Announcements

Animals (ISSN: 2076-2615) is honored to partner with the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s leading institution for academic innovation, to host the Scientific Publishing Exchange on 26 May 2025. This event brought together researchers, faculty, and publishing experts to navigate the evolving landscape of academic dissemination. Through reports on open access publishing strategies, manuscript optimization, responding to peer reviewers, data visualization, AI-driven research tools, and animal ethics and research integrity, we aimed to empower participants with actionable insights to elevate their scholarly impact. By fostering collaboration between MDPI’s global network and the faculty’s academic community, this exchange underscores our shared commitment to advancing research excellence and open science.

Prof. Dr. Noppadol Pirarat delivered the opening speech at the Academic Publishing Exchange Event, emphasizing the significance of scholarly communication and publication in advancing academic and professional development. He highlighted that this event is part of a two-seminar course organized under the Veterinary Science and Technology (VST) International Graduate Program, aimed at fostering research knowledge and skills among graduate students. Recognizing the program’s requirement for students to publish at least one scientific paper, Prof. Dr. Noppadol expressed the importance of such initiatives in equipping students with the essential tools for successful academic publishing. He warmly thanked MDPI for organizing the event, which serves as an author training session. He acknowledged MDPI’s support in guiding students and researchers through the process of preparing and submitting scientific manuscripts, understanding journal expectations, and enhancing the overall quality of academic writing. He also concluded by expressing his hope that all participants would benefit greatly from the event and apply the knowledge gained to their future publications.

Dr. Juthathip Poofery was the first speaker. She is the Section Managing Editor and Editorial Group Leader of the Medical Science Section at MDPI Thailand. In her presentation, she shared open access (OA) information, highlighting its advantages and the growing trend of OA publishing both globally and in Thailand. She shared the impressive development of MDPI and annual updates that showcase worldwide collaborations as MDPI positions itself as a leading global open access publisher. Furthermore, she provided general information about the Animals journal, including key statistics, optional video abstracts, author interviews, and details about the journal's awards.

The second session was shared by Dr. Krit Inthajak, MDPI’s Regional Journal Relations Specialist in Asia–Pacific, with the topic “How to Write Scientific Papers”. This session comprises how to prepare literature reviews before deciding to write a manuscript. Next, he illustrated each main section of the manuscript: the front matter, the main text, and the back matter. An emphasis on research subjects in veterinary science such as the study types toward animals was presented to show a better understanding of what the readers expect, how it would gain their interest, and what contents should be included in the back matter. During the Q&A, students and scholars were interested in better understanding how to properly write their manuscript, along with the uses of AI-generated content to polish their English structure.

The third session, titled “How to Respond to Peer Reviewers and Reasons for Rejection during Pre-Check”, was presented by Ms. Hathaipat Kittirojana, a Regional Journal Relations Specialist. She discussed the peer review process at MDPI and guided the audience through how to revise the manuscript professionally. This session also included the common rejected reasons at pre-check. During the session, she addressed the questions raised. Some participants inquired about the most common reasons for rejected papers, while others were curious about the number of reports for each submission. She also offered practical advice for responding to reviewers and shared insights into the types of feedback authors may face during revisions. In conclusion, she encouraged the audience to remain positive, open-minded, and professional when replying to reviewers.

Mr. Suvicha Sasivimolkul conducted a session on how to “Understand Data Visualization in Academic Papers”. He took attendees through the key concepts of data visualization, suggesting various types of data visualizations and the tools for image creation. The session emphasized that well-designed and informative figures can improve reader comprehension and amplify the impact of an article. Real examples helped illustrate common mistakes and how to avoid such points. The session also introduced an overview of MDPI Author Services, especially the Figure Editing Service. This service assists researchers in enhancing the quality of their figures to meet the publication standard for greater impact and visibility.

For the fifth session, presented by Ms. Ploy Assavajamroon, the Regional Journal Relations Specialist, on the emerging topic “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Scientific Publishing Industry”, she began by explaining the current applications of AI and the perspectives of researchers regarding its use in academic work. She then addressed the viewpoint of publishers on the use of AI in preparing the manuscript, including guidelines that authors should follow and disclose in the statement within their submissions. The final part of her talk focused on the MDPI AI team and how AI technologies are being utilized to enhance the editorial process.

In the final part of the Academic Publishing Exchange program, Mr. Aleksandar Djukic, a Research Integrity Specialist, delivered a session on “Ethics and Integrity in Animal Research – Best Practices and Policy in Scholarly Publishing”. The presentation began with an overview of ethics in animal research, emphasizing the importance of responsible practices and animal welfare. He then addressed the process of obtaining ethical approval in animal research, including what journals typically require from authors. The session also introduced MDPI’s policy and standards, outlining how the publisher ensures ethical compliance in submissions involving animals. Finally, exemptions from ethical approval were discussed, with guidance on when and how authors must justify such cases. The session reflected MDPI’s commitment to promoting integrity and transparency in animal research publishing.

As we conclude the Scientific Publishing Exchange at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, we reflect on a day of transformative learning and collaboration. The active participation of researchers, faculty, and students—spanning diverse disciplines—highlighted the event’s success in equipping attendees with practical skills for impactful publication, transparent peer review, and AI-enhanced research workflows. Insightful discussions on open access trends, ethical publishing practices, and interdisciplinary collaboration reinforced the critical role of open science in driving global knowledge sharing. This partnership strengthens MDPI’s ties with the faculty, laying the foundation for future initiatives that empower researchers and accelerate scientific discovery. We thank the university’s leadership, faculty, and participants for their engagement and look forward to continued collaboration in advancing research excellence and open access.