forms the foundation for better transparency, efficiency, and quality control across all scientific disciplines.
In December 2022, we reached a significant milestone by surpassing one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon!
Offering free and immediate access to scientific papers empowers scientists to examine, validate, replicate, and expand upon existing results. This not only helps prevent redundancy and optimizes how resources are used but also paves the way for innovative new approaches.
The International Open Access Week takes place from 23 to 29 October 2023, providing a unique opportunity to connect the global movement towards open sharing and open science with the progress of policy transformations at the local level.
Our goal, during Open Access Week as well as throughout the year, is to offer resources for educating people about the benefits of open access publishing. The MDPI Blog offers a wealth of information around open access and open science.
Promoting the values of accessibility, transparency, and collaboration
Open access publishing embodies the fundamental values of democratizing knowledge and fostering global accessibility. It aims to break down barriers that have traditionally limited access to scholarly work, ensuring that knowledge is available to all, regardless of their financial or institutional affiliations.
Discounts are part of our commitment to ensuring there are diverse pathways to Open Access publishing for researchers worldwide. MDPI supports scientific communities in several different ways.
One of the key strengths of open access publishing lies in its ability to facilitate interdisciplinary research. By removing paywalls and promoting the sharing of knowledge across disciplines, OA encourages collaboration and innovation. Researchers from diverse fields can access and build upon each other's work, fostering a holistic approach to addressing complex global challenges.
Funders' policies are getting aligned with open science
Governments, institutions, and funding agencies have recognized the transformative potential of open access and have implemented policies to promote it. These policies often mandate that publicly funded research should be made openly accessible. Such initiatives have accelerated the growth of open access repositories and journals, reinforcing the commitment to open access principles. Check our spotlights on OA policies in the US, EU and China.
Open access publishing is continually evolving, with innovative and community-driven models and technologies shaping its future. Initiatives like "Plan S" and "cOAlition S" promote the adoption of OA publishing from the national funders’ perspective by requiring grantees to publish their research openly. A new policy announced by the US administration last year requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication.
Additionally, preprint servers such as MDPI's Preprints.org, which allow researchers to share their findings before formal peer review, have gained popularity, enhancing the speed at which new knowledge is disseminated. The rise of blockchain technology is also being explored to ensure transparency and authenticity in scholarly publishing.
For more than twenty years, open access scholarly publishing has been revolutionizing academia by promoting the values of accessibility, transparency, and collaboration. Its support for interdisciplinary research, evolving policies, and innovative practices all contribute to its growing influence in the global research community. As open access continues to expand, it holds the potential to democratize knowledge, advance science, and drive positive societal change.
MDPI is proud to be a leader in the transition to open access.
2 October 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #4 - MDPI Presence in China
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Open Access in China
It is Saturday, 23 September, and I have just returned from an unforgettable 12-day trip to China, visiting our main offices in Beijing and Wuhan. In the wake of a packed and very enjoyable agenda of internal and external meetings, I would like to use this edition of the CEO Letter to showcase how MDPI supports the scholarly community in China.
Coincidentally, Jack McKenna, Communications Associate from MDPI’s corporate content team, has just released a blog article discussing China’s open access (OA) policy. It is a timely read, providing a concise overview of the development of the OA movement in China and reflecting on its future. I shall draw some content from Jack’s piece and use this edition of the CEO Letter to highlight the various ways in which MDPI is involved in this market. And it would be remiss of me not to include some pictures and highlights from my travels!
Open Access Policy in China
As per Jack’s post, in 2020, China became the world’s leading producer of research articles. Today, China is experiencing a “substantial growth rate in OA [Open Access] publication”. This growth is supported by the State’s commitment to research & development and its policy “requiring the promotion of open science”.
Over the past two decades, there have been gradual developments in China’s OA framework, with repositories and platforms being developed in a consistent manner. Currently, key institutions across China – including the National Science Library, the National Science and Technology Library, and the Natural Science Foundation of China – support OA. The State aims to establish consistent policies across government agencies – a framework for a more encompassing embrace of OA across institutions.
In China, the number of subscription-only articles decreased by nearly 30% over the 10-year period of 2011–2021, while gold OA increased by 22%. Between 2017 and 2020 alone, China published 800,921 academic papers in an OA format.
In 2023, as the leading publisher of academic research, China is pursuing “self-reliance”. Therefore, the State will be establishing consistent policies across government agencies, including those related to OA. Additionally, it will want to ensure that Chinese people can access the research that is supported by Chinese funding and produced by Chinese academics. For this reason, “Open Access is a matter of priority in China”.
MDPI Offices in China
While the history of MDPI begins in Basel, Switzerland, the story of MDPI’s founder is very much rooted in China. Dr. Shu-kun Lin, Founder and President of MDPI, graduated with a BSc from Wuhan University in 1982. He also studied physical chemistry at the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1982–1986; MSc in 1985), and at the University of Louisville, USA (1987–1989). Dr. Lin completed his doctorate in organic chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zürich) in 1992.
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) at MDPI’s Wuhan office.
In 2002, MDPI’s Basel headquarters moved to Matthäusstrasse 11, 4052 Basel, and Dr. Lin opened an editorial office in Qingdao, China, which launched the journal Marine Drugs in the following year. Below is a list of MDPI’s current offices in China and their respective dates of inauguration:
- 2008: Beijing (Tongzhou, Haidian)
- 2013: Wuhan (Hankou, Guanggu)
- 2019: Tianjin
- 2021: Dalian
- 2021: Nanjing
Our Strength is in Our People
With over 6,000 MDPI staff, across 20 offices in 11 countries, MDPI is able to offer authors responsive and efficient round-the-clock support, enabling a rapid publication process.
In my experience, stakeholders are genuinely surprised when they realize the extent of our global operations. My response is to reiterate that our people are our strength. This is why we have fast and efficient processes and top-notch responsiveness. Our global presence ensures that your manuscript is constantly attended to, rather than sitting on someone’s desk. We prioritize our authors’ needs and act quickly to move things through the various stages of publication. MDPI is built on speed, convenience, and competence, which I believe are core pillars for success in any industry. We continually strive to improve our systems and processes on the basis of these core strengths. We literally have over 6,000 staff worldwide dedicated to serving your needs. It’s not magic: it’s people; it’s real.
Impactful Research
MDPI Awards
To support the academic community, and especially young researchers, and also to enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals offer various awards in specific fields. We serve the scientific community by funding research to facilitate the development of sustainable global solutions through our annual World Sustainability Award and Emerging Sustainability Leader Award.
In 2022, MDPI made awards totalling over US$1 million in recognition and support of researchers worldwide.
Across our journal catalogue, we have granted over 2,000 awards to recognize and support researchers from all disciplines. Since 2016, these awards have served as a source of recognition, acknowledging the impact of research by heightening the influence of talented individuals. The award types mainly include the Young Investigator Award, the Best PhD Thesis Award, the Best Paper Award, and the Outstanding Reviewer Award.
To learn more about MDPI Awards and to find out which are currently available, please click here.
MDPI Awards to Scholars from China
Since 2021, there have been 23 Best Paper Awards granted to authors affiliated with Chinese institutions, identifying their papers as having high-quality scientific impact. A total of 45 Chinese scholars have received awards such as the Young Investigator Award, the Best PhD Thesis Award, the Outstanding Reviewer Award, and the Tu Youyou Award, among others. Prizes for these awards include MDPI grants for paid publications, totalling over CHF 70,000 for scholars affiliated with Chinese institutions.
MDPI’s Tu Youyou Award
Prof. Tu Youyou (left), Dr. Shu-Kun Lin (President, MDPI).
In 2015, Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.” In order to commemorate Professor Tu’s contributions to human health and to promote the passion and spirit conveyed by her experiences, MDPI in 2016 established the ‘Tu Youyou Award’, which runs biennially to recognize outstanding scholars dedicated to the research of natural products and medicinal chemistry.
The 2022 Tu Youyou Award was granted to Prof. Dr. Xiaoguang Lei of Peking University. Click here to access the interview with the winner.
2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine Awarded to Professor Youyou Tu
Professor Tu’s work was celebrated in a Special Issue from Molecules on the occasion of her 80th birthday. The Special Issue: 'Artemisinin (Qinghaosu): Commemorative Issue in Honor of Professor Youyou Tu on the Occasion of her 80th Anniversary” was created five years before she won the Nobel Prize, highlighting the visibility MDPI provides researchers and their work.
Highly Cited Articles by Chinese Scholars Published in MDPI
Click here to access the most cited MDPI papers published by scholars affiliated with Chinese institutions. This list presents the most influential research from the more than 287,000 MDPI papers published by Chinese scholars. With over 9 million total citations, I encourage you to maximize your visibility and impact by publishing with MDPI, the number one most cited open access publisher.
Read more:
- Tu Youyou Award
- World Sustainability Awards
- Available Awards
Inside MDPI
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) with the Beijing Marketing team.
Marketing Department in China
During my visit to our offices in Beijing and Wuhan, I had the opportunity to meet with, and to present to, our local marketing teams. These teams are responsible for various journal-related and corporate promotional activities, including newsletters, conferences, seminars, author training, journal awards, content creation, digital marketing, and social media.
I was pleased by the ambition and curiosity of our marketing colleagues. They showed a strong desire to collaborate and acquire knowledge and tactics to effectively market and promote MDPI-journal-related activities. I presented some of the principles and objectives that we apply in the Corporate Marketing and Communications department, and used the opportunity to strengthen our collaborative communications across offices.
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) with the Wuhan Marketing team.
Coming Together for Science
Collaborations, Scholarships and Meetings
MDPI maintains partnerships with nearly 190 learned societies and over 800 institutions and consortia, helping to facilitate the transition to OA publishing. Our commitment to working with institutions is evident in China, where we have successfully established over 35 Institutional Open Access Programs (IOAP) with esteemed institutions such as the Tsinghua University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Our institutional partnerships, waiver programs, and article processing cost discounts create diverse pathways to OA publishing for researchers worldwide.
Scholarships in China
Since 2021, several MDPI journals (Sensors, Photonics, Coatings, Materials, Energies, and Journal of Fungi) have funded full scholarships for four Master’s and five Ph.D. projects in China. These scholarships align with Tianjin University, Wuhan University of Technology, Central South University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the China University of Petroleum (Beijing).
Meeting with the Society of Chinese University Journals (CUJS)
Prof. Tieming Zhang (President of CUJS, centre) and MDPI colleagues at CUJS office.
I am pleased to have participated in some highly productive meetings during my visit to China, including one with the Society of Chinese University Journals (CUJS). The meeting involved Prof. Tieming Zhang (President of CUJS), Assoc. Prof. Xin Zhang (Vice President and Secretary General), and Dr. Fei Gao (Executive Member of CUJS). Alongside my colleagues Dr. Guoshi Liu, Dr. Giulia Stefenelli, and Anita Sun, I represented MDPI and held an open discussion to address any questions regarding OA and MDPI.
We discussed several methods for collaboration, including a workshop on the future of peer review, MDPI sponsoring a funding grant for early-career researchers, and transitioning journals from diamond to gold OA. I am thankful for the opportunity to have met our colleagues at CUJS in person and feel very confident about our future collaborations in support of OA publishing in China.
MDPI hosts free academic seminars, author training sessions, and academic conferences as part of its commitment to enrich and support the scholarly community. CUJS often stages academic events (e.g., conferences, editor training, and editor competitions), and I believe there are great opportunities for CUJS and MDPI to collaborate accordingly.
Meeting with National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSLC)
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Chair of Scientific Officers, MDPI), Anita Sun (PR Manager, MDPI) and Dr. Guoshi Liu (Managing Director, MDPI) at the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
We also visited the NSLC Director, Xiwen Liu, and colleagues Ying Jin, Zhesi Shen, and Sichao Tong. Following our introductions, we gave a presentation on the history and editorial process at MDPI, discussing specific details related to MDPI’s business and data. We highlighted the status of our IOAP collaborations in China and the makeup of our author base, specifically in China, and drew attention to the fact that MDPI has published research by authors from every country in the world. We then discussed the design indicators, calculation methods and implementation purposes of the ‘Early Warning Journal List’ and how we can have open communication to provide any data regarding MDPI journals. I am pleased to report that we reached a consensus on future communications, and am grateful to NSLC for hosting us in their offices.
In-person meetings with stakeholders provide an invaluable opportunity to communicate what MDPI is about and the various ways in which we serve the scholarly community. While digital marketing and online communication are essential, they are no replacement for the understanding and trust that come about through in-person interactions.
The Numbers
As at September 2023, China holds the largest position in MDPI’s global market, ranking as the largest contributor to the total number of papers published by MDPI.
At this point in time, there were more than 847,000 China mainland scholars who have published with MDPI, 51 of whom are Section-Editors-in-Chief (SEiC) of MDPI journals, with seven serving as Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) for journals such as Air, Big Data and Cognitive Computing, Blockchains, Future, Nanoenergy Advances, and Targets.
Our growth and presence in China are a true testament to the service we provide to the scholarly community, and to the relationships we foster through collaborative activities. We look forward to continuing to support the growth of the scholarly community in China, providing a valuable and trusted experience with MDPI.
Closing Thoughts
Final Reflections on our MDPI Offices in Beijing and Wuhan
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Dr. Constanze Schelhorn (Indexing Manager, MDPI), Jiale Shang (Admin, Tongzhou, MDPI) at Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing.
I spent approximately two weeks visiting some of our offices in China, and the first word that comes to mind when describing my experience is ‘hospitality.’ My colleagues and I were met with enthusiasm and delight at the airport by the Tongzhou Admin team (thank you, Jiale Shang, and thank you, Eric Wang, for keeping us organized on this trip!) and were taken care of with great attention. From hotels to transportation, dinners, and meetings, our stay was catered for perfectly.
Perhaps this is where MDPI’s focus on customers and service originates. At our core, we are a service company that provides a publishing platform for its authors. It’s therefore no surprise that authors consistently rate their experience with MDPI very highly.
95% of submitting authors rate their overall experience with the MDPI publication process as Excellent or Good (Springer Nature report 90%).
91% of submitting authors rate their overall experience with the MDPI peer review process as Excellent or Good.
Speed/Efficiency and Editorial Relationship are two key reasons underlying this high satisfaction score. ‘Editorial Relationship’ can be further explored, but in the past month, the most commonly noted aspects were the professionalism, kindness, availability, communicativeness, and personalized assistance provided by our editorial staff throughout the process. These attributes are at the core of our work across all our offices and continents.
Hospitality and Service
Just as our Chinese colleagues strove to keep us engaged by showing us the city sights (thank you, Thea Pan, and Jason Wu from the Wuhan Marketing team!) and sharing a variety of wonderful meals, our editorial staff are committed to serving our authors throughout their publishing journey. Our aim is to place the author at the centre of everything we do, eager to welcome our ‘guests’ and provide them with a pleasant publishing experience.
I asked my colleague Francis Wu (Senior Publisher, Wuhan office) where this hospitality originates. He responded that it is part of Chinese culture. I reflected long and deep on this answer. China is a vast country, and when visitors arrive, hosts want to ensure they feel welcomed and taken care of in order to maximize their time and visit. I can’t think of a better analogy for how I would want our authors to feel when they visit MDPI for their publishing needs. A company culture that prioritizes service, something that goes beyond products and productivity, and focuses on the overall experience. Over 6,000 people, across all MDPI offices, are ready, willing and able to go the extra mile for their colleagues and their customers. This is something I am truly proud of.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
6 September 2023
Recap of Awards Granted to Scholars in 2022
MDPI is committed to supporting the academic community, nurturing talent and advancing science. Awards are an important part of the research landscape and play a vital role in helping academics gain recognition, especially young researchers as they embark on new research avenues.
In 2022, our journals presented a total number of 394 Awards, including Travel Awards, Young Investigator Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, Best Paper Awards, and Outstanding Reviewer Awards, with several winners announced for some of the awards. The total prize sum amounted to just under 580,000 Swiss francs (CHF), or approximately 650,000 US dollars. Overall, more than 720 scholars were awarded.
The majority of the awards were dedicated to young researchers in relatively early stages of their careers. This encompassed 66 of the afore-mentioned Travel Awards, 60 Young Investigator Awards, supporting research projects and conference attendance, as well as 51 Best PhD Thesis Awards. Additionally, 113 Best Paper Awards were given by our journals. The selection committees were entrusted with identifying the most impactful and novel research and review articles published in their journal within a given year.
MDPI will continue its support and recognition for the academic community moving forward, sponsoring new awards across disciplines. To learn more about all the awardees and their research projects in your field of study, please visit the following pages:
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
30 August 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #3 - Sustainability and Co-opetition
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Our Commitment to Sustainability
As a pioneer in academic open access publishing since 1996, MDPI has always been dedicated to facilitating scientific exchange across all disciplines. Our approach to open science is guided by principles such as Open Access (OA), Timeliness and Efficiency, Simplicity, High-Quality Service, Flexibility, and a commitment to Sustainability. This commitment involves preserving published papers for the long term and supporting the future of science through partnerships, sponsorships, and awards.
In this edition of the CEO Letter, I will delve into MDPI’s various sustainability initiatives. As a leader in OA publishing, we are able to provide the public with a significant amount of environment-related content at no cost.
MDPI and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In 2020, the SDG Publishers Compact was launched to accelerate implementation of the SDGs by promoting content that informs, develops, and inspires action. MDPI joined this initiative in 2021 and subsequently launched the MDPI SDG Hub in 2022, offering free access to recent research within the scope of each of the 17 SDGs. We also support authors from underrepresented communities by waiving publication charges for selected SDG-related papers. Detailed sustainability practices and supported publications are available in the report under each Goal page.
“More than 80% of MDPI articles and reviews published in 2022 relate to the Sustainable Development Goals.” [source: InCites, Accessed on 21.08.2023]
As at August 2023, MDPI boasts 14 journals dedicated to sustainability-related topics. Our first journal in this area, Sustainability, has published over 29,000 articles on the SDGs, accumulating over 240,000 citations (source: InCites, as at 1 January 2023). These journals serve as vital platforms for researchers to share insights and address environmental challenges. In addition:
MDPI journals specializing in sustainability-related topics:
- 2009: Sustainability
- 2012: Resources
- 2013: Climate
- 2014: Environments
- 2016: Recycling
- 2019: Clean Technologies
- 2020: Sustainable Chemistry
- 2021: Wind, Biomass, Conservation, Pollutants, Solar
- 2022: Waste, Microplastics
Read more:
Impactful Research
Highly Cited Articles in Sustainability
In 2022, content published in Sustainability and indexed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR) received nearly 190,000 citations. This highlights the fact that Sustainability publishes highly cited research articles related to environmental sciences and SDG-related topics such as climate action.
We are pleased to share that Sustainability received a 2022 CiteScore of 5.8, marking a 16% increase from the 2021 metric. Specifically, the CiteScore positions Sustainability as follows: Q1 (27 out of 163) in the “Environmental Science (miscellaneous)” category, and Q1 (101 out of 779) in the “Geography Planning and Development” category. For additional journal statistics, please visit here.
“Sustainability received a 2022 CiteScore of 5.8”
While MDPI journals such as Climate and Atmosphere have a distinct focus on atmosphere pollution and its impact on climate processes, journals like Sustainability, Environments, Water, Remote Sensing, and IJERPH publish content related to climate change. These journals have published over 32,300 articles related to SDG 13: Climate Action.
Highly Cited Papers in Sustainability
Below are several highly cited papers published in Sustainability over the past three years. Citation metrics are current as at 15 August 2023.
1. “A Global Assessment: Can Renewable Energy Replace Fossil Fuels by 2050?”Authors: Jerry L. Holechek, Hatim M. E. Geli, Mohammed N. Sawalhah, and Raul Valdez
Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4792; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084792
Citations: Crossref (97), Scopus (91), Web of Science (82), Google Scholar (125)
This paper addresses one of the most significant challenges of climate change – achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2050. The meta-analysis suggests that while difficult, this transition is possible through the concerted application of pathways, lifestyle changes, and global cooperation.
2. “Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety”Author: Panu Pihkala
Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 7836; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197836
Citations: Crossref (144), Scopus (121), Web of Science (159), Google Scholar (382)
This paper has received substantial media attention, including coverage by The Guardian, BBC, Vice, and CNBC. An interview with Dr. Panu Pihkala, a leading interdisciplinary researcher on the topic, can be found on MDPI’s podcast: Insight Faster, Episode 1.
3. “Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Its Mitigation Strategies: A Review”Authors: Gurdeep Singh Malhi, Manpreet Kaur, and Prashant Kaushik
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1318; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031318
Citations: Crossref (207), Scopus (221), Web of Science (186), Google Scholar (355)
This paper reviews literature on climate change, addressing its causes, future projections, impact on agriculture, including plant physiology, growth, productivity, pest infestation, and the economic implications of mitigation strategies.
4. “Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Development Goals, and Need to Focus on Circular Economy and Policy Interventions”Authors: Rakesh Kumar, Anurag Verma, Arkajyoti Shome, Rama Sinha, Srishti Sinha, Prakash Kumar Jha, Ritesh Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Shubham, Shreyas Das, Prabhakar Sharma, and P. V. Vara Prasad
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9963; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179963
Citations: Crossref (134), Scopus (136), Web of Science (113), Google Scholar (184)
This review aims to assess the adverse effects of plastic pollution on ecosystems, link the management of plastic with the SDGs, and propose policy measures using transdisciplinary approaches. Empowering communities to reduce plastic use is crucial. Addressing global plastic pollution is a priority.
Sustainability is an international, cross-disciplinary, open access journal that explores environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings. It provides a forward-looking platform for research on sustainability and sustainable development, and is published semi-monthly online by MDPI. Sustainability is affiliated with The Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) and The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB).
Read more:
- Testimonials: See what our editors and authors say about Sustainability.
Inside MDPI
President of Ireland Authors Editorial in MDPI Journal Sustainability
It’s a very special occasion when the president of a country takes the initiative to write an editorial for a journal. Michael D. Higgins, President of the Republic of Ireland, has contributed his insights to a forthcoming Special Issue in Sustainability:
This Special Issue, focusing on “making sustainable development happen” at grassroots levels, allows for perspectives from, and on, the major world faiths, exploring how challenges have been conceptualised and addressed, in addition to case studies of faith-based sustainability initiatives in practice.
The experience of faith institutions and communities in translating theological and moral commitments to sustainable development into action is now a topic we must examine with urgency; one on which I am so glad this Special Issue focuses.
As President of Ireland, I very much support this Special Issue of Sustainability. It is my great hope that the contents of the papers contained herein will assist in making sustainable development happen at grassroots levels across the world so that we can cooperate together, people of faith and of none, to ensure a just, inclusive and sustainable future for all on our fragile planet.
Read the completed editorial here:
Special Issue “Faith and Sustainable Development: Exploring Practice, Progress and Challenges among Faith Communities and Institutions”: Foreword by the President of Ireland
Author: Michael D. Higgins
Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9683; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129683
Coming Together for Science
The World Sustainability Forum 2023
The World Sustainability Forum (WSF) is a biennial MDPI event focused on sustainability. WSF 2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the conference series, taking place on 14 September. For the first time, the event will be hosted as a 24-hour conference across three locations – Singapore, Basel in Switzerland, and Toronto in Canada – alongside virtual streaming.
This unique format allows us to span three time zones, providing live coverage of critical sustainability-related topics throughout the day:
- The Singapore Hub, chaired by Professor Horn Mun Cheah and Associate Professor Renee Tan, will explore “Sustainability for Social and Community Impact”.
- The Basel Hub, chaired by Prof. Dr. Anet Režek Jambrak and Dr. Lela Mélon, will delve into “Sustainability in the industry, and at university and corporate settings”.
- The Toronto Hub, led by Dr. Umberto Berardi, will discuss “The Sustainable Built Environment”.
MDPI Sustainability Foundation: Recognizing Excellence in Sustainability Research
The MDPI Sustainability Foundation supports researchers through two sustainability-focused awards:
- The World Sustainability Award, amounting to USD 100,000, is given to senior researchers.
- The Emerging Sustainability Leader Award, valued at USD 20,000, sponsored by the journal Sustainability, is presented to early-career researchers.
The winners of the Sustainability Foundation will be formally awarded during the WSF2023 on 14 September. Interviews with the award winners and finalists are available below.
2023 World Sustainability Award Winners
Interviews with 2023 Emerging Sustainability Leader Award Finalists
- Dr. Bahareh Kamranzad
- Dr. Youjin Kim
- Dr. Julia Lohmann
As a hybrid event, WSF23 provides scholars with the option to attend in person at one of the conference sites or, for a more sustainable approach, virtually. All sessions will be recorded and archived for future access. Registration is open until 3 September 2023, with in-person and virtual tickets available here.
Read more:
Closing Thoughts
“Co-opetition”: Collaboration Plus Healthy Competition – A Visit to Elsevier
I firmly believe in fostering collaboration and at the same time promoting healthy competition within the academic publishing industry. The market offers ample room for publishers and related companies to provide valuable services and products that enrich the academic community. While MDPI is recognized for its efficient and streamlined processes –thanks to our over 6,000 colleagues, in-house tools, and initiatives that support the author journey – our ethos has always involved learning from and collaborating with other organizations.
MDPI’s Interaction with Elsevier
In January 2023, I had a brief conversation with Judy Verses, President of Global Academic and Government Markets at Elsevier, following her participation in a panel discussion at the Academic Publishers Europe event in Berlin. One of the highlights for me was Judy’s insight into the impact of research, particularly her emphasis on the role of collaboration, including policy and showing the impact of research to influence on funding decisions.
“Such collaborations drive forward-looking strategies to elevate our support for the scholarly community”
Judy and I resumed our discussion in August, when I visited Elsevier's office to review current projects, such as our recent agreement with Science Direct and the continued indexing of MDPI journals in Scopus (indexing database owned by Elsevier). We also explored possible opportunities for the future, including a potential collaboration to expand MDPI’s Scilit data infrastructure. This endeavour aims to aggregate and provide access to scholarly metadata encompassing journal articles, conference papers, books, preprints, and more. While these discussions are ongoing, the underlying principle remains that such collaborations drive forward-looking strategies to elevate our services and support for the scholarly community.
It was great that Judy and I acknowledged the merits of 'co-opetition,' a concept based of the belief that fostering cooperation alongside healthy competition can lead to shared advancements for both individual companies and the industry at large.
‘Fully OA’ Organizations Dedicated to Open Access
MDPI proudly aligns with the ‘Fully OA’ group, a collaborative initiative comprising nine organizations dedicated to Open Access. Our monthly meetings, including an OASPA representative, serve as platforms to share non-confidential information, resources, and projects. These gatherings also facilitate discussions on topics relevant to fully OA organizations. Occasionally, joint actions spring from these interactions, such as collaborative blog posts on pertinent subjects and joint statements, such as a recent response to the House Appropriations Committee.
This display of cooperation among competing entities forms a strategic alliance focused on nurturing the best interests of the OA publishing model.
As I wrap up this third edition of the CEO Letter, I encourage you to seize opportunities for collaboration and contribute to advancing our shared academic culture. As the African proverb has it, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
14 August 2023
MDPI’s 2022 Young Investigator Awards in Biology and Life Sciences—Winners Announced
MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences. The winners were selected by the journals’ Award Evaluation Committee.
We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.
- Thomas Hartinger, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
- Leontina Lipan, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
- Daniel Stec, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Dibyadeep Datta, Yale Medical School, USA
- Giacomo Valle, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Morgan H. James, Rutgers University, USA
- Xiaonan Lu, McGill University, Canada
- Alfredo Iacoangeli, King's College London, UK
- Elisa De Franco, University of Exeter, UK
- Riccardo Pecori, German Cancer Research Center, Germany
- Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
- Massimiliano Renna, University of Bari Aldo Moro at Bari, Italy
- Adam G. Dolezal, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States
- Carla Rodrigues, Institut Pasteur, France
- Lorena Rodriguez-Rubio, University of Barcelona, Spain
- Kevin Solomon, University of Delaware, USA
- Colleen Deane, University of Southampton, UK
- Paz Otero Fuertes, University of Vigo, Spain
- Marta Giovanetti, National Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
- Carrie M. Long, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), USA
- Carina Joe, University of Oxford, UK
About MDPI Awards:
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
14 August 2023
MDPI’s 2022 Travel Awards in Biology and Life Sciences—Winners Announced
We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2022 Travel Awards in biology and life sciences for their outstanding presentations.
MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.
The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.
We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of the 2022 Travel Awards and wish them the greatest success in their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.
- Liloia Donato, University of Turin, Italy
- Roberta Bettoni, University of Milano Bicocca, Italy
- Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
- Carlo Matera, University of Milan, Italy
- Elisabetta Coppi, University of Florence, Italy
- Ilaria Tonazzini, Nanoscience Institute—National Research Council (CNR) @ NEST in Pisa, Italy
- Pere Catala, University Eye Clinic Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Center, the Netherlands
- Angela Blasimann, University of Antwerp, Belgium
- Angelo Sabag, Western Sydney University, Australia
About MDPI Awards:
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
14 August 2023
MDPI’s 2022 Outstanding Reviewer Awards in Biology and Life Sciences—Winners Announced
In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when generously dedicating their time to reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer review process.
We are proud to recognize the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences for their outstanding contributions, among extensive competition, by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the winners on their achievements. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.
- Ewa Ropelewska, The National Institute of Horticultural Research, Poland
- Marek Rašovský, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia
- Prakash Jha, Kansas State University, USA
- Vasileios Greveniotis, Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, Greece
- Alberto Collareta, University of Pisa, Italy
- Francisco Curate, University of Coimbra, Portugal
- Gianpiero Greco, University of Study of Bari, Italy
- Luca Poli, University of Study of Bari, Italy
- Shaohua Chen, South China Agricultural University, China
- Chong Chen, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
- Marco Sapienza, University of Catania, Italy
- Sabina Barrios-Fernández, University of Extremadura, Spain
- Corrado Battisti, Torre Flavia LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Italy
- Daniel Stec, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Emilia Grzędzicka, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Igor Zelnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Eva S. Liu, 1Harvard Medical School, USA 2Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA
- Aleksandra Szydlowska, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), Poland
- Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, Al-Azhar University, Egypt
- Andrew G. Jeffs, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Mohamed Samy-Kamal, Universitat d'Alacant, Spain
- Baskaran Stephen Inbaraj, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
- Marzena Włodarczyk-Stasiak, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
- Minaxi Sharma, Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut-Condorcet, Belgium
- Viviani Ruffo de Oliveira, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil
- Federico Manuel Giorgi, University of Bologna, Italy
- Jan Bocianowski, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
- Magdalena Mroczek, Center for Cardiovascular Genetics and Gene Diagnostics, Switzerland
- Keigi Fujiwara, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
- Tomasz W. Kaminski, University of Pittsburgh, USA
- Takujiro Homma, Yamagata University, Japan
- William Bryan Terzaghi, Wilkes University, United States
- Zong-jie Cui, Beijing Normal University, China
- Abraão Almeida Santos, University of Florida, USA
- Agata Kaczmarek, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Miguel A. García-Martínez, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico
- Andrei S. Rodin, Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, USA
- Kazuhiko Kotani, Jichi Medical University, Japan
- Jianing Mi, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
- Nguyen Phuoc Long, Inje University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea
- Xian Luo, University of Alberta, Canada
- Guillaume Fiches, Ohio State University, USA
- Jianxuan Wu, Gilead Sciences, USA
- Tomasz M. Karpiński, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poland
- Alicia Ayerdi Gotor, Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, France
- Andrea Mastinu, University of Brescia, Italy
- Edyta Paczos-Grzeda, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
- Narayan Bhusal, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
- Mohsen Hesami, University of Guelph, Canada
- Christian Müller, University of Greifswald, Germany
- Margarita Fernández-Tejedor, IRTA, Spain
- Christian Napoli, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy
- Federico Marchesi, University of Parma, Italy
- Roger E. Thomas, University of Calgary, Canada
- Fun-In Wang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
- Valeria Grieco, University of Milan, Italy
About MDPI Awards:
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
14 August 2023
MDPI’s 2022 Best PhD Thesis Awards in Biology and Life Sciences—Winners Announced
MDPI’s Best PhD Thesis Awards are presented to recognize the young scholars who are judged to have completed the most outstanding PhD thesis in their field of research and to encourage them to continue their outstanding work and further contributions to their field.
We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of the 2022 Best PhD Thesis Awards and wish them success in their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.
- “CYP2D in the Brain Alters Response to Drugs and Neurotoxins”
by Marlaina R. Stocco, University of California, USA - “Neural Encoding of Prior Experience in Sensorimotor Behavior”
by Nicolas Meirhaeghe, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, France
- “Perinatal Stem Cell: Epigenetic, Biological and Differentiative Characteristics”
by Giulia Gaggi, University "G.D'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
- “Uncovering the Genetic Variation Involved in Asthma Exacerbations through Multiple Genomic Approaches”
by Esther Herrera Luis, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain
- “Development of Novel Tools for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance in Complex Microbial Communities and Their Application to Improving Our Stewardship of Antimicrobials in Livestock”
by Ashenafi Feyisa Beyi, Iowa State University, United States
About MDPI Awards:
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
14 August 2023
MDPI’s Best Paper Awards in Biology and Life Sciences—Winners Announced in 2022
The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.
The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation.
We are honored to present the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.
- “From Smart Farming towards Agriculture 5.0: A Review on Crop Data Management”
by Verónica Saiz-Rubio and Francisco Rovira-Más
Agronomy 2020, 10(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020207
- “Comparison of Biochemical, Anatomical, Morphological, and Physiological Responses to Salinity Stress in Wheat and Barley Genotypes Deferring in Salinity Tolerance”
by Muhammad Zeeshan, Meiqin Lu, Shafaque Sehar, Paul Holford and Feibo Wu
Agronomy 2020, 10(1), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010127
- “The Use of a Plant-Based Biostimulant Improves Plant Performances and Fruit Quality in Tomato Plants Grown at Elevated Temperatures”
by Silvana Francesca Carmen Arena, Bruno Hay Mele, Carlo Schettini, Patrizia Ambrosino, Amalia Barone and Maria Manuela Rigano
Agronomy 2020, 10(3), https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030363
- “The Management of Agricultural Waste Biomass in the Framework of Circular Economy and Bioeconomy: An Opportunity for Greenhouse Agriculture in Southeast Spain”
by Mónica Duque-Acevedo, Luis J. Belmonte-Ureña, José A. Plaza-Úbeda and Francisco Camacho-Ferre
Agronomy 2020, 10(4), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10040489
- “Apoptotic Bodies: Particular Extracellular Vesicles Involved in Intercellular Communication”
by Michela Battistelli and Elisabetta Falcieri
Biology 2020, 9(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9010021
- “Vegetation and Environmental Changes on Non-Reclaimed Spoil Heaps in Southern Poland”
by Oimahmad Rahmonov, Robert Krzysztofik, Dorota Środek and Justyna Smolarek-Lach
Biology 2020, 9(7), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9070164
- “Formyl Peptide Receptor 1 Signaling in Acute Inflammation and Neural Differentiation Induced by Traumatic Brain Injury”
by Roberta Fusco, Enrico Gugliandolo, Rosalba Siracusa, Maria Scuto, Marika Cordaro, Ramona D’Amico, Maurizio Evangelista, Angelo Peli, Alessio Filippo Peritore, Daniela Impellizzeri et al.
Biology 2020, 9(9), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9090238
- “Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: A Meta-Meta-Analysis”
by Olalla Sáiz-Vazquez, Alicia Puente-Martínez, Silvia Ubillos-Landa, Joaquín Pacheco-Bonrostro and Javier Santabárbara
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(6), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060386
- “Psychosocial and Behavioral Impact of COVID-19 in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Online Parent Survey”
by Marco Colizzi, Elena Sironi, Federico Antonini, Marco Luigi Ciceri, Chiara Bovo and Leonardo Zoccante
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(6), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060341
- “More Than a Functional Group: Diversity within the Legume–Rhizobia Mutualism and Its Relationship with Ecosystem Function”
by Benton N. Taylor, Ellen L. Simms and Kimberly J. Komatsu
Diversity 2020, 12(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020050
- “A Common Approach to the Conservation of Threatened Island Vascular Plants: First Results in the Mediterranean Basin”
by Giuseppe Fenu, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Charalambos S. Christodoulou, Donatella Cogoni, Christini Fournaraki, Giusso del Galdo Gian Pietro, Panagiota Gotsiou, Angelos Kyratzis, Carole Piazza, Magdalena Vicens et al.
Diversity 2020, 12(4), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12040157
- “Plant Diversity Patterns and Conservation Implications under Climate-Change Scenarios in the Mediterranean: The Case of Crete (Aegean, Greece)”
by Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, Maria Panitsa, Panayiotis Trigas, Arne Strid and Panayotis Dimopoulos
Diversity 2020, 12(7), 270; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12070270
- “Conserving the Diversity of Ecological Interactions: The Role of Two Threatened Macaw Species as Legitimate Dispersers of ‘Megafaunal’ Fruits”
by José L. Tella, Fernando Hiraldo, Erica Pacífico, José A. Díaz-Luque, Francisco V. Dénes, Fernanda M. Fontoura, Neiva Guedes and Guillermo Blanco
Diversity 2020, 12(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020045
- “Genomics in Bacterial Taxonomy: Impact on the Genus Pseudomonas”
by Jorge Lalucat, Magdalena Mulet, Margarita Gomila and Elena García-Valdés
Genes 2020, 11(2), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11020139
- “Histone Deacetylases (HDACs): Evolution, Specificity, Role in Transcriptional Complexes, and Pharmacological Actionability”
by Giorgio Milazzo, Daniele Mercatelli, Giulia Di Muzio, Luca Triboli, Piergiuseppe De Rosa, Giovanni Perini and Federico M. Giorgi
Genes 2020, 11(5), 556; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11050556
- “COVID-19 and Genetic Variants of Protein Involved in the SARS-CoV-2 Entry into the Host Cells”
by Andrea Latini, Emanuele Agolini, Antonio Novelli, Paola Borgiani, Rosalinda Giannini, Paolo Gravina, Andrea Smarrazzo, Mario Dauri, Massimo Andreoni, Paola Rogliani et al.
Genes 2020, 11(9), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11091010
- “Clustered DNA Double-Strand Breaks: Biological Effects and Relevance to Cancer Radiotherapy”
by Jac A. Nickoloff, Neelam Sharma and Lynn Taylor
Genes 2020, 11(1), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010099
- “Inhibition of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Ameliorates Renal Fibrosis by Mitigating DPP-4 Level and Restoring Antifibrotic MicroRNAs”
by Swayam Prakash Srivastava, Julie E. Goodwin, Keizo Kanasaki and Daisuke Koya
Genes 2020, 11(2), 211; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11020211
- “Regulation of Ergosterol Biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”
by Tania Jordá and Sergi Puig
Genes 2020, 11(7), 795; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11070795
- “Laccase Properties, Physiological Functions, and Evolution”
by Grzegorz Janusz, Anna Pawlik, Urszula Świderska-Burek, Jolanta Polak, Justyna Sulej, Anna Jarosz-Wilkołazka and Andrzej Paszczyński
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(3), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030966
- “Lysosomal Exocytosis, Exosome Release and Secretory Autophagy: The Autophagic- and Endo-Lysosomal Systems Go Extracellular”
by Sandra Buratta, Brunella Tancini, Krizia Sagini, Federica Delo, Elisabetta Chiaradia, Lorena Urbanelli and Carla Emiliani
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(7), 2576; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21072576
- “Recent Advances in Lipopolysaccharide Recognition Systems”
by Lalita Mazgaeen and Prajwal Gurung
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(2), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21020379
- “Redox Interactions of Vitamin C and Iron: Inhibition of the Pro-Oxidant Activity by Deferiprone”
by Viktor A. Timoshnikov, Tatyana V. Kobzeva, Nikolay E. Polyakov and George J. Kontoghiorghes
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(11), 3967; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21113967
- “Modulation of Pro-Oxidant and Pro-Inflammatory Activities of M1 Macrophages by the Natural Dipeptide Carnosine”
by Claudia G. Fresta, Annamaria Fidilio, Giacomo Lazzarino, Nicolò Musso, Margherita Grasso, Sara Merlo, Angela M. Amorini, Claudio Bucolo, Barbara Tavazzi, Giuseppe Lazzarino et al.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(3), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030776
- “SAAMBE-3D: Predicting Effect of Mutations on Protein–Protein Interactions”
by Swagata Pahari, Gen Li, Adithya Krishna Murthy, Siqi Liang, Robert Fragoza, Haiyuan Yu and Emil Alexov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(7), 2563; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21072563
- “Diversity and Global Distribution of Viruses of the Western Honey Bee, Apis mellifera”
by Alexis Beaurepaire, Niels Piot, Vincent Doublet, Karina Antunez, Ewan Campbell, Panuwan Chantawannakul, Nor Chejanovsky, Anna Gajda, Matthew Heerman and Delphine Panziera
Insects 2020, 11(4), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11040239
- “Soil Health and Arthropods: From Complex System to Worthwhile Investigation”
by Cristina Menta and Sara Remelli
Insects 2020, 11(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010054
- “Influence of Temperature on Age-Stage, Two-Sex Life Tables for a Minnesota-Acclimated Population of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys)”
by Byju N. Govindan and William D. Hutchison
Insects 2020, 11(2), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11020108
- “Characterization of Resistance in Gram-Negative Urinary Isolates Using Existing and Novel Indicators of Clinical Relevance: A 10-Year Data Analysis”
by Márió Gajdács, Zoltán Bátori, Marianna Ábrók, Andrea Lázár and Katalin Burián
Life 2020, 10(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/life10020016
- “Neuroprotection or Neurotoxicity of Illicit Drugs on Parkinson’s Disease”
by Carla Ferreira, Catarina Almeida, Sandra Tenreiro and Alexandre Quintas
Life 2020, 10(6), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/life10060086
- “Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors Targeting Metabolism and Tumor Microenvironment”
by Andrea Angeli, Fabrizio Carta, Alessio Nocentini, Jean-Yves Winum, Raivis Zalubovskis, Atilla Akdemir, Valentina Onnis, Wagdy M. Eldehna, Clemente Capasso, Giuseppina De Simone et al.
Metabolites 2020, 10(10), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10100412
- “MetaboAnalystR 3.0: Toward an Optimized Workflow for Global Metabolomics”
by Zhiqiang Pang, Jasmine Chong, Shuzhao Li and Jianguo Xia
Metabolites 2020, 10(5), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10050186
- “Tryptophan Metabolism, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in Patients with Neurovascular Disease”
by Martin Hajsl, Alzbeta Hlavackova, Karolina Broulikova, Martin Sramek, Martin Maly, Jan E. Dyr and Jiri Suttnar
Metabolites 2020, 10(5), 208; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10050208
- “Production and Purification of Artificial Circular RNA Sponges for Application in Molecular Biology and Medicine”
by Janina Breuer and Oliver Rossbach
Methods Protoc. 2020, 3(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/mps3020042
- “Effectiveness of Chemical Compounds Used against African Swine Fever Virus in Commercial Available Disinfectants”
by Małgorzata Juszkiewicz, Marek Walczak, Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk and Grzegorz Woźniakowski
Pathogens 2020, 9(11), 878; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9110878
- “Betanodavirus and VER Disease: A 30-year Research Review”
by Isabel Bandín and Sandra Souto
Pathogens 2020, 9(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9020106
- “The Bradyzoite: A Key Developmental Stage for the Persistence and Pathogenesis of Toxoplasmosis”
by Aude Cerutti, Nicolas Blanchard and Sébastien Besteiro
Pathogens 2020, 9(3), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9030234
- “Understanding Flavivirus Capsid Protein Functions: The Tip of the Iceberg”
by Stephanea Sotcheff and Andrew Routh
Pathogens 2020, 9(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9010042
- “Photosynthetic Metabolism under Stressful Growth Conditions as a Bases for Crop Breeding and Yield Improvement”
by Fermín Morales, María Ancín, Dorra Fakhet, Jon González-Torralba, Angie L. Gámez, Amaia Seminario, David Soba, Sinda Ben Mariem, Miguel Garriga and Iker Aranjuelo
Plants 2020, 9(1), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9010088
- “Plant Roots Release Small Extracellular Vesicles with Antifungal Activity”
by Monica De Palma, Alfredo Ambrosone, Antonietta Leone, Pasquale Del Gaudio, Michelina Ruocco, Lilla Turiák, Ramesh Bokka, Immacolata Fiume, Marina Tucci and Gabriella Pocsfalvi
Plants 2020, 9(12), 1777; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9121777
- “Feeding Behavior and Virus-transmission Ability of Insect Vectors Exposed to Systemic Insecticides”
by Elisa Garzo, Aránzazu Moreno, María Plaza and Alberto Fereres
Plants 2020, 9(7), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070895
- “Transcriptome Analyses and Antioxidant Activity Profiling Reveal the Role of a Lignin-Derived Biostimulant Seed Treatment in Enhancing Heat Stress Tolerance in Soybean”
by Cristina Campobenedetto, Giuseppe Mannino, Chiara Agliassa, Alberto Acquadro, Valeria Contartese, Christian Garabello and Cinzia Margherita Bertea
Plants 2020, 9(10), 1308; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9101308
- “Aflatoxin Biosynthesis and Genetic Regulation: A Review”
by Isaura Caceres, Anthony Al Khoury, Rhoda El Khoury, Sophie Lorber, Isabelle P. Oswald, André El Khoury, Ali Atoui, Olivier Puel and Jean-Denis Bailly
Toxins 2020, 12(3), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12030150
- “Diet Breadth Mediates the Prey Specificity of Venom Potency in Snakes”
by Keith Lyons, Michel M. Dugon and Kevin Healy
Toxins 2020, 12(2), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12020074
- “Rapid Quantification of SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibodies Using Propagation-Defective Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Pseudotypes”
by Ferdinand Zettl, Toni Luise Meister, Tanja Vollmer, Bastian Fischer, Jörg Steinmann, Adalbert Krawczyk, Philip V’kovski, Daniel Todt, Eike Steinmann, Stephanie Pfaender et al.
Vaccines 2020, 8(3), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030386
- “Influences on Attitudes Regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States”
by Kendall Pogue, Jamie L. Jensen, Carter K. Stancil, Daniel G. Ferguson, Savannah J. Hughes, Emily J. Mello, Ryan Burgess, Bradford K. Berges, Abraham Quaye and Brian D. Poole
Vaccines 2020, 8(4), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8040582
- “Recent Progress on the Versatility of Virus-Like Particles”
by Ciying Qian, Xinlin Liu, Qin Xu, Zhiping Wang, Jie Chen, Tingting Li, Qingbing Zheng, Hai Yu, Ying Gu, Shaowei Li et al.
Vaccines 2020, 8(1), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8010139
- “COVID-19: Mechanisms of Vaccination and Immunity”
by Daniel E. Speiser and Martin F. Bachmann
Vaccines 2020, 8(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030404
- “Manure as a Potential Hotspot for Antibiotic Resistance Dissemination by Horizontal Gene Transfer Events”
by Tiago Lima, Sara Domingues and Gabriela Jorge Da Silva
Vet. Sci. 2020, 7(3), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7030110
- “Seasonality of Nosema ceranae Infections and Their Relationship with Honey Bee Populations, Food Stores, and Survivorship in a North American Region”
by Berna Emsen, Alvaro De la Mora, Brian Lacey, Les Eccles, Paul G. Kelly, Carlos A. Medina-Flores, Tatiana Petukhova, Nuria Morfin and Ernesto Guzman-Novoa
Vet. Sci. 2020, 7(3), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7030131
About MDPI Awards:
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.
To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.
27 July 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #2 - Open Peer-Review and IJERPH
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
Open Peer Review Reports
Continuing the topic of openness from my inaugural monthly CEO letter, in these Opening Thoughts, I highlight the growth and importance of open peer-review reports at MDPI. Open peer reports align with the principles of open science, making the publishing process more transparent and facilitating rigorous peer review.
MDPI journals operate an open peer-review option by default, allowing authors to publish review reports and author responses (often referred to as open reports) together with the published paper. Publishing the reviewer reports and author responses together with the article provides greater transparency and trust for readers, as this allows them to track the editorial decision-making process. Open peer-review also encourages reviewers and editors to provide high-quality comments, as these will be made public if the article is accepted for publication.
Start and Growth of Open Peer Review at MDPI
The MDPI journal Life was a pioneer in offering this opportunity to its authors in 2014. The first MDPI article with peer-review reports openly published was a review by the Nobel Laureate Werner Arber, in which the review reports were published as supplementary material. By 2018, open peer-review was available across all MDPI journals. As such, MDPI authors have embraced the open peer-review model, providing a steady increase in the number of MDPI articles. As of 2023, approximately one-third (34.0%) of MDPI articles were published with open review reports.
As at July 2023, the percentage of MDPI articles published with open peer review has increased to 36.2% of the total papers published in 2023 so far, indicating ongoing growth in adoption.
Open peer review continues to play a critical role in the assessment of the peer-review process in Life. For further insights, please see the recent editorial by Dr. Pabulo Henrique Rampelotto, the former Editor-in-Chief of Life, who spearheaded the implementation of the open peer-review process.
Benefits of Open Peer Review
The benefits of open peer review include increased transparency, trust and constructive feedback. To promote open communication further and increase the robustness of the peer-review process, we encourage reviewers to sign their reports so that their name appears on the review report (this process is referred to as open identity). The default option is for reviewers to remain anonymous; however, by signing the reports, reviewers receive direct credit for their contribution to the peer-review process and show their commitment towards open science.
As the leading open access publisher, MDPI remains committed to promoting open peer-review and encourages authors to choose this approach. Our goal is to provide a rigorous and transparent peer-review process that benefits the scientific community, and we believe that open peer-review is a vital step in fostering openness and collaboration in scientific communication.
Impactful Research
MDPI Papers Cited in the News – IJERPH edition
Every month, our corporate marketing team compiles data from Altmetrics to create a list of MDPI papers that have been cited in the news. This list continues to grow as renowned news outlets regularly reference research published by MDPI in their articles.
During 2022, a total of 111,965 MDPI research papers were mentioned in prominent news outlets such as National Geographic, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Guardian, the BBC, CNN, Time, and Harvard Business Review.
Highly Cited Journal Publications
IJERPH, known for publishing impactful research, received the most news mentions among all MDPI journals in 2022, based on Altmetrics data:
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: 3509 mentions
- Nutrients: 2698 mentions
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences: 1701 mentions
- Journal of Clinical Medicine: 1131 mentions
- Viruses: 1111 mentions
These numbers show the recognition and impact of the articles published in IJERPH. For a more detailed view of the journal’s most cited and viewed papers, you can visit here. In total, IJERPH has garnered over 28,000 mentions in prominent news outlets, and as at July 2023, an impressive count of over 17,000 papers cited 10 times or more. These figures highlight the impactful contribution of IJERPH publications to the scientific community.
Example of Recent Mentions
During May and June 2023, a noteworthy selection of articles from IJERPH was cited in news articles, including:
The Washington Post: “Bringing nature inside can improve your health. Here’s how to do it.”
IJERPH paper: “Physiological Benefits of Viewing Nature: A Systematic Review of Indoor Experiments”
Harvard Business Review: “How to Take Better Breaks at Work, According to Research”
IJERPH paper: “Canine-Assisted Therapy Improves Well-Being in Nurses”
National Geographic: “Lyme disease is spreading fast—but a vaccine may be on the way”
IJERPH paper: “Range Expansion of Tick Disease Vectors in North America: Implications for Spread of Tick-Borne Disease”
Inside MDPI
MDPI Develops an Artificial Intelligence Tool to Enhance the Peer-Review Process
At MDPI, we believe that rigorous peer-review is the corner-stone of high-quality academic publishing. We are grateful to the scholars who generously dedicate their time to peer-review articles submitted to MDPI journals. Their contributions are invaluable to the advancement of science.
Peer-review is a critical part of the publication process, ensuring that MDPI upholds the highest quality standards for the papers we publish. Every manuscript submitted to our journals undergoes a comprehensive peer-review process conducted by subject-matter experts.
To further enhance our peer-review process, our Data Analytics team has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool designed to support the selection of reviewers. This proprietary tool utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP), a specially designed AI language model, to extract information from the title and abstract of submitted papers. It then searches our database for similar manuscripts and suggests potential reviewers based on this analysis. Integrated with MDPI's submission system (SuSy), the AI tool cross-references the suggested candidates with our reviewer database to verify their invitation status and availability.
The goal of this tool is to provide better targeted peer-review invitations, reducing the number of emails sent for each paper and increasing the efficiency of our editorial staff.
In the near future, our Data Analytics team plans to deploy similar AI projects to improve other critical aspects of our services, offering an enhanced experience to our authors and readers.
Click here to learn about MDPI’s review process, including procedures, responsibilities, and benefits.
Read more:
Coming Together for Science
The Future of IJERPH
On 5 July 2023, Prof. Dr. Paul B. Tchounwou, the founding Editor-in-Chief of IJERPH, along with five Section Editors in Chief (Prof. Dr. Germán Vicente-Rodríguez, Prof. Dr. Karl Goodkin, Prof. Dr. William A. Toscano, Prof. Dr. Jimmy T. Efird, and Prof. Dr. William Douglas Evans), gathered in Basel to discuss the future of the journal. The meeting provided an opportunity to address the recent decision by The Web of Science to delist IJERPH due to the journal failing the Content Relevance criterion, and propose best strategies that will ensure high scientific rigor as well as a clear scope and aim of IJERPH, going forward.
While the delisting is disappointing for IJERPH, as well as for our authors, academic editors, and the entire scientific community supporting our journal, we see it as an opportunity to reflect and prepare for the future direction of the journal.
Since its launch in 2004, IJERPH’s vision and mission have evolved to be more complete and comprehensive in engaging scientific communities. In light of this, we will refresh the journal’s aims and scope, ensuring they align with the organic expansion of IJERPH. Additionally, we will restructure the journal sections into broader categories, encouraging collaborative research and transdisciplinary approaches for authors. This is designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among diverse fields, contributing to a holistic understanding of health promotion and disease prevention. We are confident that these next steps will enhance the scientific strength and societal impact of our journal.
Journal Achievements
In addition to the productive discussions, we took the time to celebrate some of the remarkable achievements of IJERPH, which I highlight below:
- Founded by Prof. Dr. Paul B. Tchounwou in 2004
- Indexed in PubMed in 2008
- Received its first Impact Factor in 2012
- Published its 5000th paper in 2017
- Over 60,000 papers published as at June 30, 2023
- 131,628,173 paper views in 2018–2022
- Over 28,000 mentions in prominent news outlets
- 17,000 papers cited 10 times or more as at June 30, 2023
- No.1 journal in the 2022 Google Scholar Metrics in the category of Public Health
- Awarded several editions of Young Investigator Awards, Travel Awards, and Outstanding Reviewer Awards since 2018.
These achievements showcase the journal’s significant contributions to the field and its impact on global health. We are proud of the exceptional work accomplished by the IJERPH team and look forward to building upon this success in the years to come.
Closing Thoughts
MDPI’s Impact in Spain
During the past month, I had the opportunity to visit our new office building in Barcelona, where I met with our local colleagues to discuss the ways we serve the scholarly community, particularly in Spain. The multi-functional office plays a vital role in supporting various business needs, including editorial, design, conference management, data analytics, journal relationship management, publishing partnerships, and collaborations with societies.
Spain holds a significant position in MDPI’s global market, ranking as the fourth-largest contributor to the total number of papers published by MDPI as at July 2023, ranking next to Italy, the USA, and China, with Germany completing the top five.
The Numbers
Out of the 1,680,000 total MDPI articles published as at 25 July, almost 80,000 articles are contributed by Spanish authors, representing nearly 40,000 unique authors affiliated with Spanish institutions. Remarkably, over 6,300 of these authors hold editorial board member (EBM) positions within MDPI journals, with 30 of them serving as Editors-in-Chief (EiCs).
Our commitment to working with institutions is very evident in Spain, where we have successfully established over 40 Institutional Open Access Programs (IOAP) with esteemed institutions such as the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Pompeu Fabra University, the University of Navarre, and Complutense University of Madrid.
Over the past five years, we have successfully organized eight in-person conferences in Barcelona, attracting over 1,150 registrations, with two forthcoming events scheduled for 2024. Barcelona's excellent connectivity to international airports makes it easily accessible to participants from around the world. Its welcoming atmosphere provides us with the perfect environment for knowledge-sharing, networking, and contributing to the local economy.
Our growth and presence in Spain are a true testament to the incredible service we provide to the scholarly community and the relationships we foster through responsive and collaborative communication. We look forward to continuing to support Spanish scholars, providing them a valuable and trusted experience with MDPI, the leader in open access publishing.
Testimonials
I close this letter as I did in the first edition, by sharing testimonials from our stakeholders. Here are a few IJERPH testimonials from a Spanish guest editor and an author:
Guest Editor
“I want to thank the kindness, attention and professionalism of the MDPI team throughout the editorial process of the Special Issue. I believe that it is a very professional and quality editorial process.”
- Professor Víctor Arufe-Giráldez, University of A Coruña
Special Issue in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Physical Activity in Childhood and Adolescence
Special Issue in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Physical Education: Present and Future
__
Author
“I want to thank the rigor of the revisions made to the manuscripts to improve their quality, the support to the authors for the editor assignment system they have and the follow-up they carry out, for the speed in answering and in carrying out the entire process of the revision, and for doing all this at an affordable price.”
- Dr. María Paz García-Caro, University of Granada
Article in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Factors Associated with Suicide Attempts and Suicides in the General Population of Andalusia (Spain)
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
11 July 2023
MDPI’s Newly Launched Journals in June 2023
With the first issue released in June 2023, five new MDPI journals disseminating multi-disciplinary science are due to launch, which will cover the subjects of medicine & pharmacology, biology and physical sciences.
The newly launched journals will be overseen by professional Editorial Board Members and Editors to ensure an accurate and rapid publication, rigorous peer review and broad visibility.
Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.
Journal | Founding Editor-in-Chief | Journal topics (selected) |
Prof. Dr. Jun Ma, Peking University, China| Editorial | view inaugural issue | growth and development; diet and nutrients; school health promotion policies and practices; child health and care; adolescent health and wellbeing | view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Bernd Rehm, Griffith University, Australia | Editorial | view inaugural issue | DNA and gene synthesis; synthetic transcription factors; protein engineering; viral engineering; metabolic engineering | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Prof. Dr. Varsha Gandhi, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue | lymphatics; cancers associated with lymphocytes and lymphoblasts; lymphatic tissues; lymphoma; lymphoid leukemia | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Dr. Bradley Turner, University of Melbourne, Australia | Editorial | view inaugural issue | multiple sclerosis; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; primary lateral sclerosis; atherosclerosis; systemic sclerosis | view journal scope | submit an article | |
Prof. Dr. Clemens Burda, Case Western Reserve University, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue | Gamma ray, X-ray, and UV–Vis spectroscopies; NIR/mid-infrared/Raman spectroscopy; microwave and THz spectroscopy; high-resolution gas-phase atomic, molecular, and cluster spectroscopy; MS, NMR, and EPR spectroscopy | view journal scope | submit an article |
We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to submit an application to the New Journal Committee ([email protected]) if you would like to create more new journals.
3 July 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #1 - Open Access and Impactful Research
Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.
In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.
Opening Thoughts
The Future is Open, and MDPI is Leading the Way
I strongly believe in a future that embraces openness, where open source, open information, and open access (OA) take center stage. This belief that led me to join MDPI in 2020, and I am honored to have recently been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In this capacity, and operating in close liaison with Dr. Lin and MDPI’s senior management, I shall work to build on Dr. Lin’s achievements of the past quarter-century. In this role, I will focus on communication initiatives to promote MDPI's remarkable work and continue to build our company as a trusted leader in OA publishing. For over two decades, MDPI has been at the forefront of reshaping the academic publishing landscape, with OA surpassing subscription-based publishing in 2020. This trajectory is deeply rooted in our history and reflects our unwavering commitment and vision for an open future.
1 Million Published Articles
2023 began with a remarkable achievement for MDPI, as we became the first OA publisher to reach the milestone of 1 million published articles. This represents 2.7 million unique authors who have trusted us with their work, or about a third of all researchers worldwide. As the world's most cited OA publisher, we are proud in sharing these significant milestones.
Our mission remains unchanged: to make science open and accessible to all. We understand the importance of knowledge access, empowering researchers to stay at the forefront of a rapidly changing world. Our diverse range of journals covers a wide spectrum of disciplines, offering cutting-edge insights, trusted tools, and crucial knowledge to address global challenges.
Liberating Science
As the world’s leading OA publisher, MDPI is actively liberating science. We are committed to eliminating the frustrations researchers and the general public face when accessing information, ensuring it is not locked behind paywalls. We firmly believe that everyone has a right to information, and our commitment to open access publishing drives our work.
In this inaugural edition of Insights: The CEO's Letter, I draw inspiration from the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access. Its stated mission reminds us that true impact is achieved when knowledge is widely and readily available to society:
"Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society”
Impactful Research
MDPI Publishes Impactful Research: Recognized by Leading Indexing Databases
MDPI journals are indexed in every single top database in the world.
As of June 2023, we have 214 journals indexed within Web of Science, 223 indexed within Scopus, 87 indexed within PubMed and PMC, and 17 indexed within MEDLINE, and these numbers increase every month. We constantly strive to expand the coverage of our journals within leading multi-disciplinary and scope-specific databases, resulting in an incredibly broad range of journals that are indexed within a variety of databases. MDPI has active relationships with approximately 65 well-known databases around the world, and we continue to expand our portfolio every year so that your work can be found, cited, and referenced with ease.
Continued Growth of MDPI Journals
The 2022 Scopus and Web of Science journal citation metrics were officially released in June, and I am pleased to report that 31 MDPI journals received their first CiteScore, taking the total number of journals with a CiteScore to 216. The number of MDPI journals receiving an Impact Factor (IF) also continues to grow with 111 receiving their first, by being covered in the ESCI, bringing our total number of journals with an IF to 208 of which 41 journals received an IF above 4.0. Looking at 2022 CiteScores in the Scopus database, 80% of MDPI journals have a score that ranks them in Q1 or Q2 in at least one subject category.
Publishing impactful science would not be possible without all of our authors, editors and reviewers. Thank you for your contribution and continued support! Together we share the latest scientific insights faster and ensure that your work is accessible to all.
Read more
Inside MDPI
Preprints.org: Clarivate adds the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science
At MDPI, we are dedicated to driving the advancement of science. Through our initiative, Preprints.org, researchers can publish their work and gain valuable feedback from the broader research community, ensuring rapid progress in their respective fields. This is particularly crucial during times of health and climate challenges, where timely dissemination of findings is essential.
Increased Visibility for Preprints
I am pleased to share that Clarivate recognizes the significance of preprints and has taken a crucial step to enhance their visibility. Clarivate has added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science, encompassing preprints published not only on Preprints.org but also on other reputable repositories.
Looking ahead, the future of preprints appears promising, bolstered by the recent indexing announcement from the Web of Science. As a result, preprints will receive increased visibility, serving as a valuable resource for staying informed about the latest research developments.
Read more
What are Preprints?
The Pros and Cons of Preprints
Preprints and COVID-19
Preprints—The Future of Open Access Publishing?
Coming Together for Science
The First International Conference on Antioxidants: Sources, Methods, Health Benefits and Industrial Applications
In this edition of ‘Coming Together for Science,’ I am pleased to highlight the First International Conference on Antioxidants organized by our conference team in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain. The conference attracted over 130 attendees, who engaged in 42 talks, and 89 poster presentations spread across several sessions.
Working Together
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Alessandra Napolitano (Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Naples, Italy) and Prof. Dr. Rosa M. Lamuela Raventos (Department of Nutrition, Food Sciences and Gastronomy, University of Barcelona, Spain) as chairs, and supported by the committee members, 10 invited keynote speakers, poster presenters, and all the attendees, this dedicated group of academics came together to discuss the natural sources, methodologies, health benefits, and industrial applications of antioxidants.
Especially noteworthy is the positive feedback received from attendees, with 94% rating the overall organization of the conference as good or excellent. I particularly love the picture above, capturing the gathering of some of the participants. You can browse through more photos in the event gallery located here.
Managing Events With Sciforum
If you are considering hosting your own academic event, I highly recommend checking out Sciforum, MDPI's event management platform. Sciforum simplifies the entire process, making it easy to host your own event by allowing you to focus on what really matters: Science!
Read more
Closing Thoughts
Stefan Tochev, Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, Dr. Eric O. Freed, Peter Roth, Wynne Wang, Allison Yang
Viruses and Editorial Quality: Acknowledging the Dedication of our Viruses Journal Team
During a June meeting with Dr. Eric O. Freed, the founding and current Editor-in-Chief of our journal Viruses, I was reminded of the exceptional dedication of our editorial board. Meeting with Eric is a pleasure, as he has a strong commitment and clear vision for the journal. Over the course of two days, we gained a deep understanding of the journal’s expectations and focus on strategic growth, editorial board representation, and engagement.
I am pleased to share that Viruses holds a CiteScore of 7.1 (an increase of 7.57% versus the 2021 metric) and an Impact Factor of 4.7. You can view the journal statistics here. Viruses publishes highly cited papers, and is indexed in renowned databases such as Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, and others, and maintains affiliations with prestigious societies. Moreover, the Viruses team has recently announced an exciting upcoming event titled ‘Viruses 2024 – A World of Viruses,’ scheduled to take place in Barcelona, Spain, from 14–16 February 2024.
Testimonials
If you notice my enthusiasm regarding our editorial service, it’s because the surveys and testimonials we receive speak volumes about the experiences of our authors, reviewers, and guest editors who collaborate with MDPI. The purpose of these letters is to highlight the exceptional work that we do and the experiences we create for the scholars – thus, let me end with this testimonial from an author:
“It was a great pleasure to publish in Viruses Special Issue [Emerging Viruses in Aquaculture]. The submission process was easy. Guest editors were very helpful and provided all the guidance and support as needed. The handling of the manuscript by the Editorial Team was very fast, efficient, and professional. The reviewer’s comments were insightful, and the publication processes were remarkably rapid.”
– Ms. Magdalena Stachnik, Państwowy Instytut Weterynaryjny | PIWet
Article in Viruses: Emerging Viral Pathogens in Sturgeon Aquaculture in Poland: Focus on Herpesviruses and Mimivirus Detection
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
28 June 2023
2022 Impact Factors for MDPI Journals
The 2022 citation metrics have been released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re pleased to announce the following results for MDPI journals:
We are thrilled to announce that 90% of our ranked MDPI journals, specifically 86 out of 96 (captured in the table below), are performing above average in Q1 or Q2. This year, Clarivate has expanded its Impact Factor (IF) awards to include journals in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), providing greater transparency for the full set of journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. As a result, 111 of MDPI journals have received their first IF in 2023, with 37 journals surpassing an IF of 3.0. In total, 208 MDPI journals have been honored with an IF.
Clarivate explains that by "expanding the coverage but holding to highly selective standards, the [Impact Factor] is now a reliable indicator of trustworthiness, as well as a measure of scholarly impact, at the journal level."
Please visit our blog post where we discuss the release of the latest citation metrics with our Indexing Manager, Dr. Constanze Schelhorn, to find out what's different this time around and how to make use of different metrics available.
Journal | Impact Factor | Rank Quartile | Category |
Vaccines | 7.8 | Q1 | Immunology |
Medicine, Research & Experimental | |||
Antioxidants | 7.0 | Q1 | Food Science & Technology |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | |||
Chemistry, Medicinal | |||
Cells | 6.0 | Q2 | Cell Biology |
Nutrients | 5.9 | Q1 | Nutrition & Dietetics |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences | 5.6 | Q1 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
Q2 | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | ||
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research | 5.6 | Q2 | Business |
Biomolecules | 5.5 | Q1 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
Biosensors | 5.4 | Q1 | Chemistry, Analytical |
Instruments & Instrumentation | |||
Q2 | Nanoscience & Nanotechnology | ||
Fractal and Fractional | 5.4 | Q1 | Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications |
Marine Drugs | 5.4 | Q1 | Chemistry, Medicinal |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy | |||
Pharmaceutics | 5.4 | Q1 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
Nanomaterials | 5.3 | Q1 | Physics, Applied |
Q2 | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | ||
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | |||
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology | |||
Cancers | 5.2 | Q2 | Oncology |
Foods | 5.2 | Q1 | Food Science & Technology |
Polymers | 5.0 | Q1 | Polymer Science |
Remote Sensing | 5.0 | Q1 | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary |
Q2 | Remote Sensing | ||
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology | |||
Environmental Sciences | |||
Antibiotics | 4.8 | Q1 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
Q2 | Infectious Diseases | ||
Drones | 4.8 | Q2 | Remote Sensing |
Journal of Functional Biomaterials | 4.8 | Q2 | Engineering, Biomedical |
Materials Science, Biomaterials | |||
Biomedicines | 4.7 | Q1 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
Q2 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | ||
Medicine, Research & Experimental | |||
Journal of Fungi | 4.7 | Q2 | Mycology |
Microbiology | |||
Viruses | 4.7 | Q2 | Virology |
Bioengineering | 4.6 | Q2 | Engineering, Biomedical |
Gels | 4.6 | Q1 | Polymer Science |
Molecules | 4.6 | Q2 | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | |||
Pharmaceuticals | 4.6 | Q2 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
Chemistry, Medicinal | |||
Toxics | 4.6 | Q1 | Toxicology |
Q2 | Environmental Sciences | ||
Biomimetics | 4.5 | Q1 | Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
Q2 | Materials Science, Biomaterials | ||
Microorganisms | 4.5 | Q2 | Microbiology |
Plants | 4.5 | Q1 | Plant Sciences |
Biology | 4.2 | Q2 | Biology |
Chemosensors | 4.2 | Q2 | Instruments & Instrumentation |
Chemistry, Analytical | |||
Electrochemistry | |||
Membranes | 4.2 | Q2 | Engineering, Chemical |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | |||
Chemistry, Physical | |||
Polymer Science | |||
Toxins | 4.2 | Q1 | Toxicology |
Q2 | Food Science & Technology | ||
Metabolites | 4.2 | Q2 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
Batteries | 4.0 | Q2 | Electrochemistry |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | |||
Q3 | Energy & Fuels | ||
Catalysts | 3.9 | Q2 | Chemistry, Physical |
Journal of Clinical Medicine | 3.9 | Q2 | Medicine, General & Internal |
Land | 3.9 | Q2 | Environmental Studies |
Sensors | 3.9 | Q2 | Instruments & Instrumentation |
Chemistry, Analytical | |||
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | |||
Sustainability | 3.9 | Q2 | Environmental Sciences (SCIE) |
Environmental Studies (SSCI) | |||
Q3 | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology (SCIE) | ||
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology (SSCI) | |||
Buildings | 3.8 | Q2 | Construction & Building Technology |
Engineering, Civil | |||
Agronomy | 3.7 | Q1 | Agronomy |
Q2 | Plant Sciences | ||
Fermentation | 3.7 | Q2 | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology |
Pathogens | 3.7 | Q2 | Microbiology |
Agriculture | 3.6 | Q1 | Agronomy |
Diagnostics | 3.6 | Q2 | Medicine, General & Internal |
Genes | 3.5 | Q2 | Genetics & Heredity |
Journal of Intelligence | 3.5 | Q2 | Psychology, Multidisciplinary |
Lubricants | 3.5 | Q2 | Engineering, Mechanical |
Processes | 3.5 | Q2 | Engineering, Chemical |
Coatings | 3.4 | Q2 | Materials Science, Coatings & Films |
Physics, Applied | |||
Q3 | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | ||
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information | 3.4 | Q2 | Geography, Physical |
Q3 | Computer Science, Information Systems | ||
Remote Sensing | |||
Materials | 3.4 | Q2 | Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering |
Physics, Applied | |||
Physics, Condensed Matter | |||
Q3 | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | ||
Chemistry, Physical | |||
Micromachines | 3.4 | Q2 | Instruments & Instrumentation |
Physics, Applied | |||
Chemistry, Analytical | |||
Q3 | Nanoscience & Nanotechnology | ||
Water | 3.4 | Q2 | Water Resources |
Environmental Sciences | |||
Brain Sciences | 3.3 | Q3 | Neurosciences |
Energies | 3.2 | Q3 | Energy & Fuels |
Fire | 3.2 | Q1 | Forestry |
Q2 | Ecology | ||
Life | 3.2 | Q2 | Biology |
Current Issues in Molecular Biology | 3.1 | Q3 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology |
Horticulturae | 3.1 | Q1 | Horticulture |
Animals | 3.0 | Q1 | Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science |
Veterinary Sciences | |||
Insects | 3.0 | Q1 | Entomology |
Atmosphere | 2.9 | Q3 | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences |
Environmental Sciences | |||
Electronics | 2.9 | Q2 | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic |
Physics, Applied | |||
Q3 | Computer Science, Information Systems | ||
Forests | 2.9 | Q1 | Forestry |
Inorganics | 2.9 | Q2 | Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering | 2.9 | Q1 | Engineering, Marine |
Q2 | Oceanography | ||
Engineering, Ocean | |||
Metals | 2.9 | Q2 | Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering |
Q3 | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | ||
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease | 2.9 | Q2 | Tropical Medicine |
Parasitology | |||
Q3 | Infectious Diseases | ||
Universe | 2.9 | Q2 | Astronomy & Astrophysics |
Physics, Particles & Fields | |||
Healthcare | 2.8 | Q2 | Health Policy & Services (SSCI) |
Q3 | Health Care Sciences & Services (SCIE) | ||
Applied Sciences | 2.7 | Q2 | Engineering, Multidisciplinary |
Physics, Applied | |||
Q3 | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | ||
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | |||
Crystals | 2.7 | Q2 | Crystallography |
Q3 | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | ||
Entropy | 2.7 | Q2 | Physics, Multidisciplinary |
Magnetochemistry | 2.7 | Q2 | Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear |
Q3 | Chemistry, Physical | ||
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | |||
Symmetry | 2.7 | Q2 | Multidisciplinary Sciences |
Actuators | 2.6 | Q2 | Instruments & Instrumentation |
Engineering, Mechanical | |||
Aerospace | 2.6 | Q1 | Engineering, Aerospace |
Behavioral Sciences | 2.6 | Q2 | Psychology, Multidisciplinary |
Current Oncology | 2.6 | Q3 | Oncology |
Machines | 2.6 | Q2 | Engineering, Mechanical |
Q3 | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | ||
Medicina | 2.6 | Q3 | Medicine, General & Internal |
Separations | 2.6 | Q3 | Chemistry, Analytical |
Minerals | 2.5 | Q2 | Mining & Mineral Processing |
Mineralogy | |||
Geochemistry & Geophysics | |||
Children | 2.4 | Q2 | Pediatrics |
Diversity | 2.4 | Q2 | Biodiversity Conservation |
Q3 | Ecology | ||
Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease | 2.4 | Q3 | Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems |
Mathematics | 2.4 | Q1 | Mathematics |
Photonics | 2.4 | Q3 | Optics |
Veterinary Sciences | 2.4 | Q1 | Veterinary Sciences |
Fishes | 2.3 | Q2 | Marine & Freshwater Biology |
Fisheries | |||
Axioms | 2.0 | Q2 | Mathematics, Applied |
Systems | 1.9 | Q2 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary |
Tomography | 1.9 | Q3 | Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging |
Note: The Journal of Personalized Medicine's Impact Factor was omitted in the original release and will be assigned separately. Please find the data on the journal webpage in due course.
Source: 2022 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports TM (Clarivate, 2023)
14 June 2023
The 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Optics Manufacture and 3rd International Forum of Young Scientists on Advanced Optical Manufacturing, 4–6 Aug 2023, Shenzhen, China
As exhibitors, a range of MDPI journals will be attending the 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Optics Manufacture and 2021 International Forum of Young Scientists on Advanced Optical Manufacturing. This meeting will be held in Shenzhen, China, from 4 to 6 August 2023.
Aerospace, space observation, nano-lithography, synchrotron radiation, high-end optical measuring instruments, and many other fields currently demand advanced optical manufacturing technology. Advanced optical manufacturing technology is developing towards optical intelligent manufacturing and has thus far demonstrated multidisciplinary collaborative development such as ultra-precision manufacturing, precision measurement, intelligent sensing and control, and materials science.
The 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Optics Manufacture (APCOM202) and 3rd International Forum of Young Scientists on Advanced Optical Manufacturing (YSAOM2023) will be held in Shenzhen, China, from 4 to 6 August 2023 by the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering (CSOE). The aim of this event is to build an industry–university–research platform for both application and technology. The conference focuses on the latest development of advanced optical manufacturing technologies and equipment, invites experts of all levels of experience in related fields to make speeches, and provides a platform for cooperation and exchange for related practitioners and graduate students.
The following MDPI journals will be represented:
If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us at our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.
For more information about the conference, please visit: https://b2b.csoe.org.cn/meeting/YSAOM2023.html#233_242.
13 March 2023
MDPI’s Newly Launched Journals in December 2022
As a leading open access publisher, MDPI provides scholars with a high-quality and rich academic exchange platform by continuously expanding into new and exciting research areas.
In December 2022, MDPI launched five new journals, covering multiple subjects such as life sciences, biology, medicine and pharmacology, social sciences and humanities. These new journals are being edited by established scholars across the world.
Journal |
Founding Editor-in-Chief |
Journal Topics (Selected) |
Prof. Dr. Fabio Gresta, University of Messina, Italy| Editorial | view inaugural issue |
grass/forage/turf production; grassland management; pasture monitoring; grazing and livestock; grass agro-ecosystems| view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Christos G. Athanassiou, University of Thessaly, Greece| Editorial | view inaugural issue |
pesticides; fungicides; herbicides; fertilizers; soil conditioners| view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Stephen H. Safe, Texas A&M University, USA| Editorial | view inaugural issue |
receptor structure; receptor function; receptor signaling; receptor expression and regulation; receptor interactions with drugs| view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Dr. Jean Jacques Vanden Eynde, University of Mons-UMONS, Belgium| Editorial | view inaugural issue |
drug discovery; medicinal chemistry; preclinical and clinical research; marketed drugs; intellectual property and regulatory affairs| view journal scope | submit an article |
|
Prof. Dr. Heather Kanuka, University of Alberta, Canada| Editorial | view inaugural issue |
higher education; tertiary education; policy and practice in higher education; educational leadership in higher education; educational administration and management in higher education| view journal scope | submit an article |
If you are interested in creating more open access journals with us to publish cutting-edge research, please send your journal proposal application to [email protected].
7 March 2023
Displaying Co-Authors’ Email Addresses on the Webpage of Published Papers
MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page.
We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.
16 February 2023
Increasing Visibility for Preprints.org – Clarivate adds the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science
On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.
The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.
As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.
MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org
To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.
During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.
We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.
For more information, please visit Preprints.org.
22 December 2022
Special Issue Mentor Program
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.
This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.
The mentee’s responsibilities include:
- Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
- Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
- Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
- Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.
The mentor’s responsibilities include:
- Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
- Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
- Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
- Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
- Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.
Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.
In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.
14 December 2022
"Thanks a Million!" – One Million Articles Published in MDPI Journals
MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.
This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.
Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.
Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.
Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.
As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.
A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.
MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.
"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!
8 December 2022
MDPI Sustainability Foundation: New Look and Nominations for the 2023 Sustainability Awards Now Open
We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.
The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).
The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.
Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.
28 September 2022
Peer Review Week 2022 – Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research
Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.
To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.
We invite you to view the event recording:
During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:
- Peer Review Week 2022
- Research Integrity
- What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
- 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
- How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
- Inviting Great Peer Reviewers
In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.
You can find the Podcast here.
We hope you enjoy the contents!
9 June 2022
2021 CiteScores - Released
The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!
We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:
● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.
The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:
Journal |
CiteScore |
Quartile |
Category |
10.1 |
Q1 |
Genetics |
|
10.0 |
Q1 |
Biomedical Engineering |
|
8.1 |
Q1 |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous) |
|
7.9 |
Q1 |
Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
|
7.9 |
Q1 |
Nutrition and Dietetics |
|
7.4 |
Q1 |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
|
7.2 |
Q1 |
Computer Science Applications |
|
6.9 |
Q1 |
Inorganic Chemistry |
|
6.9 |
Q1 |
Computer Networks and Communications |
|
6.7 |
Q1 |
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology |
|
6.6 |
Q1 |
General Chemical Engineering |
|
6.6 |
Q1 |
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis |
|
6.6 |
Q1 |
Infectious Diseases |
|
6.5 |
Q1 |
Food Science |
|
6.5 |
Q1 |
Civil and Structural Engineering |
|
6.4 |
Q1 |
Nature and Landscape Conservation |
|
6.4 |
Q1 |
Instrumentation |
|
6.1 |
Q1 |
Management Information Systems |
|
5.9 |
Q1 |
Chemistry (miscellaneous) |
|
5.7 |
Q1 |
Polymers and Plastics |
|
5.6 |
Q1 |
Engineering (miscellaneous) |
|
5.5 |
Q1 |
General Environmental Science |
|
5.5 |
Q1 |
Urban Studies |
|
5.4 |
Q2 |
Computer Networks and Communications |
|
5.3 |
Q1 |
Food Science |
|
5.3 |
Q1 |
Plant Science |
|
5.2 |
Q1 |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
|
5.2 |
Q1 |
General Engineering |
|
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity |
5.1 |
Q1 |
Development |
5.0 |
Q1 |
Chemistry (miscellaneous) |
|
5.0 |
Q1 |
Control and Optimization |
|
5.0 |
Q1 |
Geography, Planning and Development |
|
5.0 |
Q1 |
Geography, Planning and Development |
|
4.9 |
Q1 |
Forestry |
|
4.9 |
Q1 |
Control and Optimization |
|
4.9 |
Q1 |
Soil Science |
|
4.8 |
Q1 |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
|
4.8 |
Q1 |
Mechanical Engineering |
|
4.8 |
Q1 |
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health |
|
4.8 |
Q1 |
Geography, Planning and Development |
|
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
4.5 |
Q1 |
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health |
4.5 |
Q1 |
Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation |
|
4.4 |
Q1 |
Mathematical Physics |
|
4.4 |
Q1 |
General Medicine |
|
4.3 |
Q1 |
General Mathematics |
|
4.2 |
Q1 |
Surgery |
|
4.1 |
Q1 |
Health Professions (miscellaneous) |
|
4.1 |
Q1 |
Plant Science |
|
4.0 |
Q1 |
General Engineering |
|
4.0 |
Q1 |
Forestry |
|
4.0 |
Q1 |
Education |
|
3.9 |
Q1 |
General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics |
|
3.9 |
Q1 |
Applied Mathematics |
|
3.8 |
Q1 |
Development |
|
3.8 |
Q1 |
Architecture |
|
3.8 |
Q1 |
Metals and Alloys |
|
3.5 |
Q1 |
Communication |
|
3.4 |
Q1 |
General Social Sciences |
|
2.9 |
Q1 |
General Mathematics |
|
2.8 |
Q1 |
Analysis |
|
2.7 |
Q1 |
General Veterinary |
|
2.6 |
Q1 |
Algebra and Number Theory |
|
1.8 |
Q1 |
Conservation |
|
1.0 |
Q1 |
Religious Studies |
|
0.9 |
Q1 |
Philosophy |
Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)
22 November 2021
722 MDPI Editorial Board Members Receiving "2021 Highly Cited Researchers" Distinction
It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.
Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited ResearchersTM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.
Abate, Antonio Abatzoglou, John T. Abbaszadeh, Mostafa Acharya, U. Rajendra Acharya, Viral V. Agarwal, Ravi P. Ahn, Myung-Ju Airoldi, Laura Ali, Imran Allakhverdiev, Suleyman I. Aluko, Rotimi E. Anasori, Babak Andersson, Dan I. Andes, David Anker, Stefan D. Apergis, Nicholas Ariga, Katsuhiko Arqub, Omar Abu Aschner, Michael Assaraf, Yehuda G. Astruc, Didier Atala, Anthony Atanasov, Atanas G. Atangana, Abdon Bahram, Mohammad Bakris, George L. Balandin, Alexander A. Baleanu, Dumitru Balsamo, Gianpaolo Bando, Yoshio Banks, William A. Bansal-Travers, Maansi Barba, Francisco J. Barros, Lillian Basit, Abdul W. Baskonus, Haci Mehmet Bassetti, Matteo Battino, Maurizio Bell, Jordana T. Bellomo, Nicola Benediktsson, Jon Atli Benelli, Giovanni Benjakul, Soottawat Bhatnagar, Amit Biddle, Stuart J. H. Biondi, Antonio Biondi-Zoccai, Giuseppe Bjarnsholt, Thomas Blaabjerg, Frede Blaschke, Thomas Blay, Jean-Yves Blumwald, Eduardo Blunt, John W. Boffetta, Paolo Bogers, Marcel Bonomo, Robert A. Bowman, David M.J.S. Boyer, Cyrille Brestic, Marian Brevik, Eric C. Buhalis, Dimitrios Burdick, Jason A. Byrd, John C. Cabeza, Luisa F. Cai, Xingjuan Cai, Jianchao Calhoun, Vince D. Calin, George Cao, Jinde Cao, Guozhong Carvalho, Andre F. Castellanos-Gomez, Andres Cerqueira, Miguel Ângelo Parente Ribeiro Chang, Jo-Shu Chang, Chih-Hao Chastin, Sebastien Chau, Kwok-wing Chemat, Farid Chen, Xiaobo Chen, YangQuan Chen, Jianmin Chen, Chaoji Chen, Min Chen, Qi Chen, Jun Chen, Xi Chen, Peng Chen, Yulin Chen, Bo Chen, Chen Chen, Zhi-Gang Chen, Wei-Hsin Chen, Gang Chen, Yongsheng Chen, Xiang Chen, Yimin Chen, Runsheng Chen, Lidong Chen, Shaowei Chen, Qian Chen, Yu Chen, Shuangming Chiclana, Francisco Cho, Sun Young Choi, Wonyong Chowdhary, Anuradha Choyke, Peter L. Cichocki, Andrzej Corella, Dolores Corma, Avelino Cortes, Javier Cortes, Jorge Costanza, Robert Crommie, Michael F. Cui, Yi Cui, Haiying Cui, Qinghua Cummings, Kenneth Michael Dai, Shifeng Dai, Sheng Daiber, Andreas Davis, Steven J. Dawson, Ted M. de la Fuente-Nunez, Cesar Decker, Eric Andrew Dekel, Avishai Demaria, Marco Deng, Yong Deng, Xiangzheng DePinho, Ronald A. Desneux, Nicolas Dimopoulos, Meletios-Athanasios Ding, Aijun Dionysiou, Dionysios D. Dokmeci, Mehmet Remzi Dolgui, Alexandre Dong, Fan Dou, Shi Xue Dou, Letian Du, Qian Du, Bo Dube, Shanta Rishi Dufresne, Alain Dummer, Reinhard Dupont, Didier Edwards, David Elaissari, Abdelhamid Elhoseny, Mohamed Ellahi, Rahmat Ellis, Erle C. ElMasry, Gamal Esteller, Manel Estévez, Mario Fabbro, Doriano Facchetti, Antonio Fan, Zhanxi Fang, Chuanglin Fasano, Alessio Fečkan, Michal Felser, Claudia Feng, Liangzhu Fensholt, Rasmus Ferdinandy, Péter Fernandez-Lafuente, Roberto Ferreira, Isabel C. F. R. Filippi, Massimo Fisher, Helen Fortino, Giancarlo Fosso Wamba, Samuel Franceschi, Claudio Fujita, Hamido Fujita, Masayuki Gai, Francesco Gaisford, Simon Galanakis, Charis M. Galluzzi, Lorenzo Galvano, Fabio Gan, Ren-You Gan, Lihua Gandomi, Amir H. Gao, Bin Gao, Feng Gao, Minrui Gao, Huijun Gao, Wei Gao, Huile Garbe, Claus Garcia, Hermenegildo Gasbarrini, Antonio Gasco, Laura Gautret, Philippe Geng, Yong Gerdts, Gunnar Geschwind, Daniel H. Ghadimi, Noradin Ghaffari, Roozbeh Ghamisi, Pedram Giampieri, Francesca Glick, Bernard R. Gnant, Michael Goel, Ajay Gogotsi, Yury Goldewijk, Kees Klein Gong, Jinlong Gong, Yongji Govindan, Kannan Granato, Daniel Grancini, Giulia Green, Douglas R. Grosso, Giuseppe Gu, Ke Guan, Cao Guastella, Adam J. Guerrero, Josep M. Gui, Guan Guizani, Mohsen Guo, Zaiping Gupta, Rangan Gutzmer, Ralf Haase, Dagmar Habibi-Yangjeh, Aziz Hagemann, Stefan Hagger, Martin Hamblin, Michael R. Hammoudeh, Shawkat Han, Heesup Hanes, Justin Harrison, Roy M. Hartung, Hans-Peter Hasanuzzaman, Mirza He, Jr-Hau He, Hongwen He, Jiaqing He, Debiao Henseler, Jörg Herrera, Francisco Herrera-Viedma, Enrique Hetz, Claudio Ho Kim, Jung Holmes, Elaine Hossain, Ekram Hsueh, Po-Ren Hu, Xiaosong Hu, Wenbin Huang, Jianping Huang, Hongwei Huang, Yu Huang, Jianying Huang, Peng Huang, Baibiao Huang, Shaoming Hubacek, Klaus |
Iqbal, Hafiz M. N. |
Saad, Fred |
The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of ScienceTM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.
--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.
16 November 2021
Topical Advisory Panel Established to Support Editorial Board
Academic editors play a crucial role in leading our journals and ensuring that each article undergoes a robust and timely peer-review. With the launch of Topics this year and addition of Topic Editors to our family of academic editors, we decided it would be a good time to restructure our academic boards, thus providing more clarity and support for each role. MDPI is pleased to announce the launch of a new position—Topical Advisory Panel Member, that will replace the previous position of Topics Board Member. The Topical Advisory Panel will be comprised of early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work.
The main responsibility of the new members of the Topical Advisory Panel is to regularly provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. The responsibilities of the Topical Advisory Panel are available here: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.
Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated, and outstanding members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.
To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:
- Have expertise and experience in the field related to the journal;
- Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years, approximately;
- Have at least 6-8 published papers in the last 5 years as first author or corresponding author;
- Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.
If you are interested in this role, please contact the editorial office by email.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
25 October 2021
Open Access Week 2021 | It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity, 25–31 October
Founded in 1996, MDPI was one of the first fully Open Access publisher. Over 25 years MDPI has grown to become the largest Open Access publisher globally, publishing over 160,000 articles across more than 350 journals in 2020. At the core, MDPI was founded in response to a pressing need of fast publication and inclusion. The scholar was set at the centre of the publication process for the first time. Acting as a service provider, rather than a product provider, MDPI exists to help scientists achive their objective to disseminate research results. At MDPI, we believe scientists deserve a better service from the publishing world.
The International Open Access Week (Open Access Week), founded by the SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Alliance and student partners in 2008, has been successfully running for 13 years. As an advocate and pioneer of open access publishing, MDPI actively responds to the call of International Open Access Week. This year’s theme of “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity” highlights the Recommendation’s call for equitable participation from all authors and readers.
For the last 25 years, MDPI has been committed to disseminating open research. Here is a video showing MDPI’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for More than 25 Years.
International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress in the building of more equitable foundations for opening knowledge—discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out. MDPI has always aimed to provide professional and efficient publishing services to scholars around the world.
Our mission is to make scientific research accessible to everyone; this year, we interview and hold discussions with open science ambassadors on how to build an equal and inclusive environment for open science. Academic editors help us collaborate with more institutions to advocate for open access ideas.
Besides this, our scientific community is a key driver of our success and MDPI’s remarkable growth. Despite the pandemic, we have prepared online conferences and workshops to gather scholars from different communities.
The Basel Sustainable Publishing online forum provides an equal opportunity for stakeholders and researchers from multi-cultural environments to exchange ideas and eliminate barriers to participation.
Conference date: 25 October 2021, online
Conference website: https://bspf2021.sciforum.net/
Main topics: MDPI discusses the current dilemma of open access science from various perspectives such as governments, libraries, and publishers, and related measures on how to change the status quo of discrimination from a global perspective.
We aim to support equality, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications. We collaborate with universities and key laboratories and have scholarly communications with researchers, teachers, and students on open access workshops.
- 25 October 2021
Energies journal and Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 28 October 2021
Machines journal and State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University
- 29 October 2021
Processes journal and Beijing Institute of Technology
- 29 October 2021
Coatings journal and Wuhan University of Technology
MDPI is committed to providing open access and high-quality publishing services for scholars and promoting rapid dissemination of academic achievements. We hope to promote the practices and policies of open access publishing and diversify the dissemination of academic achievements.
23 September 2021
2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award—Winners Announced
Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:
- Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
- Alban Kuriqi;
- Álvaro González-Vila;
- Alessandro Alaimo;
- Alexey Beskopylny;
- Alexander Yu Churyumov;
- Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
- Andrea Mastinu;
- Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
- Anton Rassõlkin;
- Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
- Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
- Artur Słomka;
- Baojie He;
- Bartłomiej Potaniec;
- Bojan Đurin;
- Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
- Carmelo Maria Musarella;
- Chiachung Chen;
- Chiman Kwan;
- Cristian Busu;
- Danil Pimenov;
- Dan-Cristian Dabija;
- Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
- Demetrio Antonio Zema;
- Denis Butusov;
- Elena Lucchi;
- Gaurab Dutta;
- Livia Anastasiu;
- M. R. Safaei.
For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.
22 September 2021
MDPI Joins SDG Publishers Compact
UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.
MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.
Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.
The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
[email protected]
3 August 2021
Announcement on Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT)
This serves to announce to our valued authors based in Japan that value-added tax, or consumption tax will now be imposed on article processing fees and other service fees for all papers submitted, or resubmitted (assigned new paper IDs), effective from 15 August 2021. The change is in accordance with the Japanese "Act for Partial Revision of the Income Tax Act and Other Acts" (Act No. 9 of 2015), which includes a revision of consumption taxation on cross-border supplies of services such as digital content distribution.
For additional information from the National Tax Agency please see here ("Cross-border supplies of electronic services").
Contact: Setsuko Nishihara, MDPI Tokyo
28 April 2021
Book Builder—Compile a Customized E-Book from Your Favorite MDPI Open Access Content
MDPI Books recently released Book Builder, a new online tool to conveniently arrange, design and produce an eBook from any content published in MDPI journals. Book Builder offers two functions: on the one hand (1) Selections, available to every registered user of MDPI; on the other hand (2) Special Issue Reprints, which can be used exclusively by Guest Editors of Special Issues.
Selections
In just a matter of a few clicks, all users are now able to assemble books from MDPI articles and receive instantaneous feedback in the form of a fully produced and compiled book (PDF), which can be downloaded or ordered as print copy. Selections can include any paper published with MDPI, picking and combining content from different journals and special issues.
This way, the user may for example choose to compile an ebook focusing around a particular topic, or assemble articles from a group of others.
We invite you to make yourself familiar with the new tool! The Book Builder can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/books/book_builder.
Special Issue Reprints
The Book Builder allows Guest Editors of MDPI journals to create a reprint from a successfully completed Special Issue or Topical Collection in book format. If you are a Guest Editor for an MDPI journal, you can use the new tool to create an PDF document which includes all articles published in the Special Issue as well as a book cover and table of contents.
For Special Issues containing a minimum of 5 articles, the Guest Editor can request its publication on the MDPI Book platform. Published reprints are assigned an ISBN and DOI.
In addition to the PDF copy of the Reprint Book, as a token of our gratitude, MDPI offers every Guest Editor one (1) complimentary print copy (via print-on-demand). All contributors benefit from a discount on orders of any additional print copies, to share with colleagues or libraries or others.
In line with our organization's values, MDPI Books publishes all content in open access, promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge in a globalized world. MDPI Books encompasses all the benefits of open access—high availability and visibility, as well as wide and rapid dissemination. MDPI Books are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License, meaning as an author you retain the copyright for your work. In addition, with MDPI Books you can complement the digital version of your work with a high-quality printed counterpart.
If you are interested in editing a book volume or series, or have a monograph manuscript to be considered for publication, please submit your proposal online and look at our Information for Authors.
Contact: Laura Wagner, MDPI Books Manager (email)
15 April 2021
MDPI Celebrates Company Milestone With 25th Anniversary Page
"We exist to help scientists achieve their own objectives"
In June of this year, MDPI will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this significant milestone, we have created a 25th Anniversary page on our website that evokes the development of our company over the past quarter-century.
MDPI has been a pioneer of Open Access publishing ever since the concept was first created.
In a wide-ranging interview, our CEO Delia Mihaila reflects on the company’s 25th anniversary and its contribution to the world of scientific publishing.
Delia considers how MDPI has evolved since starting life in 1996 as a visionary ‘project’ run out of an apartment in Basel, Switzerland, by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin. A chemist who was passionate about the long-term preservation of rare chemical sample, Dr. Lin was determined to help scholars publish their findings as quickly as possible and make their research results available to as wide a readership as possible worldwide. That determination remains unchanged 25 years later.
Today, MDPI is an international organization with over 4,000 employees based on three continents and in ten countries, and ranks among the world's top four academic publishers.
MDPI's mission is to accelerate access to new scientific research, delivering insight faster for researchers worldwide. Read more here about the company's remarkable success story and what the Open Access publishing model can offer the global scientific community.
10 March 2021
Journal Selector: Helping to Find the Right MDPI Journal for Your Article
At MDPI, we strive to make your online publication process seamless and efficient. To achieve this, our team is continuously developing tools and features to make the user experience useful and convenient.
As the number of academic papers continues to grow, so does the need to analyze and work with them on a large scale. This prompted us to design a new feature aimed at helping researchers find journals that are relevant to their publication by matching their abstract topic. In this regard, we designed a similarity model that automatically identifies the most suitable academic journals for your paper.
We are pleased to introduce Journal Selector, a new feature that measures similarity in academic contexts. By simply entering the title and/or abstract into our Journal Selector, the author will see a list of the most related scientific journals published by MDPI. This method helps authors select the correct journals for their papers, highlighting the time of publication and citability.
The methodology is known as representation learning, where words are represented as vectors in hyperspace. Representation helps us differentiate between different concepts within articles, and in turn, helps us identify similarities between them.
We used an advanced machine learning model to better capture the semantic meanings of words. This helps the algorithm make better predictions by leveraging scientific text representation. In turn, this ensures high precision, helping authors decide which journal they should submit their paper to.
The goal is to support authors to publish their work in the most suitable journal for their research, as fast as possible, accelerating their career progress.
Contact: Andrea Perlato, Head of Data Analytics, MDPI (email)
1 February 2021
Nine New Sections Established in J
In order to specifically develop different research areas and attract more high-quality papers, we are pleased to announce the establishment of nine new sections of J to cover all the disciplines of natural and applied science:
- Biology & Life Sciences;
- Chemistry & Material Sciences;
- Computer Science & Mathematics;
- Engineering;
- Environmental Sciences;
- Medicine & Pharmacology;
- Physical Sciences;
- Public Health & Healthcare;
- Earth Sciences.
J is an international, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open-access journal published quarterly online by MDPI. Since last year, we have refined its aims and scopes and oriented it towards research focusing on natural and applied sciences.
If you are interested in submitting a manuscript to the sections mentioned above, please click here.
For further information and assistance, please feel free to contact us ([email protected]).
15 December 2020
MDPI adopts C4DISC principles to improve diversity and inclusion in scholarly communications
MDPI is proud to adopt the principles of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) to support building equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications.
The C4DISC represents organizations and individuals working in scholarly communications and is focused on addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within the publishing industry.
MDPI’s Managing Editors encourage the Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors to appoint diverse expert Editorial Boards. This is also reflective in our multi-national and inclusive workplace. We are proud to create equal opportunities without regard to gender, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, disability, political beliefs, religion, or socio-economic status. There is no place for discrimination in our workplace and editors of MDPI journals are to uphold these principles in high regard.
Representatives from C4DISC meet monthly, and have started to implement initiatives to shed light and improve on the lack of diversity in scholarly communications. Some of the initiatives include developing a joint statement of principles; conducting market research; providing training resources, best practices, toolkits, and documentation for our collective memberships; and establishing outreach programs, curricula, events, and publications.
The Coalition is committed to:
- eliminating barriers to participation, extending equitable opportunities across all stakeholders, and ensuring that our practices and policies promote equitable treatment and do not allow, condone, or result in discrimination;
- creating and maintaining an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences;
- promoting diversity in all staff, volunteers, and audiences, including full participation in programs, policy formulation, and decision-making;
- raising awareness about career opportunities in our industries to groups who are currently underrepresented in the workforce;
- supporting our members in achieving diversity and inclusion within their organizations.
14 December 2020
Article Layout and Templates Revised for Future Volumes
At MDPI we have slightly revised the layout for articles to be published in the 2021 Volume, starting at the end of December 2020. As of today, the article templates available for download on ‘Instructions for Authors’ pages have been updated.
The most noticeable change can be found on the first page of the article, where a left-hand column has been created to include the following front matter elements: (i) the recommended citation style for the article, (ii) the publishing history, (iii) as well as the Creative Commons Attribution license used (iv) a standard note regarding affiliations. At the same time, the extra spacing on the left means the authors’ affiliations are now more clearly set apart than before. Other front matter key elements such as journal logo, article type, article title, authors, abstract and keywords remain unchanged.
The blank column on the left runs through all pages in an article; as a result, the main text is slightly more condensed, which improve reader friendliness for smaller screens. Small figures/tables are aligned on the left with standard indenture, while large figures/tables are centered and covering the full width of the page. The revised layout was applied in the article pictured below, to serve as an example:
1) Information is displayed in the left information bar.
2) In the main text, there is a blank column on the left.
3) Small tables/figures are aligned on the left, large tables/figures are centered.
11 December 2020
2020 "Highly Cited Researchers" on MDPI Journal's Editorial Boards
We are pleased to acknowledge that many academic editors who have made an impact on MDPI journals as editorial board members, editors-in-chief, or section editors, are recognized as 2020 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate.
Highly Cited Researchers highlights the top 1% of researchers, by citations, in one or more of the 22 fields used in Clarivate Analytics Essential Science Indicators. We offer our congratulations to 279 academic editors of MDPI journals who were recognized as the most influential scholars in their fields in 2020.
Adams, Dave Agarwal, Ravi P. Ahn, Choon Ki Ahn, Myung-Ju Albrecht, Randy A. Andersson, Dan I. Anker, Stefan D. Apergis, Nicholas Ariga, Katsuhiko Artaxo, Paulo Balsamo, Gianpaolo Barba, Francisco J. Benediktsson, Jon Atli Benelli, Giovanni Bhatnagar, Amit Bialystok, Ellen Blaabjerg, Frede Blay, Jean-Yves Bogers, Marcel Bolton, Declan J. Boyer, Cyrille Brocca, Luca Bruix, Jordi Buhalis, Dimitrios Burdick, Jason A. Byrd, John C. Cabeza, Luisa F. Cabrerizo-Lorite, Francisco Javier Cai, Jianchao Calhoun, Vince D. Cantu, Robert C. Cerqueira, Miguel Chang, Jo-Shu Chau, Kwok-wing Chemat, Farid Chen, Jianmin Chen, Jun Chen, Min Chen, Shaowei Chen, Wei Chen, Wei-Hsin Chen, Xiaofeng Chen, Yangkang Chen, Zhi-Gang Chiclana, Francisco Corella, Dolores Cortes, Javier Cortes, Jorge Cummings, Kenneth Michael Dai, Shifeng Decker, Eric A. DePinho, Ronald A. Dimopoulos, Meletios-Athanasios Dincer, Ibrahim Du, Yihong Dupont, Didier Edwards, David Ellahi, Rahmat Ellis, Erle C. ElMasry, Gamal Esteller, Manel Estruch, Ramón Fang, Chuanglin Fasano, Alessio Fernandez-Lafuente, Roberto Ferreira, Isabel Fortino, Giancarlo Galluzzi, Lorenzo Galvano, Fabio Gandomi, Amir H. Gandomi, Amir H. Gao, Bin Gao, Feng Gao, Wei Garbe, Claus García, Hermenegildo Geschwind, Daniel H. Giampieri, Francesca Giralt, Sergio A. Glanz, Karen Goldewijk, Kees Klein Gössling, Stefan Govindan, Kannan Granato, Daniel Grosso, Giuseppe Grosso, Giuseppe Guerrero, Josep M. Haase, Dagmar Hagger, Martin S. Hamblin, Michael R. Han, Heesup Jankovic, Joseph Janotti, Anderson |
Jiang, Hai-Long Kalaji, Hazem M. Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh Kaner, Richard B. Karimi, Hamid Reza Kataoka, Kazunori Keesstra, Saskia Kepp, Oliver Kerminen, Veli-Matti Keyzers, Robert A. Khademhosseini, Ali Khan, Nafees A. Kim, Ki-Hyun Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír Klenk, Hans-Peter Konopleva, Marina Y. Krammer, Florian Krebs, Frederik C. Kroemer, Guido Kudo, Masatoshi Kurths, Juergen Kurzrock, Razelle Kuznetsov, Nikolay V. Kyrpides, Nikos C. La Vecchia, Carlo Lai, Yuekun Lam, James Lancellotti, Patrizio Lee, Sangmoon Leung, Victor C. M. Li, Jinghong Li, Yurui Lindahl, José M. Merigó Lip, Gregory Y. H. Loh, Xian Jun Long, Hualou Lund, Henrik Luo, Jingshan Luque, Rafael Lyons, Timothy W. Ma, Jun Ma, Wen-Xiu Ma, Yanming Maeda, Keisuke Makarova, Kira Mantovani, Alberto Martín-Belloso, Olga Martinoia, Enrico Marzband, Mousa Masclaux-Daubresse, Celine Masson, Patrick Mateos, María Victoria Mathiesen, Brian Vad Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof McArthur, Grant A. McCauley, Darren Medlock, Jolyon M. Melero, Ignacio Mezzetti, Bruno Miroshnichenko, Andrey E. Moran, Daniel Mueller, Lukas A. Mueller-Roeber, Bernd Naushad, Mu Nemeroff, Charles B. Nieto, Juan J. O'Donnell, Colm Ogino, Shuji Olabi, Abdul-Ghani O'Regan, Donal Orsini, Nicola Oswald, Isabelle P. Ozcan, Aydogan Pahl-Wostl, Claudia Pang, Huan Payne, James E. Peng, Shushi Perc, Matjaz Perez-Alvarez, Jose Angel Piquero, Alex R. Ploss, Alexander Postolache, Mihai Pradhan, Biswajeet Prinsep, Michele R. Qian, Dong Qu, Xiaogang Reiter, Russel J. Riahi, Keywan Richter, Andreas Rignot, Eric Robert, Caroline Ros, Emilio Rosell, Rafael |
Rosen, Marc A. |
The full list of 2020 Highly Cited Researchers can be accessed on https://recognition.webofsciencegroup.com/awards/highly-cited/2020/
--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.
27 August 2020
J—Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal Seeks Section Editor-in-Chief
It is our pleasure to announce that all the Sections of J are now open for submission. In addition, we are inviting applications for the role of Section Editor-in-Chief.
J—Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal (ISSN 2571-8800) is an international open access journal, published quarterly online. J publishes articles in all research fields. Our goal is to improve the fast dissemination of new research results and ideas, and to allow research groups to build new studies, innovations and knowledge without delay.
The Section Editor-in-Chief has the final responsibility for editorial decisions regarding all content in the Section, as well as developing and implementing the strategic vision for the Section.
Responsibilities of the Section Editor-in-Chief
- Refine the Section’s aims and scope;
- Invite additional scientists to join the Section Editorial Board;
- Oversee the editorial process, with a main responsibility being making the final decision on whether a paper submitted to the Section can be published after peer review and revisions.
Additionally, you may invite a Section Co-Editor-in-Chief or Section Associate Editors if you are inclined to accept the position but would need to share the workload.
Documents
Interested applicants may apply for this position by submitting a curriculum vitae describing their prior editorial experience.
The due date for proposals is 31 October 2020. Please send your application or any questions to the managing editor Dikies Zhang ([email protected]).
9 July 2020
Open Access Agreement Between Jisc Collections and MDPI
We are delighted to announce the establishment of our Open Access agreement with Jisc Collections, which will allow UK institutions to benefit from access to article processing charge (APC) discounts and streamlined payment workflows.
All institutions participating in the agreement will also gain access to the MDPI online submission system where they can find full article metadata and pricing information for easy identification and additional transparency.
Eligible authors affiliated with the participating institutions are prompted to choose the corresponding Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) when they submit an article via our online submission system.
About Jisc
Jisc's vision is for the UK to be the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world. At its heart is the super-fast national research and education network, Janet, with built-in cyber security protection. Jisc also provides technology solutions for its members (colleges, universities and research centres) and customers (public sector bodies), helps members save time and money by negotiating sector-wide deals and provides advice and practical assistance on digital technology. Jisc is funded by the UK higher and further education and research funding bodies and member institutions.
For more information, contact [email protected].
About MDPI
MDPI is a publisher of fully peer-reviewed, Open Access journals with a focus on thorough and rapid editorial processing. Its aim is to ensure that high-quality research is verified and made available to the research community as quickly as possible. MDPI stands at the forefront of the Open Access movement, having launched its first online journal Molecules in 1996. Today, MDPI is a leader in Open Access publishing with over 250 journals across all research disciplines, and all content published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
For any questions about this agreement, please contact the MDPI IOAP team at [email protected].
13 May 2020
COVID-19 Academic Resources Center
Since 1996, MDPI has been committed to supporting the research community by providing the latest research freely available and making relevant and useful research available as quickly as possible. The world is current experiencing a pandemic of COVID-19, and researchers are working extremely hard to understand it and find a cure.
The values MDPI holds strongly are particularly important at the moment, and we will continue to publish relevant, peer-reviewed research as quickly as possible in open access format. This means that it will immediately be available for researchers, health professionals, and the general public to read, distribute, and reuse. We believe that scientific advancements will be crucial to overcoming this pandemic, and will do everything we can to support researchers working looking for solutions.
COVID-19 Academic Resources Center contains a variety of information related to COVID-19 available from MDPI, including journal articles, special issues, and preprints, among others.
For more information, please visit: https://www.mdpi.com/covid-19
9 April 2020
Free Open Platforms to Support Academics During the COVID-19 Pandemic
As a leading Open Access publisher, MDPI is committed to fostering open scientific exchange in all forms across all disciplines. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, many researchers have to stay at home and many academic conferences have been cancelled or postponed. In light of these changes, MDPI has adopted numerous initiatives that may help accelerate scientific exchange and provide support to the academics during this period.
Scholarly Community—Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia is an online reference created and curated by active scholars. It aims to highlight the latest research results as well as providing benchmark information for researchers and the general public interested in accurate and advanced knowledge on specific topics.
Comprehensive and Free Literature Database—Scilit
Scilit is a comprehensive, free database for scientists that uses a new method to collate data and index scientific material. Our crawlers extract the latest data from CrossRef and PubMed on a daily basis. This means that newly published articles are immediately added to Scilit.
Display Academic Achievements—SciProfiles
SciProfiles is an innovative social network for researchers and scholars that is developed by MDPI. In line with our broad mission, the purpose of SciProfiles is to accelerate discovery and innovation by facilitating immediate access to research results and providing opportunities for academic networking.
Organize and Participate in Conferences Online—Sciforum
Sciforum is an event planning platform that supports open science by offering the opportunity to host and participate in academic conferences. It provides an environment for scholarly exchange, discussion of topics of current interest, building of networks, and establishing collaborations.
Post Early Versions of Research Outputs—Preprints
Preprints is a platform dedicated to making early versions of research outputs permanently available and citable. We post original research articles and comprehensive reviews, and papers can be updated by authors at any time. Content on Preprints is not peer-reviewed, and feedback can be received from readers.
***
MDPI remains committed to open science and open data and has signed a statement, along with more than thirty scholarly publishers, showing our intention to facilitate sharing of new research findings as early on as possible. The initiative sees publishers collectively removing barriers to new research, in the face of a global healthcare crisis.
25 March 2020
MDPI Comment on the COVID-19 Virus
The world is currently suffering from a global pandemic of the corona virus COVID-19. MDPI expresses its sympathies for all of those affected by the virus and stands in solidarity with medical staff and researchers treating patients and searching for scientific solutions.
MDPI has previously published papers covering corona viruses in addition to new papers on the current outbreak, see all papers here. In particular, Viruses has published a number of Special Issues and papers on the topic (see here, here, and here) as well as a forthcoming Special Issue.
Alongside journal articles, MDPI has been a strong supporter of preprints, which are increasingly being used to rapidly disseminate the latest research, and we run the preprint server Preprints.org. Our database of research articles, Scilit, is free to use and covers all publishers including preprint servers. New papers are often in search results within hours of publication and users can set up alerts for new papers.
Our main priority during this period has been the health and safety of staff, and we continue to allow staff to work at home and closely monitor the situation in all locations in which we work. Despite the restrictions, we continue to provide a full publication service and, by close collaboration with our editorial boards and making use our in-house teams, ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in publishing vital research. Fast and open publication has always been at the core of MDPI values and is now more important than ever.
We hope that a solution to the current situation will emerge soon. In the meantime, we will do our best to continue communicating vital research in all fields.
18 March 2020
MDPI Co-Signed Position Statement on Transformative Agreements
The advantages of the open access model of scientific publishing are being increasingly recognized in the scientific community. It allows new scientific evidence to be accessed from the moment of publication for free by anyone around the globe, boosting the impact of new research. In response, many funders, libraries and universities have been adopting new principles to accelerate the transition to open access.
Recently, “transformative agreements” have been negotiated between traditional publishers and various institutions. While increasing the number of open access papers, these agreements lack binding commitments to a full transition to open access, their conditions vary across different regions, and access is still limited for many users.
MDPI is a co-signatory of the recent position statement raising concerns about potential downsides of transformative agreements and how they may delay a full transition to open access. The statement highlights that these models “risk perpetuating current limitations on access, transparency and market competitiveness, while simultaneously facilitating excessive charges on the public purse”.
As a pioneering open access journal publisher, MDPI is the first to promote the importance of science being made available to everyone. Our peer-reviewed journals, covering diverse academic disciplines, are fully accessible to the public free of charge under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). This is why, along with other open access publishers, MDPI is a proud signatory of the position paper and is committed to contributing to the replacement of weak transitional agreements with “agreements with publishers that are already fully committed to open science and who offer full, immediate and transparent Open Access”.
Read the position paper here
16 March 2020
Encyclopedia Outstanding Contributor Awards 2020 - Open for Application
We are pleased to announce that Encyclopedia will be awarding five Outstanding Contributor Awards for researchers in 2020. The nominations and applications will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee consisting of senior scholars from the Encyclopedia Editorial Board.
Prize for Winners
- An official certificate;
- A cash award of 500 CHF or an MDPI discount voucher of 800 CHF.
Application Deadline
31 December, 2020 (Please send your application email with a list of all entries you contributed to our office before the deadline: [email protected])
Candidate Requirements
- Have a Ph.D. degree;
- Have more than three qualified entries published in Encyclopedia in 2020.
Evaluation Standards
- Number of entries published in Encyclopedia in 2020;
- Quality of entries online (including length, figure quality, and novelty);
- Impact of entries (including the number of likes, discussion contents, views, and downloads).
If you are a researcher and have not yet contribute entries to Encyclopedia, please do not miss this chance to highlight your research results.
11 October 2019
Introducing SciProfiles, an Academic Social Network
MDPI is pleased to announce the release of SciProfiles, its social network platform for researchers and scholars.
The purpose of SciProfiles is aligned with MDPI’s broad mission to accelerate discovery and innovation by facilitating immediate access to research results and to serve scholars and communities by providing opportunities for academic networking.
SciProfiles also ambitions to serve as a sustainable, transparent and community-driven research evaluation system aligned with the DORA principles (https://sfdora.org/). Through their scientific profiles, academics can highlight their contribution to research communities, and measure their impact on their field, beyond publication numbers and impact factors. SciProfiles is currently a beta version and will enrich to give researchers the possibility to highlight all of their contributions to science and their scientific communities as authors, reviewers, editors, conference organizers, conference panelists, conference keynote speakers, or even as lecturers or student mentors at their University.
The classic components of popular community social networks, including follower/following, classical metrics, endorsements and recommendations (https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/1690), comments (https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/1397) are or will be very soon highlighted in SciProfiles as open science contributions.
To help increase the impact and visibility of articles and their authors to an appropriate audience, the platform offers a NewsFeed that includes recommendations of relevant content based on interests, publication history, saved searches or colleagues’ recommendations.
SciProfiles’ avatars are now being integrated on several MDPI platforms, meaning that you will directly access researchers’ profiles from any of the MDPI platforms:
MDPI's journal publishing website: www.mdpi.com
MDPI's conference hosting and management website: www.sciforum.net
MDPI's pre-print website : www.preprints.org
MDPI's knowledge sharing website : www.encyclopedia.pub
MDPI's books store: www.mdpi.com/books
MDPI's literature database : www.scilit.net
SciProfiles aims to serve scientific communities at large. It can be embedded into third-party websites and also welcomes integration of data from third-parties.
Dr. Shu-Kun Lin: https://sciprofiles.com/profile/2
Dr. Franck Vazquez: https://sciprofiles.com/profile/FranckVazquez
Dr. Martyn Rittman: https://sciprofiles.com/profile/martynrittman
2 October 2019
Winners of the 2019 MDPI Writing Prize
We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2019 MDPI Writing Prize. Entrants were asked to write on the theme "Judging research: How should research and researchers be evaluated and rewarded?" We received a large number of excellent essays from PhD students and postdocs, and the process of shortlisting and choosing winners was not an easy one. The winners demonstrated excellent writing skills alongside interesting and thought-provoking ideas.
As last year, we will begin the process of collating all entries into a book that will be available in open access format. Alongside promoting good writing skills, we see the prize as a way to promote the voices of early career researchers within broader debates and policy discussions.
Congratulations to all of the participants and especially the winners. The winners are:
1st Prize (500 CHF):
Albin Nilsson (National Centre for Nuclear Research, Warsaw, Poland)
[Read here]
2nd Prize (250 CHF):
Qi Zhang (Shandong University, Jinan, China)
[Read here]
Igor Ogashawara (Indiana University, Indianapolis, US)
[Read here]
3rd Prize (100 CHF):
Margaret Sivapragasam (Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Perak, Malaysia)
[Read here]
Arvind Sharma (The University of Queensland, Gatton, Australia)
[Read here]
Jose Flores-Guerrero (University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)
[Read here]
The MDPI Writing Prize is an annual award supported by MDPI Author Services, which provides services including language editing, reformatting, plagiarism checks, and image editing.
20 September 2019
MDPI Now Gives Scholars the Possibility to Endorse and Recommend Articles
MDPI is pleased to announce the release of a new functionality giving the possibility for researchers and scholars to endorse, and formally recommend articles to their colleagues.
MDPI was an early signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (https://sfdora.org/read/) which calls for improvement in how quality and impact of scholarly research outputs are evaluated, especially in moving beyond journal-based citation metrics (journal Impact Factor, Scopus Citescore, etc.).
MDPI supports the establishment of article-level impact metrics, including citations, views, downloads, and Altmetric scores. These measures serve as an impact indicator for research articles on a case–by-case basis, assessing paper on its own merit. However, these metrics are also subjective and can give a biased picture of the article impact: they do not directly reflect the quality or the intrinsic scientific value of the article.
In our view, community engagement with publications based on community-driven metrics can help to overcome this limitation. We have therefore launched an option for scholars to endorse articles, indicating their own assessment of its content and making a recommendation to their community. This follows our implementation of the open source Hypothesis commenting tool, which has been available for all articles published by MDPI for over a year (https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/1397). Both endorsement and commenting are available for all previously published and forthcoming MDPI articles.
In addition to potentially serving as a sustainable solution to article assessment, endorsements will help scientific communities to identify the most relevant articles, independently of the journal in which it was published.
The code for the endorsing functionality, which relies on DOIs and ORCIDs, will be made available on GitHub with an open source license.
Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, President and Founder
Dr. Franck Vazquez, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Martyn Rittman, Publishing Director
11 September 2019
Create an Entry in Encyclopedia to Get a 100 CHF Voucher in Publishing in MDPI Journals
Encyclopedia is a free online reference created and curated by active scholars. It aims to highlight the latest research results as well as provide a comprehensive record of scientific development. If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to contact us via [email protected].
6 August 2019
Preprints Reaches 10,000 Posted Articles Milestone
We are pleased to announce that Preprints has passed the milestone of 10,000 posted preprints. We are delighted to have reached this after just over three years of operation. Our congratulations and thanks go to our authors and advisory board who have supported growth of the platform and been crucial to its operation.
You can find further details at https://www.preprints.org/announcement/show/37.
2 August 2019
DeepGreen Partnering with Publishers and Universities in Distributing Open Access Content to Institutional Repositories
Last week, the DeepGreen initiative in Germany started into an advanced test phase with the publishing partners S. Karger AG, SAGE Publishing, MDPI, Frontiers and De Gruyter, as well as 27 universities from all over Germany, from Hamburg University of Applied Sciences to University of Konstanz.
DeepGreen aims at lowering the barriers for open access publishing by automatically delivering metadata and full text publications from participating publishers to authorized repositories at German universities.
In preparation for a later live operation, the advanced test phase serves to gain experience with extensive data deliveries from publishers and also handling different repository software (including OPUS4, DSpace, EPrints, MyCoRe). DeepGreen thereby acts as a sophisticated platform, receiving articles published by authors affiliated with German universities and depositing these articles to respective university repositories, based on the affiliation metadata. For more information about DeepGreen: https://deepgreen.kobv.de
Karger AG has been a close cooperation partner of the DeepGreen consortium since 2016. S. Karger has more than 80 subscription-based and around 20 open access journals covering a wide spectrum in health science. DeepGreen will assign S. Karger articles to authorized institutions on the legal basis of German alliance and national licenses.
SAGE Publishing was founded by Sara Miller McCune in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE publishes more than 1,000 journals and over 600 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. Our growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies and video. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence. Principal offices are located in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne. SAGE Publishing has been a close cooperation partner of DeepGreen since 2016.
MDPI is a scientific open access publisher and has been a partner of DeepGreen since 2017. MDPI comprises 205 peer-reviewed journals of various disciplines. All articles are published under a CC-BY license and are freely available without embargo period.
Frontiers is a scientific open access publisher with 61 journals of over 600 academic disciplines. All articles are peer-reviewed and published freely available under CC-BY license.
De Gruyter is an academic publisher with more than 700 subscription-based and open access journals of 29 disciplines. Articles provided by De Gruyter will be assigned to institutions with German alliance and national licenses.
There is promising communication with other publishers.
DeepGreen is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the consortium comprises six institutions: the Cooperative Library Network Berlin-Brandenburg, Bavarian State Library, Bavarian Library Network, University Library of the Technische Universität Berlin, University Library of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Helmholtz Open Science Coordination Office at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.
If you would like to know in more detail which institutions take part in the advanced test phase of DeepGreen, you can find more information here.
17 July 2019
First Basel Sustainable Publishing Forum
The University of Basel and the MDPI Sustainability Foundation are organizing the First Basel Sustainable Publishing Forum on 9th September 2019.
The aim of this event is to provide background and perspectives on Plan S to Learned Societies, which have to make well-informed decisions to transition their journals to Open Access (OA).
The BSPF will bring together several representatives of Learned societies, Plan S architects as well as representatives from various publishers and publishing platforms. After getting the big picture from cOAlition S, panel discussions will allow to better understand the diverse challenges that Learned societies are facing to transition their journals to OA as well as to identify sustainable, implementable and scalable solutions for successful Open Access transition.
For program details and registration, please follow the link below:
https://sciforum.net/conference/SustainableSolutionsToOpenAccess
20 March 2019
Fostering Open Access Publishing Worldwide: New IOAP Participants in February and March 2019
We are pleased to welcome more universities from Poland, Italy, Germany, Brazil and other parts of the world to MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). A warm welcome to the institutions listed below, who have joined the Program in February and March this year.
Authors affiliated with these institutions can now enjoy a discount on the APC for papers accepted for publication in any MDPI journal. If you would like to learn more about our program, please visit: https://www.mdpi.com/about/ioap or email us at [email protected].
5 March 2019
MDPI Joins Jisc’s Publications Router Service
We are delighted to announce our participation in Jisc’s Publication Router project, as of March 2019.
Publications Router is a Jisc service that automatically sends notifications about research articles to institutions' systems such as their repositories or CRISs, since May 2015. Through this agreement, MDPI will provide Jisc with daily feeds and information regarding published articles, which will be gathered by their system and delivered to institutions also registered to this service. Nearly all of our articles are published within 15 days of acceptance, so institutions will receive them quite promptly.
The feed will include the full text of the published version of record, with no embargo, so the articles can be exposed immediately for public view. They are accompanied by rich metadata, including confirmation of the immediate CC BY licence, minimising the need for any manual intervention or checking.
For more information about Publications Router, you may contact Jisc’s central helpdesk at [email protected]. For any queries about MDPI’s institutional agreements and collaborations, you may get in touch with MDPI’s Institutional Engagement team at [email protected], which would be very happy to hear from further UK institutions.
1 February 2019
2018 MDPI Top Reviewer Award—Winners Announced
Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high quality academic publishing. Over 97,000 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2018. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year the “MDPI Top Reviewer Awards” are announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise, dedication, high quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2018 MDPI Top Reviewer Awards:
- Ali Behnood
- Andrea Pezzuolo
- Angela Gorgoglione
- Anna D'Auria
- Antonio D'Andrea
- Azhar Abbas
- Bogdan Zagajewski
- Chunhui Chen
- Dominika Głąbska
- Dominika Guzek
- Dragan Pamucar
- Francisco J. G. Silva
- Frank Li
- Gianluca Serafini
- Gyorgy Szekely
- Haozhi Pan
- Helvi Heinonen-Tanski
- José Manuel Gómez-Soberón
- Kathy Lewis
- Klara Kosova
- Luis N. López De Lacalle
- M. Z. Naser
- Malwina Tytła
- Masoume Amirkhani
- Matteo Ghidelli
- Moretti Laura
- Petra Schneider
- Roberto Cerchione
- Spyros Papaefthymiou
- Ştefan Cristian Gherghina
24 January 2019
JAMS Journals: A Low-Cost Publishing Platform
Since 2010, MDPI has run its own online submission system. More recently, we have made the software, with accompanying publishing services, available to other publishers as JAMS (Journal and Article Management System). We are now delighted to announce the launch of JAMS Journals, a standardized platform for operating open access journals at low cost.
JAMS Journals provides a comprehensive service, including a shared submission website, journal websites hosted at a URL provided by the publisher, and a full production service. There is a small setup fee and the cost for each published paper is just a few hundred Swiss francs.
The platform demonstrates that running an open access journal can be straightforward and affordable. The JAMS Journals platform is suitable for
- small publishers or groups of scholars looking to launch their own journal;
- existing publishers or societies seeking to explore open access options;
- publishers looking to convert an existing subscription journal to open access.
JAMS journals launches with two journals from Canadian-based publisher Etcetera Publications:
- Canadian Journal of Pesticides & Pest Management (http://www.cjppm.ca)
- Nanotechnology in Agriculture, Food & Environment (http://www.nanoafe.ca)
Dr AJ Al-Rajab (President of Etcetera Publications) comments:
“In the past few months, we were working on our project to launch new open access scientific journals in the field of agricultural and environmental sciences. We decided to go with JAMS for this venture because of the high quality of their services, reasonable prices, professionalism and easy communication. Our portfolio is expected to grow rapidly during 2019 to include more titles covering different areas in agriculture and environment. MDPI earned already our complete satisfaction and we are looking for a long term cooperation.”
Alongside the new platform, we continue to provide flexible, tailored journal management solutions for existing publishers. For any questions or to request a quotation, contact Dr. Constanze Schelhorn ([email protected]).
24 January 2019
Popularity of Preprints Continues to Grow
2018 was a great year for preprints, with increasing numbers of authors looking to make their papers available online before peer review. Along with other preprint servers, our platform Preprints.org saw an increase in the uptake from authors, and more than double the number of announced papers compared to 2017. In fact, we recently passed two important milestones: 8000 preprints online and 30,000 authors.
We believe that the whole research community has the opportunity to benefit from work being available online as early as possible. We thank and congratulate our authors for supporting us to make this goal a reality.
In 2019, we will be looking carefully at how to provide better value for authors, maintain efficiency while growing in size, and make sure we remain well-connected with the research community.
If you want to participate, you can consider screening preprints or joining our advisory board. And, of course, posting your own work.
9 January 2019
Open Access Agreement between the Austrian Academic Library Consortium (KEMÖ), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), and MDPI
We are delighted to announce the establishment of our national Open Access agreement with the Austrian Academic Library Consortium (KEMÖ) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Through this national agreement, the Austrian institutions listed below as well as FWF will cover the Article Processing Charges (APC) of manuscripts published by eligible corresponding or funded authors in MDPI journals as long as central funds are available.
All participating institutions have gained access to the MDPI online submission system where they can find full article metadata and pricing information as well as Funder and Grant ID details for easy identification and additional transparency. At the same time eligible authors are benefited from an APC discount which comes at no cost for the institutions.
Eligible corresponding authors affiliated with the participating institutions are prompted to choose the corresponding Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) when they submit an article via our online submission system. The program will be selected automatically if authors submit their papers using their institutional email address. To claim their discount, FWF funded authors should choose the particular funder and add their Grant ID upon online submission of their manuscript. The institutions will then crosscheck the information and confirm the APC funding.
Eligible authors that have their APC covered by their institution or funder are advised to include the following sentence in their acknowledgments: "Open Access Funding by the [name of the institution/funder]".
The full text of the agreement is openly available online at: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2536007
For any questions about the agreement, please contact the KEMÖ Consortium at [email protected], FWF at [email protected], or the MDPI IOAP team at [email protected].
The Austrian institutions participating in this agreement are:
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
- University for Continuing Education Krems
- University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna
- University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
- University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien
- Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria
- MCI Management Center Innsbruck
- University of Graz
- University of Linz
- University of Salzburg
- Graz University of Technology
- TU Wien
- University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
- University of Vienna
This is our first collective agreement with a national library consortium, while the individual institutions around the world participating in our IOAP are now more than 500 - see details here: https://www.mdpi.com/about/ioap. We would be mostly interested in discussing about possible collaborations with other consortia, funders, and institutions in our mutual efforts to accelerate Open Access.
2 January 2019
Encyclopedia—the Scholarly Community Encyclopedia
We are pleased to announce the new platform Encyclopedia, which is an online reference created and curated by active scholars. It aims to highlight the latest research results as well as providing benchmark information for researchers and the general public interested in accurate and advanced knowledge on specific topics.
We encourage authors of review articles to quote and adapt the content of their published papers to create Encyclopedia entries. You can create completely new entries on topics in which you have knowledge and expertise. There is no limit on the topics or research fields. All of science and the humanities are included. Each entry will be published directly after submission.
We also have prepared a DOI application function in Encyclopedia. Once a DOI application is approved, the entry website will announce the DOI number and a pdf version with DOI information will be automatically created.
We look forward to your contributions and hope you will make use of this service. Find more about the service at: https://encyclopedia.pub/
15 November 2018
Meet Us at MEMS 2019 in Seoul, Korea, 27–31 January 2019
We will attend the 32nd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2019). It will be held in Seoul, Korea, 27–31 January 2019, and it will be organized by the society of Micro and Nano Systems (SMNS). MEMS 2019 is one of the premier annual events reporting research results on every aspect of microsystems technology. This conference reflects from the rapid proliferation of the commitment and success of the microsystems research community. In recent years, the IEEE MEMS Conference has attracted more than 700 participants and 800+ abstract submissions and has created a forum to present over 200 select papers in podium and poster/oral sessions. Representatives of the following open-access journals will attend:
J – Journal of Multidisciplinary Science
If you are also attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (booth #40). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit http://mems19.org/html/main.php.
13 November 2018
Meet US at MicroTAS 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 11–15 November 2018
Our editors and colleagues are attending the 22nd International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (µTAS 2018). The conference is being held at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from 11 to 15 November 2018, organized by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS).
µTAS 2018 continues a series of Conferences that are the premier forum for reporting research results in microfluidics, microfabrication, nanotechnology, integration, materials and surfaces, analysis and synthesis, and detection technologies for life science and chemistry. Representatives of the following open access journals will attend:
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS)
Journal of Multidisciplinary Science (J)
If you're attending the conference too, please feel free to stop by our booth (Booth #350). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit: https://cbmsociety.org/conferences/microtas2018/
30 October 2018
Institutional Open Access Agreement between Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and MDPI
We are delighted to announce that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is now a participant of our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). Authors funded by the BMGF can enjoy discounts on the APC, while the funder covers the costs of eligible articles centrally. BMGF also has access to the MDPI online submission system where they can find full article metadata and pricing information as well as Grant ID details for easy identification and additional transparency.
We hope that funded authors find the programme beneficial and we are happy to offer our IOAP to other funders that need a streamlined workflow of compliance checking and APC coverage.
To claim their discount, BMGF funded authors should choose the particular funder and add their Grant ID upon online submission of their manuscript.
For any questions about the BMGF agreement, please contact the funder at [email protected] or the MDPI IOAP team at [email protected].
2 October 2018
MDPI Welcomes Plan S
Recently, it was announced that a group of European funders supported 10 principles that will help to expand open access, known as Plan S. MDPI warmly welcomes this move as a step towards achieving more open and accessible communication of research across all disciplines. Some aspects remain to be clarified, however the details given so far match the aims and values that MDPI has held over the past two decades.
We believe that open access publishers should be active participants in discussions around Plan S, particularly regarding potential new business models and practical aspects of implementation. MDPI supports APCs as a transparent unit of payment for article publishing, however we are committed to exploring other measures and recently signed the Jussieu Call. Sustainability is a key value for MDPI, and future funding models should have at their heart the sustainability of knowledge and research dissemination. Plan S provides an opportunity for funders and publishers to directly discuss funding of open access journals in ways that are beneficial to all parties involved.
30 August 2018
MDPI establishes Open Access agreement with Qatar National Library
We are happy to announce the establishment of an Open Access (OA) agreement with Qatar National Library (QNL). QNL is committed to supporting and helping Qatar authors publish OA at no cost. Through this national agreement, QNL will cover the Article Processing Charges (APC) of manuscripts published by Qatar-based corresponding authors in MDPI journals.
Eligible corresponding authors affiliated with Qatar research centers and universities are prompted to choose QNL as part of our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) when they submit an article via our online submission system. The program will be selected automatically if authors submit their papers using their institutional email and/or a computer registered with the institution’s IP range. QNL will then crosscheck the information and confirm the APC funding.
Qatar authors that have their APC covered by QNL are advised to include the following sentence in their acknowledgments: "The publication of this article was funded by Qatar National Library".
For more information, please visit Open Access at QNL or email the QNL Open Access team at [email protected].
31 May 2018
2017 CiteScore™ Metrics Released
The 2017 CiteScore™ data is available now, based on citation data in the Scopus® database. The current CiteScore reflects citation activity in 2017 for articles published in 2014‒2016. Please note that the list below includes journals assigned a CiteScore in this year’s release. For a full list of journals indexed in Scopus, please see our journal list.
Thirteen of our journals received a CiteScore which is in the top 10% of the distribution in at least one of the categories (marked with * in the table below), while a further 32 journals exhibit scores that are in the first quartile of the respective categories.
To access the full data for MDPI journals, please see here. More data can also be found in SJR Scimago Journal & Country Rank.
Unlike CiteScores and the widely used Journal Impact Factors, the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) metrics are normalized in order to correct for differences in citation practices between scientific fields. Therefore, the SNIP allows direct comparison between journals specialized in different fields.
According to 2017 data, MDPI publishes six journals with an average citation impact, or SNIP, in excess of 1.500. These journals are Biomolecules, Cancers, Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM), Marine Drugs, Remote Sensing and Sensors (see the last column in the table below).
CiteScore Data for MDPI Journals
Journal | Rank (Quartile) |
Category | Link | CiteScore 2017 | 2016 |
2015 |
SNIP 2017 |
Aerospace | 43/116 (Q2) | • Aerospace Engineering | Link | 1.23 | - | - | 1.152 |
Agriculture | 69/309 (Q1) 91/398 (Q1) 78/255 (Q2) |
• Agronomy and Crop Science • Plant Science • Food Science |
Link | 1.93 | - | - | 1.133 |
Agronomy | 46/309 (Q1) | • Agronomy and Crop Science | Link | 2.38 | - | - | 1.115 |
Algorithms | 22/46 (Q2) 61/125 (Q2) 60/107 (Q3) 64/114 (Q3) |
• Numerical Analysis • Computational Mathematics • Computational Theory and Mathematics • Theoretical Computer Science |
Link | 1.03 | 1.15 | 1.07 | 0.749 |
Animals | 12/154 (Q1) * 48/367 (Q1) |
• General Veterinary • Animal Science and Zoology |
Link | 2.02 | 1.46 | 1.66 | 1.099 |
Antibiotics | 6/68 (Q1) * 62/263 (Q1) 55/230 (Q1) 31/108 (Q2) 47/134 (Q2) 139/398 (Q2) |
• General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics • Infectious Diseases • Pharmacology (medical) • Microbiology (medical) • Microbiology • Biochemistry |
Link | 2.85 | 1.65 | - | 0.975 |
Antibodies | 43/143 (Q2) 61/164 (Q2) 85/189 (Q2) |
• Drug Discovery • Immunology and Allergy • Immunology |
Link | 2.85 | - | - | 0.844 |
Antioxidants | 23/119 (Q1) 35/169 (Q2) 100/398 (Q2) 119/367 (Q2) 102/264 (Q2) |
• Clinical Biochemistry • Physiology • Biochemistry • Molecular Biology • Cell Biology |
Link | 3.42 | - | - | 1.361 |
Applied Sciences | 48/270 (Q1) 15/66 (Q1) 31/116 (Q2) 18/53 (Q2) 151/434 (Q2) 186/535 (Q2) |
• General Engineering • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes • Instrumentation • Process Chemistry and Technology • General Materials Science • Computer Science Applications |
Link | 1.90 | - | - | 0.801 |
Biology | 12/177 (Q1)* 32/186 (Q1) 10/40 (Q1) |
• General Agricultural and Biological Sciences • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology • General Immunology and Microbiology |
Link | 3.48 | 3.02 | 2.78 | 0.961 |
Biomolecules | 31/398 (Q1) * 41/367 (Q1) |
• Biochemistry • Molecular Biology |
Link | 5.72 | 1.67 | 3.08 | 1.542 |
Biosensors | 20/119 (Q1) | • Clinical Biochemistry | Link | 3.59 | 2.83 | 2.37 | 1.122 |
Brain Sciences | 47/111 (Q2) | • General Neuroscience | Link | 2.56 | - | - | 0.695 |
Cancers | 26/323 (Q1) * 23/191 (Q1) |
• Oncology • Cancer Research |
Link | 5.82 | 5.02 | 4.07 | 1.567 |
Catalysts | 32/151 (Q1) 21/46 (Q2) |
• Physical and Theoretical Chemistry • Catalysis |
Link | 3.23 | 3.44 | 3.45 | 0.954 |
Crystals | 76/272 (Q2) 140/434 (Q2) 127/398 (Q2) 26/64 (Q2) |
• General Chemical Engineering • General Materials Science • Condensed Matter Physics • Inorganic Chemistry |
Link | 1.97 | 1.89 | 1.47 | 0.745 |
Diagnostics | 49/119 (Q2) | • Clinical Biochemistry | Link | 2.43 | - | - | 0.788 |
Diversity | 30/124 (Q1) 14/52 (Q2) 83/306 (Q2) 11/29 (Q2) |
• Nature and Landscape Conservation • Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) • Ecology • Ecological Modelling |
Link | 2.15 | 2.03 | 1.96 | 1.300 |
Electronics | 109/644 (Q1) 26/148 (Q1) 42/224 (Q1) 50/259 (Q1) 23/96 (Q1) |
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering • Hardware and Architecture • Control and Systems Engineering • Computer Networks and Communications • Signal Processing |
Link | 2.97 | - | - | 1.227 |
Energies | 6/73 (Q1) * 31/192 (Q1) 103/644 (Q1) 4/16 (Q1) 47/140 (Q2) |
• Control and Optimization • Energy Engineering and Power Technology • Electrical and Electronic Engineering • Energy (miscellaneous) • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment |
Link | 3.11 | 2.50 | 2.87 | 1.340 |
Entropy | 35/202 (Q1) | • General Physics and Astronomy | Link | 2.41 | 1.87 | 1.99 | 1.189 |
Forests | 17/129 (Q1) | • Forestry | Link | 2.31 | 2.06 | 1.76 | 0.990 |
Future Internet | 132/259 (Q3) | • Computer Networks and Communications | Link | 1.25 | - | - | - |
Games | 132/187 (Q3) 78/110 (Q3) 305/418 (Q3) |
• Statistics and Probability • Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty • Applied Mathematics |
Link | 0.61 | 0.87 | 0.57 | 1.038 |
Genes | 21/91 (Q1) 74/311 (Q1) |
• Genetics (clinical) • Genetics |
Link | 3.49 | 3.62 | 3.18 | 0.374 |
Geosciences | 32/182 (Q1) |
• General Earth and Planetary Sciences | Link | 1.97 | 1.67 | 1.29 | 0.856 |
Information | 143/251 (Q3) | • Information Systems | Link | 1.16 | 0.78 | 0.94 | 1.146 |
Insects | 27/135 (Q1) | • Insect Science | Link | 1.85 | 1.81 | 1.38 | 0.719 |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) | 80/478 (Q1) 34/106 (Q2) |
• Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis |
Link | 2.41 | 2.38 | 2.42 | 0.931 |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) | 7/69 (Q1) * 61/535 (Q1) 20/163 (Q1) 9/64 (Q1) 26/151 (Q1) 89/367 (Q2) 17/46 (Q2) |
• Spectroscopy • Computer Science Applications • Organic Chemistry • Inorganic Chemistry • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry • Molecular Biology • Catalysis |
Link | 3.86 | 3.73 | 3.37 | 0.998 |
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (IJGI) | 79/605 (Q1) 22/82 (Q2) 13/36 (Q2) |
• Geography, Planning and Development • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) • Computers in Earth Sciences |
Link | 2.10 | 1.62 | 1.52 | 1.062 |
Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM) | 10/841 (Q1) * | • General Medicine | Link | 7.07 | - | - | 1.535 |
Journal of Functional Biomaterials (JFB) | 43/199 (Q1) 23/77 (Q2) |
• Biomedical Engineering • Biomaterials |
Link | 3.47 | - | - | 1.344 |
Journal of Low Po- wer Electronics and Applications (JLPEA) |
301/644 (Q2) | • Electrical and Electronic Engineering | Link | 1.12 | 0.98 | 0.83 | 0.367 |
Journal of Personalized Medicine (JPM) | 54/189 (Q2) | • Medicine (miscellaneous) | Link | 2.61 | - | - | 0.944 |
Land | 50/124 (Q2) 129/306 (Q2) 36/65 (Q3) |
• Nature and Landscape Conservation • Ecology • Global and Planetary Change |
Link | 1.44 | - | - | 0.658 |
Life | 4/94 (Q1) * 70/561 (Q1) 40/186 (Q1) 20/80 (Q2) |
• Palaeontology • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology • Space and Planetary Science |
Link | 3.16 | 2.95 | 1.68 | 0.935 |
Marine Drugs | 17/146 (Q1) | • Drug Discovery | Link | 4.58 | 3.83 | 3.66 | 1.537 |
Materials | 83/434 (Q1) | • General Materials Science | Link | 3.02 | 3.26 | 3.11 | 1.285 |
Membranes | 5/18 (Q2) 15/53 (Q2) 4/10 (Q2) |
• Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) • Process Chemistry and Technology • Filtration and Separation |
Link | 2.69 | 2.19 | 2.95 | 0.880 |
Metabolites | 47/209 (Q1) 103/398 (Q2) 127/367 (Q2) |
• Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism • Biochemistry • Molecular Biology |
Link | 3.35 | - | - | 0.925 |
Metals | 155/434 (Q2) | • General Materials Science | Link | 1.87 | - | - | 0.955 |
Micromachines | 105/554 (Q1) 154/644 (Q1) 64/224 (Q2) |
• Mechanical Engineering • Electrical and Electronic Engineering • Control and Systems Engineering |
Link | 2.31 | 1.83 | 1.78 | 0.987 |
Minerals | 33/175 (Q1) 45/208 (Q1) |
• Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology • Geology |
Link | 2.21 | 2.13 | 1.77 | 1.149 |
Molecules | 4/25 (Q1) 25/172 (Q1) 18/104 (Q1) 31/163 (Q1) 30/151 (Q1) 31/146 (Q1) 55/160 (Q2) |
• Chemistry (miscellaneous) • Pharmaceutical Science • Analytical Chemistry • Organic Chemistry • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry • Drug Discovery • Molecular Medicine |
Link | 3.27 | 3.09 | 2.65 | 1.146 |
Nutrients | 11/255 (Q1) * 9/112 (Q1) * |
• Food Science • Nutrition and Dietetics |
Link | 4.35 | 4.29 | 4.07 | 1.403 |
Pathogens | 38/263 (Q1) 20/108 (Q1) 9/40 (Q1) 40/164 (Q1) 110/367 (Q2) |
• Infectious Diseases • Microbiology (medical) • General Immunology and Microbiology • Immunology and Allergy • Molecular Biology |
Link | 3.52 | - | - | 1.166 |
Pharmaceuticals | 14/172 (Q1) * 33/160 (Q1) |
• Pharmaceutical Science • Molecular Medicine |
Link | 4.12 | 4.90 | 3.64 | 1.370 |
Pharmaceutics | 21/172 (Q1) | • Pharmaceutical Science | Link | 3.68 | 3.83 | 2.68 | 1.092 |
Photonics | 30/116 (Q1) 80/270 (Q2) 53/160 (Q2) |
• Instrumentation • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and Imaging • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics |
Link | 1.96 | - | - | 0.817 |
Plants | 73/561 (Q1) 48/389 (Q1) 44/306 (Q1) |
• Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics • Plant Science • Ecology |
Link | 3.13 | - | - | 0.969 |
Polymers | 17/142 (Q1) 63/359 (Q1) |
• Polymers and Plastics • General Chemistry |
Link | 3.30 | 3.74 | 3.37 | 1.213 |
Religions | 26/389 (Q1) * | • Religious Studies | Link | 0.56 | - | - | 0.676 |
Remote Sensing | 13/182 (Q1) * | • General Earth and Planetary Sciences | Link | 4.03 | 3.56 | 3.76 | 1.559 |
Resources | 19/142 (Q1) 39/261 (Q1) |
• Nature and Landscape Conservation • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law |
Link | 2.69 | - | - | 1.387 |
Scientia Pharmaceutica | 92/172 (Q3) | • Pharmaceutical Science | Link | 0.86 | - | - | 0.513 |
Sensors | 9/116 (Q1) * 25/160 (Q1) 100/644 (Q1) 19/104 (Q1) 113/398 (Q2) |
• Instrumentation • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics • Electrical and Electronic Engineering • Analytical Chemistry • Biochemistry |
Link | 3.23 | 2.78 | 2.21 | 1.550 |
Social Sciences | 81/213 (Q2) | • General Social Sciences | Link | 0.60 | - | - | 0.445 |
Sustainability | 61/605 (Q1) * 55/261 (Q1) 60/140 (Q2) |
• Geography, Planning and Development • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment |
Link | 2.37 | 1.96 | 1.78 | 1.030 |
Symmetry | 44/327 (Q1) 17/45 (Q2) 16/40 (Q2) 14/25 (Q2) |
• General Mathematics • Computer Science (miscellaneous) • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) • Chemistry (miscellaneous) |
Link | 1.32 | 1.12 | 0.95 | 0.802 |
Toxins | 18/106 (Q1) 21/111 (Q1) |
• Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis • Toxicology |
Link | 3.32 | 3.34 | 3.76 | 1.136 |
Vaccines | 5/230 (Q1) * 13/263 (Q1) * 18/302 (Q1) * 11/146 (Q1) * 32/189 (Q1) |
• Pharmacology (medical) • Infectious Diseases • Pharmacology • Drug Discovery • Immunology |
Link | 4.88 | 1.23 | 3.76 | 1.255 |
Viruses | 29/263 (Q1) 16/68 (Q1) |
• Virology • Infectious Diseases |
Link | 3.88 | 3.60 | 3.74 | 1.130 |
Water | 66/605 (Q1) 37/191 (Q1) 43/199 (Q1) 193/398 (Q2) |
• Geography, Planning and Development • Water Science and Technology • Aquatic Science • Biochemistry |
Link | 2.29 | 2.05 | 1.96 | 1.007 |
30 April 2018
Winners of the First MDPI Writing Prize
We are pleased to announce the results of the first MDPI Writing Prize. We received a large number of entries from across the globe on the theme of “The Global Benefits of Open Research”. It was a pleasure to read so many original, well-researched and well-presented ideas, and the final choice was not an easy one. We are pleased to announce that the winners are as follows:
1st prize (500 CHF, Swiss knife and certificate)
Edmond Sanganyado, Shantou University, China
2nd prizes (250 CHF, Swiss knife and certificate)
Kamala T. Rajahgopal, Asia e University, Malaysia
Yin Zhixuan, Qingdao University of Technology, China
3rd prizes (100 CHF, Swiss knife and certificate)
Alexandra Ticea, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
Ankur Sarker, University of Virginia, USA
Daniel Attoye, United Arab Emirates University, UAE
Congratulations to all of them! The winning entries can be downloaded by clicking on the names above. A compilation of all entries will soon be available as an open access book.
The writing prize is sponsored by the MDPI English editing service.
23 March 2018
Check for Updates: A New Function in the Article PDF Version
At MDPI, we always want to keep you up to date. Even for already published articles, some corrections or minor changes may occur. To prevent you from missing any updates, from now on you will be able to access the latest version of any manuscript by clicking on the “check for updates” logo that you can find in the PDF file, even if you have saved the file on your computer.
13 March 2018
MDPI Becoming a Member of UKSG
We are proud to announce that MDPI is now a member of UKSG, the UK´s largest scholarly communications community. Through UKSG, different stakeholders share their knowledge and experience in order to improve the knowledge and information environment for researchers. UKSG´s members include universities, publishers, content providers, intermediaries, and other similar organisations. Members participate in discussions and events on issues around scholarly communications.
The UKSG Annual Conference and Exhibition is a flagship initiative from the UKSG and one of the most stimulating events in the scholarly communications calendar. It is held annually and attracts a large number of delegates. More information is available at https://www.uksg.org/events/annualconference
MDPI is delighted to be a part of this active community and we look forward to making our own contribution. We will continue to support organisations and initiatives that boost collaboration and vision within scholarly communication.
More information about UKSG can be found at https://www.uksg.org/. The full membership list is available at: https://www.uksg.org/members.
1 February 2018
MDPI Signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
The DORA initiative addresses the need for advanced approaches in the evaluation and measurement of the quality of scientific research outputs. It is a worldwide initiative covering all scholarly disciplines. MDPI proudly joins a list of more than 400 organizations around the world which support DORA’s recommendations for improving the way the quality of research results is evaluated.
More info can be found at http://www.ascb.org/dora/
19 December 2017
Announcing the MDPI English Writing Prize
The competition is still open until end of March! Please check out the banner for more details: https://mdpi-res.com/data/english-prize.pdf
15 December 2017
UCL Press Adopts the MDPI Editorial Platform JAMS
We are delighted to announce that UCL Press has adopted MDPI's Journal Article & Management System, JAMS, including production services. JAMS is a modular, integrated editorial platform for academic publishers. It offers flexibility, ease-of-use, and is a fully integrated solution for the end-to-end management of scholarly journals. JAMS is based on the software used to publish MDPI’s portfolio of journals.
Ian Caswell, UCL Press Journals Manager, says he is "excited to see UCL Press and MDPI partner together to implement the JAMS submission system for all UCL Press journals. The system offered a flexible, efficient and straightforward solution for our processes from author submission to ready for publication. I am grateful for the valuable experience and support MDPI have offered and look forward to developing our programme with an effective submission system in place.” Dr Martyn Rittman, MDPI’s Publishing Services Manager, adds, “We are proud to support one of the UK’s premier university presses in their publishing operation. This is an excellent way for us at MDPI to share our experience and knowledge, and benefit the research community beyond our own journals.”
JAMS combines services that are kept separate for many publishers. The entire editorial process, production and invoicing (e.g. for open access article processing charges) are fully integrated into a single platform. This allows for efficient, fast manuscript processing. For further information about JAMS, see https://www.mdpi.com/publishing_services.
23 November 2017
New Participants in the Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP)
We are pleased to welcome new participants to MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), designed to help institutions manage the transition to the Open Access publishing model. Researchers affiliated with participating universites benefit from a 10% discount on the Article Processing Charges (APC) for any paper published in an MDPI journal, while the participating library or university incurs no basic fee for participating in the program.
The IOAP set of free services, provided by MDPI to institutions that sign up, include:- No fee for participants and no obligation to prolong after the initial 12 months. The participants may withdraw from the programme at any time, and we will also keep it free for the library for as long as they continue in the programme.
- Authors affiliated with the university will receive a 10% discount on the APC.
- The institution is granted free access to the MDPI submission system and can receive free alerts of new submissions to our journals.
- By default, authors from the institution will continue to be invoiced directly unless the institution opts for central billing.
- Auto-archiving of papers into the institutions´ repository as long as it supports SWORD 1.3.
More details about the programme and a list of our current participant institutions can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/about/ioap
Institutions which are interested to participate may do so online at: https://www.mdpi.com/ioap-form
The following North American universities have signed up to the IOAP program recently:
Connecticut College, USA
Emory University, USA
Florida International University, USA
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Mississippi State University, USA
Northeastern University, USA
Rice University, USA
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
University of Rhode Island, USA
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
University of Toronto, Canada
University of Windsor, Canada
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Wellesley College, USA
West Virginia University, USA
Many prestigious institutions from Europe and Asia have joined as well:
Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, Malaysia
Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan
Newcastle University, UK
Northumbria University, UK
Southwest University, China
Technical University of Crete, Greece
University Malaya, Malaysia
University of Antwerp, Belgium
University of Cyprus, Cyprus
University of Manchester, UK
University of Reading, UK
University of Sussex, UK
University of Warwick, UK
West Pomeranian University of Technology Szczecin, Poland
We offer a warm welcome to the new participants!
10 November 2017
Available Journal Awards at MDPI
In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers, and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields, for example, Young Investigator Awards, Travel Awards, Best Paper Awards, and Best Poster Awards, etc. The awardees range from PhD students to junior scientists.
Currently, the following 44 awards given by MDPI journals are accepting applications. Please click on the award title below to check whether you are eligible for it and start the application process.
Subject |
Journal |
Award |
Intended Awardee |
Biology & Life Sciences |
Animals |
PhD students or postdoctoral researchers |
|
Antioxidants |
Postdoctoral researchers or PhD students |
||
Biology |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Forests |
Postdocs or PhD students |
||
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) |
Ground-breaking contribution in the fields of Molecular Biology, and Molecular Pathology |
||
Journal of Fungi (JoF) |
Travel Awards 2018 |
PhD graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows |
|
Life |
Travel Award 2018 |
PhD students or postdoctoral fellows |
|
Metabolites |
PhD students |
||
Pharmaceuticals |
PhD students |
||
Toxins |
Postdoctoral fellows |
||
Viruses |
Viruses 2018 participants |
||
Viruses |
Viruses 2018 participants |
||
Water |
2018 Young Investigator Award |
Young investigators |
|
Chemistry & Materials Science |
Biomimetics
|
Graduate Student or Postdoctoral Trainee / Research Associate |
|
Catalysts |
PhD students |
||
Chemosensors |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Entropy |
Young investigators |
||
Fibers |
2018 Travel award |
Postdocs or PhD students |
|
Magnetochemistry |
Postdocs |
||
Materials |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Metals |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Minerals |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Sensors |
Travel Award 2018 |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
|
Sensors |
Sensors' reviewers in 2017 |
||
Sensors |
Young investigators |
||
Technologies |
PhD students |
||
Computer Science & Mathematics |
Multimodal Technologies and Interaction (MTI) |
Postdoctoral researchers or PhD students |
|
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information(IJGI) |
Postdocs |
||
Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (JSAN) |
Postdoctoral fellows and PhD students |
||
Journal of Imaging |
Postdoctoral fellows and PhD students |
||
Engineering |
Actuators |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
|
Remote Sensing |
Authors |
||
Machines |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Micromachines |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
||
Fluids |
Postdoctoral fellows and PhD students |
||
ChemEngineering |
Postdoctoral researchers and PhD students |
||
Environmental & Earth Sciences |
Diversity |
Travel Awards 2018 |
Postdoctoral fellows |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) |
Authors who submit from 1 Nov 2017 to 31 Oct 2018 |
||
Resources |
Postdocs or PhD students |
||
Geosciences |
Postdoctoral fellows and PhD students |
||
Physical Sciences & Astronomy |
Galaxies |
Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, or lecturers in cosmology or galaxies physics |
|
Applied Science |
Postdocs |
||
Medicine & Pharmacology; Public Health & Healthcare |
Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM) |
PhD or postdoctoral fellows |
|
Medicines |
Postdocs |
7 November 2017
MDPI has signed the Jussieu Call for Open Science and Bibliodiversity
The Jussieu Call aims to develop and implement alternative models to meet the aims of open science while promoting bibliodiversity. In particular it wishes to promote new business models for funding open access publication. It was drafted on the Jussieu campus in Paris by a group of French researchers and scientific publishing professionals.
MDPI supports scholarly communities and initiatives that innovate and further promote Open Access publishing. There is a need to explore different frameworks to fund open access in ways that ensure that excessive funds are not diverted from research towards publishing. Many fair funding models already exist, and they can be further developed and extended. These include institutional support, library contributions or subsidies, premium services, participatory funding, etc. For this reason, MDPI has signed up to the Jussieu call and welcomes its aims.
More information can be found at http://jussieucall.org/ (archived here)
6 October 2017
Dr. Franck Vazquez, MDPI CEO, Interviewed by Scholarly Kitchen
The Society for Scholarly Publishing’s popular blog about topics in academic publishing, Scholarly Kitchen, recently interviewed MDPI’s CEO, Dr. Franck Vazquez. He shared some thoughts and information on the past and future of MDPI and open access publishing in general:
“In the long run, we aim to anchor MDPI in research communities. We recently developed and launched the preprint platform Preprints, revamped our free-to-use conference hosting platform Sciforum, and are working on other projects, such as Scilit, our bibliographic database.”
Read the full interview here.
19 September 2017
A Warm Welcome to the New IOAP Participants
We are delighted to have welcomed 24 new participants to our Institutional Open Access Programme (IOAP) since the beginning of September this year. These are University libraries and Research Institutions located around the world; from the USA and Canada to the UK, and from Norway and Spain to Greece. Well respected Universities, such as the University of Denver, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Arizona in the US, have signed up, while their researchers can now benefit from a 10% discount on the Article Processing Charges (APC) for any papers they publish in MDPI journals, at no cost for the library or the University.
We are more than happy to see the Open Access movement growing stronger and wider every day and we appreciate the vital role which librarians, repository managers, and other scholarly communications professionals play in the field. Our communication with and service to this community is, therefore, one of our principal priorities. The IOAP is our way to support academic and scientific Institutions as well as their scholars in managing, administrating, and publishing research in an Open Access world.
The IOAP set of free services, provided by MDPI to institutions that sign up, include:
- No fee for participants and no obligation to prolong after the initial 12 months. The participants may withdraw from the programme at any time, and we will also keep it free for the library for as long as they continue in the programme.
- Authors affiliated with the university will receive a discount on the article processing charge (APC).
- The institution is granted free access to the MDPI submission system and can receive free alerts of new submissions to our journals.
- By default, authors from the institution will continue to be invoiced directly unless the institution opts for central billing.
- Auto-archiving of papers into the institutions´ repository as long as it supports SWORD 1.3.
More details about the programme and a list of our current participant institutions can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/about/ioap
Institutions which are interested to participate may do so online at: https://www.mdpi.com/ioap-form
The full list of the Institutions that signed up in September is as follows:
- University of Denver, USA
- University of Colorado Boulder, USA
- University of Arizona, USA
- Institute of Metrology of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Middlebury College, USA
- Touro College, USA
- University of New Orleans, USA
- University of Leicester, UK
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
- University of Strathclyde, UK
- Cranfield University, UK
- Hope College, USA
- Oregon State University, USA
- Drew University, USA
- Swansea University, UK
- University of South Florida, USA
- University of Georgia, USA
- Arizona State University, USA
- University of Southern Mississippi, USA
- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada
- Grinnell College, USA
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
- University of Patras, Greece
- Public University of Navarre, Spain