Announcements

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”

Stefan Tochev
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
Abbate, Antonio
Aguilera, Ruth V.
Ahmed, Warish
Ahn, Myung-Ju
Ambretti, Simone
Anasori, Babak
Andersson, Dan I.
Annabi, Nasim
Antinori, Spinello
Arbabi, Amir
Ariga, Katsuhiko
Astruc, Didier
Bajpai, Vivek K.
Balaj, Leonora
Balsamo, Gianpaolo
Bando, Yoshio
Banks, William A.
Barnes, Peter J.
Barnholtz-Sloan, Jill S.
Barros, Lillian
Bashir, Ali Kashif
Basit, Abdul W.
Bassetti, Matteo
Batley, Jacqueline
Battino, Maurizio
Benediktsson, Jon Atli
Bjarnsholt, Thomas
Blaschke, Thomas
Blay, Jean-Yves
Blumwald, Eduardo
Blunt, John W.
Bonomo, Robert A.
Bourke, Paula
Boyd, Robert W.
Boyer, Cyrille
Bruyere, Olivier
Bu, Wenbo
Bush, Ashley I.
Byrd, John C.
Cabeza, Luisa F.
Cai, Baoping
Cai, Lei
Cai, Xingjuan
Cambria, Erik
Cao, Guozhong
Cao, Xingzhong
Carvalho, Andre F.
Chan, Jasper Fuk-Woo
Chan, Timothy A.
Chao, Dongliang
Chen, Bin
Chen, Bo
Chen, Chaoji
Chen, Fahu
Chen, Hualan
Chen, Jun
Chen, Kunsong
Chen, Lidong
Chen, Lingxin
Chen, Mou
Chen, Peng
Chen, Qianwang
Chen, Shaowei
Chen, Shuai
Chen, Shuangming
Chen, Xiangyu
Chen, Xiao
Chen, Xiaobo
Chen, Xu
Chen, Yimin
Chen, Yulin
Cheng, Gong
Cheng, Huanyu
Cheng, Laifei
Cheng, Qiang
Chiclana, Francisco
Choi, Wonyong
Choi, Young Hae
Chowdhary, Anuradha
Clevers, Hans
Collins, Maurice N.
Cortes, Javier
Cortes, Jorge
Cottin, Vincent
Creutzig, Felix
Crommie, Michael F.
Cuadrado, Antonio
Cui, Yi
Dai, Hongjie
Dai, Shifeng
Daiber, Andreas
Davis, Steven J.
Davis, Thomas P.
Dawson, Ted M.
de Vries, Rory D.
de Vries, Wim
Deng, Xiangzheng
Desneux, Nicolas
Ding, Aijun
Ding, Jianxun
Dokmeci, Mehmet Remzi
Dolgui, Alexandre
Dou, Shi Xue
Dragicevic, Tomislav
Du, Bo
Du, Qian
Du, Yonghua
Duan, Xidong
Dufresne, Alain
Dummer, Reinhard
Ebi, Kristie L.
Edwards, David
Enjuanes, Luis
Fabbro, Doriano
Facchetti, Antonio
Fan, Junliang
Fan, Kelong
Fan, Xiulin
Fang, Chuanglin
Fang, Jingyun
Fang, Yongjin
Fasano, Alessio
Felser, Claudia
Feng, Xuning
Ferdinandy, Péter
Filippi, Massimo
Flavian, Carlos
Fortino, Giancarlo
Fowler, Michael
Franceschi, Claudio
Fu, Gengtao
Fu, Yongshuo
Fujita, Hamido
Gagaoua, Mohammed
Gai, Francesco
Gaisford, Simon
Galano, Annia
Galluzzi, Lorenzo
Galvano, Fabio
Gao, Huijun
Gao, Huile
Gao, Junkuo
Gao, Peng
Garbe, Claus
Garcia, Hermenegildo
Gasbarrini, Antonio
Genevet, Patrice
Geng, Yong
Gerdts, Gunnar
Geschwind, Daniel H.
Ghaffari, Roozbeh
Ghamisi, Pedram
Giampieri, Francesca
Gobbetti, Marco
Godos, Justyna
Gogotsi, Yury
Golding, Nick
Gong, Jinlong
Gong, Peng
Gotor, Cecilia
Govindan, Kannan
Grancini, Giulia
Grant, William B.
Graus, Francesc
Green, Douglas R.
Greenberg, Dan
Grigoriev, Igor
Grosso, Giuseppe
Gu, Zhanjun
Guan, Cao
Gueimonde, Miguel
Gui, Guan
Guo, Hengyu
Guo, Jianping
Guo, Jinghua
Guo, Song
Guo, Zaiping
Gutzmer, Ralf
Győrffy, Balázs
Haase, Dagmar
Hagger, Martin S.
Han, Buxing
Han, Fudong
Han, Heesup
Hanes, Justin
Hao, Junnan
He, Bao-Jie
He, Chi
He, Debiao
He, Hongwen
He, Jiaqing
He, Jr-Hau
He, Ping
He, Xiangming
He, Xijun
He, Zhili
Heinrich, Michael
Heneka, Michael Thomas
Henry, Brandon Michael
Herrera, Francisco
Herrera-Estrella, Luis
Hilal, Nidal
Hong, Danfeng
Hossain, Ekram
Hu, Enyuan
Hu, Jin-Song
Hu, Wenbin
Hu, Xiaosong
Huang, Bo
Huang, Haitao
Huang, Hongwei
Huang, Jianping
Huang, Qing
Huang, Yan
Huang, Yu
Hubacek, Klaus
Hwang, Jinsoo
Italiano, Antoine
Iwata, Hiroji
Izzo, Angelo A.
Jaiswal, Amit K.
Jankovic, Joseph
Jelezko, Fedor
Jeon, Byong-Hun
Ji, Jian
Ji, Xiaobo
Ji, Xiaoyuan
Jiang, Lei

Jiang, Lianzhou
Jiang, Shibo
Jiang, Yuji
Jiang, Yuyan
Jiang, Zhongyi
Jiao, Licheng
Jin, Hailing
Jin, Yuanxiang
Jin, Zhengyu
Jin, Zhong
Jing, Qingshen
Kalantar-zadeh, Kourosh
Kamal, Mohammad Amjad
Kaneti, Yusuf Valentino
Kang, Xudong
Kang, Zhenhui
Karagiannidis, George K.
Karki, Rajendra
Karniadakis, George Em
Kataoka, Kazunori
Katritch, Vsevolod
Kawi, Sibudjing
Kepp, Oliver
Khademhosseini, Ali
Kiessling, Fabian
Kim, Jong Seung
Kim, Jong-Hoon
Kim, Sung-Bae
Kim, Sunghwan
Kirkwood, John M.
Kivshar, Yuri
Klein, Christian
Klenk, Hans-Peter
Koh, Lenny
Kong, Baohua
Krause, Robert
Kroemer, Guido
Kudo, Masatoshi
Kumar, Anil
Kumar, Prashant
Kumar, Sudhir
Kurths, Juergen
Kurzrock, Razelle
Kyrpides, Nikos C.
La Vecchia, Carlo
Lam, Tommy Tsan-Yuk
Lan, Ke
Lancellotti, Patrizio
Landi, Francesco
Landi, Marco
Lavie, Carl J.
Lee, Chengkuo
Lee, Jin-Wook
Lee, Pooi See
Lehmann, Johannes
Lei, Yaguo
Li, Bing
Li, Chunzhong
Li, Dawei
Li, Dongfang
Li, Dongsheng
Li, Jingchao
Li, Jing-Feng
Li, Jinghong
Li, Linlin
Li, Meng
Li, Neng
Li, Ning
Li, Shutao
Li, Xiang
Li, Xuecao
Li, Yaping
Li, Yat
Li, Yong
Li, Yonghui
Li, Yurui
Liang, Hanfeng
Liang, Shuquan
Lin, Jun
Lin, Yi
Lin, Yuehe
Lippi, Giuseppe
Liu, Chengmei
Liu, Feng
Liu, Hong
Liu, Hongyu
Liu, Jian-Kui (Jack)
Liu, Meilin
Liu, Min
Liu, Shujuan
Liu, Xianhu
Liu, Xiaoping
Liu, Xuejun
Liu, Yu
Loh, Xian Jun
Long, Guankui
Long, Hualou
Long, Ying
Lu, Jianquan
Lu, Junling
Lu, Nanshu
Lu, Shun
Lu, Yingying
Lugato, Emanuele
Lund, Henrik
Luo, Jie
Luo, Jingshan
Luo, Yangchao
Luo, Zisheng
Lutolf, Matthias P.
Lv, Wei
Lyons, Timothy W.
Ma, Chao
Ma, Tianyi
Ma, Yanming
Mahmood, Nasir
Mahmoudi, Morteza
Mandalà, Mario
Mao, Jianfeng
Mao, Like
Martin-Belloso, Olga
Martinez, Luis
Mateos, Maria Victoria
Mathiesen, Brian Vad
Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof
McCauley, Darren
Mei, Lin
Melenhorst, Jan Joseph
Melero, Ignacio
Meyerholz, David K.
Miao, Song
Miroshnichenko, Andrey E.
Mittler, Ron
Montagne, Axel
Moreau, Philippe
Mu, Shichun
Muhammad, Khan
Mulligan, Mark J.
Mumtaz, Shahid
Nauen, Ralf
Nemeroff, Charles B.
Niaura, Raymond S.
Nussinov, Ruth
Oganov, Artem R.
Oh, Deog Hwan
O'Reilly, Eileen M.
Ouyang, Minggao
Ozcan, Aydogan
Pacher, Pal
Pan, Anlian
Pan, Anqiang
Pan, Caofeng
Pan, Genxing
Pan, Xiaoqing
Parati, Gianfranco
Peng, Qiang
Peng, Qing
Peng, Shushi
Perlin, David S.
Perlman, Stanley
Petruzzelli, Antonio Messeni
Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent
Pitt, Bertram
Pöhlmann, Stefan
Polasky, Stephen
Pommier, Yves
Poor, H. Vincent
Portincasa, Piero
Potenza, Marc N.
Prinsep, Michele R.
Pu, Hongbin
Pu, Kanyi
Putnik, Predrag
Qi, Jianping
Qiang, Yujie
Qin, Yuanwei
Qiu, Jieshan
Qu, Xiaogang
Ragauskas, Arthur J.
Ramkissoon, Haywantee
Ran, Jingrun
Rao, Zhonghao
Ren, Jinsong
Rengel, Zed
Rezania, Shahabaldin
Rho, Junsuk
Riahi, Keywan
Ribeiro-Soriano, Domingo
Richardson, Paul G.
Rignot, Eric
Robert, Caroline
Rocca, Maria A.
Rodriguez-Manas, Leocadio
Rojas, Orlando J.
Rojo, Teofilo
Rossolini, Gian Maria
Saad, Walid
Saif, Linda J.
Saliba, Michael
Sander, Chris
Saso, Luciano
Scaldaferri, Franco
Schafer, Alexandra
Schatzberg, Alan F.
Schwab, Matthias
Scolyer, Richard A.
Scorrano, Luca
Scott, Stuart A.
Serruys, Patrick W.
Shao, Minhua
Shao, Shuai
Shao, Zongping
Shen, Guozhen
Shen, Liyin
Shen, Zexiang
Shi, Kai
Shi, Pei-Yong
Shi, Peng
Shi, Yi
Shin, Hyeon Suk
Shin, Su Ryon
Siano, Pierluigi
Simões, Manuel
Simpson, Richard J.
Sing, Swee Leong
Singh, Vijay P.
Skouta, Rachid
Smagghe, Guy

Song, Jibin
Song, Yanlin
Sood, Anil K.
Souto, Eliana B.
Speiser, Daniel E.
Stadler, Marc
Stephanopoulos, Gregory
Sternberg, Cora N.
Stoumpos, Constantinos C.
Su, Chao
Su, Dong
Sun, Cuixia
Sun, Fengchun
Sun, Guangyong
Sun, Jian
Sun, Litao
Sun, Xian
Sun, Zaicheng
Sun, Zhipei
Sureda, Antoni
Svenning, Jens-Christian
Tan, Chaoliang
Tang, Ben Zhong
Tang, Chuan-He
Tang, Chuyang
Tang, Dianping
Tang, Yawen
Tang, Yongbing
Tanzi, Rudolph E.
Tao, Yang
Teichmann, Sarah
Telenti, Amalio
Tian, He
Tian, He
Timsit, Jean-Francois
Tohge, Takayuki
Tran, Lam-Son Phan
Tress, Wolfgang
Trivedi, Pankaj
Tsao, Rong
Tsuda, Kenichi
Tukker, Arnold
Tung, Chen-Ho
van der Werf, Guido
Van Mierlo, Joeri
Vandenbroucke, Roosmarijn E.
Varsani, Arvind
Vatanen, Tommi
Verbeke, Kristin
Verpoorte, Robert
Vieta, Eduard
Vincent, Jean-Louis
Vinu, Ajayan
Vita, Antonio
Wagner, Wolfgang
Walters, William
Wan, Jiafu
Wanek, Wolfgang
Wang, Chunsheng
Wang, Dawei
Wang, Dongdong
Wang, Fang
Wang, Fayuan
Wang, Gongming
Wang, Guoxiu
Wang, Haihui
Wang, Huanting
Wang, John
Wang, Joseph
Wang, Lianzhou
Wang, Lihui
Wang, Qi
Wang, Qingsong
Wang, Rui
Wang, Shaojian
Wang, Sibo
Wang, Tao
Wang, Wenguan
Wang, Yanbo
Wang, Yong
Wang, Yonghong
Wang, Yu
Wang, Zhiyu
Wang, Zhong Lin
Wang, Zhongrui
Wang, Zifa
Wang, Ziyun
Wang, Zuankai
Wedzicha, Jadwiga
Wei, Haotong
Wei, Leyi
Wei, Mingyang
Wei, Zhixiang
Wei, Zhongbao
Weiskirchen, Ralf
Weissleder, Ralph
Wen, Guanghui
Wenwu, Yu
Wesemael, Bas van
Witlox, Frank
Wu, Di
Wu, Haijun
Wu, Hao
Wu, Hao Bin
Wu, Jianzhong
Wu, Lifeng
Wu, Qinglin
Wu, Shuilin
Wu, Tom
Wu, Yongning
Wu, Yongzhen
Wu, Yuping
Wu, Zheng-Guang
Wu, Zhong-Shuai
Xia, Jianguo (Jeff)
Xia, Xinhui
Xia, Xiufang
Xia, Yongyao
Xia, Zhiguo
Xiang, Quanjun
Xin, Sen
Xing, Wei
Xiong, Rui
Xu, Jianping
Xu, Li Da
Xu, Ping
Xu, Wu
Xu, Xiaomin
Xu, Xiaopeng
Xu, Zhenjiang Zech
Yan, Chong
Yan, Jun
Yan, Qingyu
Yang, Chenguang
Yang, Hongshun
Yang, Jianping
Yang, Shihe
Yang, Wei
Yang, Xin-She
Yang, Xinsong
Yang, Yongqing
Yang, Yun-Gui
Yao, Yonggang
Ye, Jun
Yin, Shen
Yin, Shou-Wei
Yin, Yulong
Yin, Zongyou
Yokoya, Naoto
Young, Allan H.
Yu, Bin
Yu, Guihua
Yu, Minghao
Yu, Shu-Hong
Yuan, Qiangqiang
Yuan, Yifei
Yue, Dong
Yue, Wenze
Zeadally, Sherali
Zeng, Xiaoxiong
Zhai, Guangtao
Zhai, Tianyou
Zhang, Anna Jinxia
Zhang, Bin
Zhang, Fang
Zhang, Fucang
Zhang, Fusuo
Zhang, Guangyu
Zhang, Guoqing
Zhang, Hengjie
Zhang, Jian
Zhang, Kai
Zhang, Lefei
Zhang, Liangpei
Zhang, Linqi
Zhang, Qiaobao
Zhang, Shanqing
Zhang, Shaoqing
Zhang, Shujun
Zhang, Tierui
Zhang, Wenjun
Zhang, Xian-Ming
Zhang, Xiaodong
Zhang, Xiaoling
Zhang, Yi-Zhou
Zhang, Yong-Wei
Zhang, Yu Shrike
Zhang, Yu-Dong
Zhang, Yue-Jun
Zhang, Yuelin
Zhang, Zhien
Zhao, Biao
Zhao, Guochun
Zhao, Jie
Zhao, Kangning
Zhao, Li-Dong
Zhao, Qing
Zhao, Yi
Zhavoronkov, Alex
Zheng, Hao
Zheng, Weitao
Zheng, Yufeng
Zhong, Cheng
Zhong, Yanfei
Zhou, Di
Zhou, Feng
Zhou, Jizhong
Zhou, Kun
Zhou, Lei
Zhou, Liang
Zhou, Peng
Zhou, Weijia
Zhou, Weiqi
Zhou, Yanhong
Zhou, Yuyu
Zhou, Zhigang
Zhu, Chengzhou
Zhu, Hongwei
Zhu, Junfa
Zhu, Jun-Jie
Zhu, Yongfa
Zhu, Zhe
Zhuang, Xiaodong
Zipfel, Stephan
Zou, Guoqiang
Zou, Ruqiang
Zoulim, Fabien
Zuo, Chao

20 November 2024
Meet Us at the Second World Geography Conference, 22–24 November 2024, Shanghai, China

MDPI will attend the Second World Geography Conference, which will take place from 22 to 24 of November 2024 at the Shanghai International Procurement Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China.

To promote the study of geography in China, specifically that of major global issues and different countries’ regional geography, the Chinese Geographical Society, the East China Normal University, the China National Innovation and Development Strategy Research Association, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully held the First World Geography Congress in Shanghai in November 2022. The congress, with the theme of “Geography and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” conducted in-depth exchanges and reached a broad consensus, releasing the “Declaration of the World Geography Congress” which called for holding said congress every two years. After careful consideration, the Second World Geography Congress is scheduled to be held in Shanghai from 22 to 24 of November 2024.

We welcome you to visit MDPI’s booth, where you will be able to have face-to-face exchanges with our representatives, learn more about our open access publishing services, and acquire gifts.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

If you plan to attend this conference, we invite you to visit our booth and converse with our delegates at the conference venue. We are excited to meet you in person and will address any questions that you may have. For further details about this conference, please visit the following website: http://www.wgeoc.com/.

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.

Stefan Tochev
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.

9 October 2024
Meet Us at the ISPRS Technical Commission IV Symposium 2024, 22–25 October 2024, Fremantle, Perth, Australia


Conference: ISPRS Technical Commission IV Symposium 2024
Date: 22–25 October 2024
Location: Fremantle, Perth, Australia

MDPI will attend the ISPRS Technical Commission IV Symposium 2024 which will be held from 22 to 25 October 2024 in Perth, Australia. The ISPRS Technical Commission IV Symposium 2024 is jointly organized by UPINLBS2024, the Geospatial Council of Australia (GCA), and FOSS4G Perth. The ISPRS Technical Commission IV Symposium provides a forum where researchers and practitioners can come together and share their work and ideas, discuss opportunities and challenges, exchange developments or software tools and discuss future directions. The symposium is also a great place for networking and establishing links between academia, governments and business, and young and emerging professionals in the geospatial sciences.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

If you plan on attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth and start a conversation with us. 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://www.isprs.org/tc4-symposium2024/index.html.

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.

Stefan Tochev
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:

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.

23 September 2024
Meet Us at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2024, 9–13 December 2024, Washington, D.C., USA


Conference:
American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2024
Date: 9–13 December 2024
Location: Washington, D.C., USA

MDPI will be attending the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2024, which will be held from 9 to 13 December 2024 in Washington, D.C., USA.

AGU’s annual meeting, the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists, convenes 25,000+ attendees from 100+ countries to share research and connect with friends and colleagues. Scientists, educators, policymakers, journalists and communicators attend AGU24 to better understand our planet and environment, opening pathways to discovery, generating greater awareness to address climate change, driving greater collaborations to lead to solutions and opening the fields and professions of science to a whole new age of justice equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

If you are planning to attend the conference, we encourage you to visit our booth and speak to our representatives. We are eager to meet you in person and assist you with any queries that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the official website at https://www.agu.org/annual-meeting.

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