MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO’s Letter #33 - 2025 Annual Report, Preprints.org, IWD, Recapping Viruses 2026 & Romania Salon

Opening Thoughts

Scaling Open Access with Integrity: MDPI Annual Report 2025

I am pleased to share the release of MDPI’s 2025 Annual Report, reflecting our continued progress as one of the world’s leading open access publishers. The report highlights not only our growth, but also the continued evolution of our publishing model and our commitment to quality, transparency, and collaboration.

You can explore the full report here: https://mdpi-res.com/data/mdpi_annual_report_2025_0401.pdf?1775045421

Or visit the interactive page: https://www.mdpi.com/annual-report-2025/

A Year of Growth and Responsibility

2025 was a year of significant growth for MDPI. We received over 669,000 manuscript submissions, the highest in our history, while maintaining a rejection rate above 60%, reinforcing our commitment to both scale and quality.

We published 261,576 peer-reviewed open access articles across a portfolio of 500 journals, supported by a global community of more than 68,000 Editorial Board Members and 209,000 reviewers.

Scaling with Integrity

Growth alone is not the objective; how we grow matters.

Our 2025 Annual Report, Scaling Open Access with Integrity, reflects our continued focus on building the systems and processes that support reliable and trustworthy publishing. As submission volumes increase globally, so too does the importance of robust editorial workflows, research integrity frameworks, and the infrastructure required to support them.

In 2025, we continued to invest in:

• Research integrity and quality assurance processes
• Editorial support and reviewer engagement
• Transparency across the publishing workflow

These efforts ensure that scale does not come at the expense of rigor, but rather reinforces it.

Validation Through Indexing and Visibility

As MDPI continues to grow, validation of quality remains essential.

In 2025, the number of MDPI journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection increased from 298 to 329, while Scopus coverage reached 355 journals, including 45 new acceptances. Coverage in major biomedical databases (PMC/Medline/PubMed) expanded to 95 journals, and indexing in Ei Compendex increased significantly.

These milestones reflect the strength of our editorial processes and the trust placed in our journals by independent indexing bodies.

Importantly:

• 96% of all MDPI articles are indexed in Web of Science databases
• More than 1.75 million articles are indexed, with an average of 13 citations per article

Recognition through Journal Citation Reports also continues to grow:

• 298 journals received Impact Factors
• 65% ranked in the top half of their categories
• 61 journals achieved top-quartile positions

These developments demonstrate that growth and quality are advancing together, supported by strong editorial oversight and consistent performance across our journal portfolio.

Strengthening Partnerships and Community

Open access is a collaborative endeavor.

In 2025, we expanded our institutional partnerships to more than 1,000 IOAP agreements, helping simplify publishing for researchers and institutions worldwide.

We also hosted 60 in-person conferences and virtual events, bringing together more than 28,000 participants to exchange ideas, share research, and strengthen connections across the global scientific community.

At the heart of everything we do is this community of authors, editors, reviewers, and partners who make open science possible.

Looking Ahead

Open access continues to move toward becoming the standard model for sharing research globally. With that growth comes increased responsibility.

Our focus moving forward is to continue building a publishing ecosystem that is:

• Collaborative, to serve the research community
• Rigorous, to ensure quality
• Transparent, to support trust
• Scalable, to meet global demand

We believe that open access, when combined with strong editorial standards and integrity, is the most effective way to accelerate scientific progress.

Thank you to all the scholarly community who collaborated with us and our MDPI staff for your continued dedication and contributions in making 2025 a successful year.

Impactful Research

Celebrating Ten Years of Preprints.org: Accelerating Open Research

In 2026, MDPI’s preprints server Preprints.org marked its 10th anniversary as a platform dedicated to accelerating the dissemination of research. Since its launch, Preprints.org has grown into a global platform that hosts more than 120,000 preprints contributed by hundreds of thousands of researchers worldwide, generating tens of millions of views and downloads and demonstrating the value of sharing research openly and rapidly.

At MDPI, we are proud to celebrate ten years of Preprints.org supporting the mission of open science. Over the past decade, we have seen how early sharing of research can accelerate collaboration and help ideas move more quickly from discovery to impact.

The Evolution of Preprints

While Preprints.org launched in 2016, the idea behind it has deeper roots. The concept of rapid research dissemination has existed for decades, with early preprint servers showing how open sharing can accelerate scientific progress.

Over the past decade, preprints have become an increasingly important part of scholarly communication. Researchers across disciplines are looking at faster ways to share their discoveries, exchange ideas, and receive feedback from the global scientific community.

Preprints in a Growing Research Ecosystem

The global preprint landscape has expanded significantly over the past decade, with multiple platforms serving different research communities. The figure below (sourced from James Butcher newsletter), based on data from Dimensions (Digital Science), shows the growth of preprint outputs across several major platforms over time.

Among these platforms, arXiv (the pioneering preprint server) has experienced great growth in recent years. At the same time, other platforms have continued to expand their reach across disciplines, capturing increasing global interest in early research sharing.

Preprints.org contributes to this evolving ecosystem by providing a multidisciplinary platform that works in synergy with academic journals, helping researchers bridge the gap between rapid dissemination and the formal publication process.

Celebrating the First Decade

To commemorate this milestone, Preprints.org launched a 10th Anniversary celebration hub highlighting the impact of preprints and the researchers who contribute to them.

One of the central initiatives is the Popular Preprints of the Decade Award, recognizing influential preprints published between 2016 and 2026 across multiple research fields. Through community voting, the award will recognize research that has generated high engagement and visibility within the global research community.

Looking Ahead: The Next Decade of Preprints

As research communication continues to evolve, preprints will continue to play an important role in enabling faster collaboration, improving transparency, and expanding access to knowledge. The next decade may bring further integration between preprint platforms and journals, new tools for discovery and evaluation, and greater global participation in open science.

At MDPI, we remain committed to supporting researchers through platforms that encourage the open exchange of ideas. The success of Preprints.org over the past ten years reflects the engagement and trust of the global research community – authors, readers, reviewers, and collaborators who believe in the value of sharing knowledge openly.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the development and growth of Preprints.org over the past decade!

Inside MDPI

Beyond International Women’s Day: Supporting Women in Research

International Women’s Day (IWD) offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women around the world and reflect on how we can continue building a more inclusive future. In research and academia, this conversation carries particular importance, as scientific progress depends on diverse perspectives, and supporting women in science is essential to strengthening the global research ecosystem.

For MDPI, IWD is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in research and highlight the initiatives, conversations, and collaborations that help support researchers across disciplines and career stages.

Highlighting Women in Science Across MDPI

This year, MDPI marked International Women’s Day with a global campaign highlighting research, awards, and perspectives that support women in science. Throughout the week, our teams shared content across MDPI’s social media channels sharing the work of women researchers and encouraging engagement across the academic community.

As part of this initiative, MDPI published several blog articles exploring important themes related to gender equity in research. One article, Give Support, Gain Progress: Retaining Women in Science, discusses the importance of mentorship, institutional support, and inclusive research environments in helping women build sustainable scientific careers.

Another featured article, Bridging the Gap in Women’s Health Research, highlights the ongoing need to address disparities in health research and ensure that women’s health receives the scientific attention and investment it deserves.

These topics capture the notion that supporting women in science benefits not only individual researchers but the entire scientific community. When researchers from diverse backgrounds can contribute their perspectives and ideas, the scope and impact of scientific discovery expand.

Creating Spaces for Dialogue

Beyond online content, MDPI is also supporting conversations about women in research through community engagement.

On 10 March, MDPI UK hosted the “Women in Research” event, bringing together researchers and professionals to share experiences and discuss the opportunities and challenges women face throughout their scientific careers. Events like these are an opportunity for open dialogue, mentorship, and networking to create more inclusive research communities.

Looking Beyond a Single Day

While IWD is an important moment of recognition, progress requires ongoing effort.

Supporting women in research involves many forms of engagement: from mentorship and collaboration to creating inclusive environments in which diverse voices are heard and valued. Publishers, institutions, and researchers all play a role in building this ecosystem.

At MDPI, we remain committed to supporting the global research community and to promoting open access publishing as a foundation for accessible and inclusive knowledge-sharing.

As we reflect on IWD this year, we recognize the many women who contribute to research as authors, reviewers, editors, mentors, and educators; we also recognize the impact they continue to have on the advancement of science. The influence of women in research extends far beyond a single day of recognition, reminding us that supporting them is a commitment that continues throughout the year.

Coming Together for Science

Highlights from Viruses 2026 – New Horizons in Virology (11–13 March)

Through 11–13 March, we successfully delivered the Viruses 2026 – New Horizons in Virology MDPI conference in Barcelona, bringing together an international community of researchers, editors, and partners dedicated to advancing the field of virology.

Conference Highlights

Viruses 2026 in numbers:

• 198 total registrations, with 171 attendees on site
• 233 submissions, with 122 accepted
• 42 short talks, 9 flash talks, and 80 posters
• 13 invited speakers and 1 keynote speaker

Scientific Programme

The conference programme covered areas across modern virology, including viral replication, pathogenesis, immunology, and public health. Sessions explored topics on antiviral therapeutics and vaccines, innate immunity, virus–host interactions, and the structure and mechanisms of virus replication.

Together, these discussions highlighted both the fundamental biology of viruses and the translational challenges of addressing emerging infectious diseases, reflecting the breadth and continued importance of virology research in a global context. The programme also included a sponsored workshop on research data management in virology, further emphasizing the importance of data practices in advancing the field.

Thank You

Feedback from participants has been very positive, and I would like to thank the Conference team for the organization and delivery of this year’s event.

Thank you to our Viruses journal team and all colleagues involved behind the scenes in supporting the delivery of the event. As noted by Dr. Eric Freed (EiC of Viruses), the success of this edition gives us strong momentum as we look ahead to the next conference in 2028, with opportunities to further expand participation and engagement.

Closing Thoughts

Recap from MDPI Romania Salon in Cluj-Napoca (24 March)

On 24 March, we had the opportunity to meet with members of the Romanian research community in Cluj-Napoca at our MDPI Romania Salon. The event was a space for presentations, open discussion, and the exchange of perspectives on publishing and the research landscape in Romania.

We welcomed 39 participants, including 27 researchers from institutions across Romania, representing cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, and Reșița. Among them were Editorial Board Members, Associate Editors, and Guest Editors, all of whom play an important role in collaborating with MDPI and shaping the quality and direction of academic publishing.

A Shared Commitment to Research Excellence

These events reflect MDPI’s commitment to connecting with and supporting researchers by means of transparency, dialogue, and collaboration. During the day, MDPI colleagues shared a series of presentations covering different parts of our publishing ecosystem:

• MDPI’s presence in Romania – Anamaria Vartolomei (Journal Relationship Specialist (JRS), Section Managing Editor (ME))
• MDPI’s performance, growth, and impact in Romania – Stefan Tochev (CEO)
• Academic services, initiatives, and projects supporting researchers – Ioana Preda (JRS, Section ME)
• Best practices and standards in publication ethics – Lavinia Rogojina (Research Integrity Manager)
• Panel session on ethics, AI, and peer review – Lavinia Rogojina, Ioana Preda, Doris Larisa Albu (JRS, Section ME), Cristina Georgiana Spelmezan (JRS, Section ME)
• Closing remarks – Lavinia Dumitrela Cozma (Operations Manager, Section ME)

Feedback from participants was very positive, particularly regarding the quality of discussions, the relevance of the topics, and the opportunity to engage directly with MDPI colleagues. What stood out most was the openness of the discussion. These events are important not only for the purposes of presenting what we do, but also as an opportunity to listen, understand concerns, and continue to build alignment with the research community.

Romania and the Growth of Open Access Publishing

The Romanian research landscape continues to show growth in open access (OA) publishing.

In 2025:

• 72% of all publications in Romania were published as OA
• Of these, 74% were Gold Open Access

Over the past five years, Romania has produced more than 109,000 publications, with approximately 71% available openly, highlighting a sustained shift toward accessibility and knowledge-sharing.

Within this landscape, MDPI continues to play a significant role:

• MDPI is the leading OA publisher in Romania, contributing 42% of all OA publications in 2025
• More than 37,000 articles have been published with MDPI by Romanian institutions since 1996
• This figure includes over 7,500 publications in 2025 alone
• More than 400 Editorial Board Members from Romania collaborate with MDPI across disciplines

These trends show the growth of OA and the strength of collaboration between MDPI and the Romanian research community.

Looking Ahead

As academic publishing continues to evolve, maintaining open and transparent communication with researchers is essential. Events such as our Salons and Summits provide great opportunities to exchange perspectives and to build trust and collaboration.

Thank you to all participants who joined us in Cluj, and to our teams in Romania for delivering a successful event. A special thank-you to Alina-Florina Agafitei (Marketing Specialist) for her care and attention to detail in delivering the Salon.