Announcements
8 July 2025
Meet Us at the AOGS2025 22nd Annual Meeting, 27 July–1 August 2025, Singapore
8 July 2025
Meet Us at the 2025 Science and Technology Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, 18–20 July 2025, Nanjing, China
7 July 2025
MDPI’s Journal Cluster of Geospatial and Earth Sciences
Topographical studies of the Earth we live in are important because they inform us about the planet's history, climate change, and natural hazards. Geoscientists, paleontologists, and earth observation scientists all work towards the goal of understanding Earth's history and its natural processes better. The rapid and continuous advancement in the field brings new methodologies and technologies to study the earth with greater precision. For instance, remote sensing technology has progressed from simple cameras for aerial photography in the 19th century to complex satellite sensors that generate topographic maps and high-resolution digital elevation models.
MDPI journals in the cluster of geospatial and Earth sciences feature these cutting-edge advances in scientific research in remote sensing and physical geography. The cluster is spearheaded by MDPI’s well-established journals Remote Sensing (IF 4.1) and Geosciences (IF 2.1).
The seven participating journals are as follows:
- Remote Sensing (ISSN: 2072-4292) focuses on remote sensing science, from sensor design and validation/calibration to its application in geosciences, environmental sciences, ecology and civil engineering. Remote Sensing is led by Editor-in-Chief Dr. Prasad S. Thenkabail (Senior Scientist (ST), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), USGS Western Geographic Science Center);
- Geosciences (ISSN: 2076-3263) focuses on solid earth, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the biosphere, as well as related issues in planetary and space sciences. In addition, it provides a particular place, and an advanced forum, for contributions on Earth history, natural hazards, geology-related environmental problems and geoethics, reflecting the wide scope of the field and societal, educational, cultural and general human implications and the cross-disciplinary nature of the issues. Geosciences is led by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. John C. Eichelberger (Alaska Center for Energy and Power, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA);
- Quaternary (ISSN: 2571-550X) focuses on quaternary science, embracing the whole range of scientific fields related to geological, ecological, physical, chemical, environmental and human sciences. Quaternary is led by Prof. Dr. Jef Vandenberghe (Department of Earth Sciences, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands);
- Earth (ISSN: 2673-4834) provides an advanced forum for multidisciplinary research and focuses on the interactions/connections among global environmental systems. It publishes reviews, regular research papers and short communications, as well as Special Issues on particular subjects. Earth is led by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Charles Jones (Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA);
- Geographies (ISSN: 2673-7086) focuses on providing an advanced forum for theoretical and empirical studies related to all aspects of geographies. Geographies is led by Editor-in-Chief Luca Salvati (Department of Economics and Law, University of Macerata, Via Armaroli 43, I-62100 Macerata, Italy);
- Geomatics (ISSN: 2673-7418) focuses on surveying and mapping, positioning and navigation, satellite positioning, geodesy, photogrammetry, cartography and cadastral, hydrography, remote sensing, spatial data analysis, spatial information science and geographic information systems. Geomatics is led by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Enrico Corrado Borgogno Mondino (Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy);
- Fossil Studies (ISSN: 2813-6284) focuses on all aspects of paleontology. It publishes regular research papers, review papers and communications about all groups of fossil organisms, from all time periods, from the earliest living beings to the Holocene. Fossil Studies is led by Dr. Eric Buffetaut (CNRS, Paris, France);
| Launch year | Impact Factor (2024) | CiteScore (2024) | First Decision (Median) | Acceptance to Publication (Median Days) | APC (CHF) | |
 |
2009 | 4.1 | 8.6 | 23.9 | 2.5 | 2700 |
 |
2011 | 2.1 | 5.1 | 23.5 | 2.9 | 1800 |
 |
2018 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 43.4 | 6.9 | 1600 |
 |
2020 | 3.4 | 5.9 | 23.7 | 2.6 | 1400 |
 |
2021 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 17.5 | 4.8 | 1200 |
 |
2021 | 2.8 | 5.1 | 22.1 | 3.3 | 1000 |
 |
2023 | / | / | 18 | 4 | 1000 |
MDPI’s mission and values:
As a pioneer of academic open access publishing, MDPI has been serving the scientific community since 1996. Our aim is to foster scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines. MDPI’s guidelines for disseminating open science are based on the following values and guiding principles:
- Open Access—All of our content is published in open access and distributed under a Creative Commons License, providing free access to science and the latest research, allowing articles to be freely shared and content to be re-used with proper attribution;
- Timeliness and Efficiency—Publishing the latest research through thorough editorial work, ensuring a first decision is provided to authors in under 32 days and papers are published within 7–10 days upon acceptance;
- Simplicity—Offering user-friendly tools and services in one place to enhance the efficiency of our editorial process;
- High Quality Service—Supporting scholars and their work by providing a range of options such as journal publication at mdpi.com, early publication at preprints.org, and conferences on sciforum.net to make a positive impact on research;
- Flexibility—Adapting and developing new tools and services to meet the changing needs of the research community, driven by feedback from authors, editors, and readers;
- Rooted in Sustainability—Ensuring the long-term preservation of published papers and supporting the future of science through partnerships, sponsorships, and awards.
By adhering to these values and principles, MDPI remains committed to advancing scientific knowledge and promoting open science practices.
Selected Topics:
- “Responses of Trees and Forests to Climate Change”;
- “Past, Current and Future Processes in the Earth Critical Zone”;
- “The Geography of Digital Twin: Concepts, Architectures, Modeling, AI and Applications”;
- “Vegetation Characterization and Classification With Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data”;
- “Deep Earth and Deep Sea Engineering: Challenges, Theory and Advance Technologies”.
Selected Articles:
Remote Sensing
“Change Detection Methods for Remote Sensing in the Last Decade: A Comprehensive Review”
Geosciences
“Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) in Saline Aquifers versus Depleted Gas Fields”
Quaternary
“Sedimentary Ancient DNA Reveals Local Vegetation Changes Driven by Glacial Activity and Climate”
Earth
“Biological Carbon Sequestration: From Deep History to the Present Day”
Geographies
“Application of Machine Learning Models for Improving Discharge Prediction in Ungauged Watershed: A Case Study in East DuPage, Illinois”
Geomatics
“Use of Smartphone Lidar Technology for Low-Cost 3D Building Documentation with iPhone 13 Pro: A Comparative Analysis of Mobile Scanning Applications”
Fossil Studies
“Caletodraco cottardi: A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian Chalk of Normandy (North-Western France)”
4 July 2025
MDPI’s Newly Launched Journals in June 2025
Six new journals covering a range of subjects launched their inaugural issues in June 2025. We are excited to be able to share with you the newest research rooted in the value of open access. We are pleased to present the latest research and to make it accessible to all.
We extend our sincere thanks to all the Editorial Board Members for their commitment and expertise. Each journal is dedicated to upholding strong editorial standards through a thorough peer review process, ensuring impactful open access scholarship.
Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.
| Journal | Founding Editor-in-Chief | Journal Topics (Selected) |
 |
Prof. Dr. Chang-Pu Sun, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Beijing, China; Computational Science Research Center, China Editorial | View inaugural issue |
quantum information and phenomena; condensed matter physics and statistical physics; atomic, molecular, and optical physics; computational physics and mathematical methods View journal scope | Submit an article |
 |
Prof. Dr. Hualiang Lin, Sun Yat-sen University, China; Prof. Dr. Jose L. Domingo, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain Editorial | View inaugural issue |
green and organic food; green infrastructures; green exercise; environmental impact of the healthcare sector; effects of climate change on human health | View journal scope | Submit an article |
 |
Prof. Dr. Francesco Veglio, University of L’Aquila, Italy Editorial | View inaugural issue |
ultra-pure substances; water purification; air purification; gas purification; inorganic chemical purification; purification technologies View journal scope | Submit an article |
 |
Prof. Dr. Junxing Zheng, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China Editorial | View inaugural issue |
computer-aided design and engineering; artificial intelligence and machine learning; building information modeling (BIM) and digital twins; robotics and automation in construction; smart sensors and Internet of Things (IoT); intelligent control systems and facilities management View journal scope | Submit an article |
 |
Prof. Dr. Assunta Di Vaio, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy Editorial | View inaugural issue |
sustainability, managerial, and biodiversity accounting; carbon management accounting; corporate social responsibility; artificial intelligence and disclosure View journal scope | Submit an article |
 |
Prof. Dr. Changjun Liu, Sichuan University, China Editorial | View inaugural issue |
bioeffects of electromagnetic waves; electromagnetic science and engineering; microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz technologies; metamaterials and metasurfaces; communication, sensing, and networks; energy, power, and sustainable applications; quantum and emerging technologies; artificial intelligence and advanced fabrication View journal scope | Submit an article |
3 July 2025
Meet Us at the 22nd International Conference on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols (ICNAA), 24–29 August 2025, Vienna, Austria
2 July 2025
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #24 - 2024 Impact Factor & CiteScore, MDPI Summits France & USA, Tu Youyou Award
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 2024 Impact Factor Highlights
For those of our readers who are new to academic publishing, you may have heard some news in June around the Impact Factor release. Every year, typically in June, Clarivate releases its annual Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which include Journal Impact Factors (JIF). This metric is widely used in academic publishing to reflect the average number of citations received by recent articles in each journal.
While Impact Factor is just one of many indicators of journal influence, it remains a major milestone for authors, editors, and publishers. It’s used to assess journal visibility, researcher recognition, and scholarly reach. Throughout our international meetings and events, it’s clear that the Impact Factor is something many of our authors and editorial board members care about, as it can influence where they choose to submit an article and the funding they receive for their research.
“These results reflect the trust that the scholarly community places in MDPI”
MDPI’s 2024 Impact Factor Highlights
- 298 MDPI journals received a Journal Impact Factor.
- 60 journals earned their first-ever Impact Factor
- To put this in perspective: MDPI’s 60 new journal acceptances into the Web of Science was the second highest number of any publisher in 2024, behind Elsevier and ahead of Springer Nature. Our 87% acceptance rate for journals submitted to Web of Science shows the strength of our editorial process and our proven ability to develop journals aligned with Clarivate’s 24 evaluation criteria.
- Notably, Textiles, Mathematics, International Journal of Neonatal Screening, Smart Cities, Systems, and Pharmaceutics ranked in the top 10% in their respective categories, highlighting their growing influence and prestige within their academic fields. This shows that high-quality indexing goes beyond visibility; it upholds credibility and trust.
- 193 MDPI journals are now ranked in the top 50% (Q1/Q2) of their subject categories.
- What does this mean, and why is it important? Journals are ranked by quartiles within their field, based on their Impact Factor. Q1 represents the top 25% of journals in their category, Q2 the next 25%, and so on. Being in Q1 or Q2 shows that a journal is performing well relative to other journals in its category. Authors and institutions often look at quartile rankings when choosing where to publish – it’s an important indicator of visibility and recognition, within its respective category.
- 116 of our previously ranked journals increased their Impact Factor.
- 14 MDPI journals achieved an Impact Factor of 5.0 or higher, suggesting a high degree of influence and visibility.
These results reflect our staff's hard work: from our editorial and production teams to our indexing, communications, and data teams, and beyond. This also reflects the trust that the scholarly community places in MDPI, reinforcing the message that when researchers publish with MDPI, they publish with impact.
Open Access with Impact
As the leading fully open access publisher, our journals have received a total of 18.4 million citations in the Web of Science by the end of 2024, reflecting the growing reach and engagement of research published with MDPI. We are committed to making scientific research freely accessible to everyone, everywhere. With the support of more than 4.2 million contributing authors, we’re proud to support the global shift toward open access.
Further Reading
If you’d like to better understand how journals get indexed and why Impact Factors matter, please read this recent interview with Dr. Constanze Schelhorn (Head of Indexing). It gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the role our indexing team plays in supporting journal indexing and visibility.
You can also read our official news announcement shared last week: MDPI Journals in the 2024 Journal Citation Reports.
Thank you to everyone, from our authors and reviewers to our editors and internal teams, who contributed to the progress of our journal indexing in 2024. We’re continuing to build journals that are recognized and trusted across disciplines.
Impactful Research
MDPI Journals See Continued Growth in 2024 CiteScore Results
Continuing our indexing updates, I’m pleased to share that MDPI has achieved strong results in the latest CiteScore metrics, released on 5 June by Scopus. These results reflect the collective efforts of our editors, reviewers, authors, and internal teams, with their dedication to quality and visibility in scientific publishing. You can read the full announcement here.
2024 Highlights:
- 322 MDPI journals received a CiteScore (up from 274 last year).
- 283 journals (88%) are ranked in Q1 or Q2 of their subject categories.
- 237 journals (85%) saw an increase in their CiteScore compared to last year.
- 48 journals received a CiteScore for the first time.
- 39 journals are now placed in the top 10% of their subject areas.
“This growth highlights our commitment to supporting open, trusted science”
What is CiteScore and how is it measured?
CiteScore metrics are developed by Elsevier as an alternative to the Impact Factor. They measure the citation impact of journals and can be accessed freely on Scopus. The metric represents the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in a journal. If you’re interested in learning more about citation metrics and how we use them, check out this blog post.
Why is this important?
These results show the growing recognition for, and impact of, MDPI journals across disciplines. CiteScore rankings help researchers, institutions, and funders assess where high-quality work is being published. This growth improves our journals’ positioning in the publishing landscape and highlights our commitment to supporting open, trusted science.
Inside MDPI
Highlights from the MDPI USA Summit in Boston (5–6 June)
With several Summits already behind us, I think this is a good time to reflect on the purpose of these Summits.
Why do we organize MDPI Summits?
These one-and-a-half-day, invite-only gatherings are designed to improve our relationships with Chief Editors who lead our journals and are respected voices in their fields. The Summits aim to:
- Share MDPI’s values, achievements, editorial practices, and local market collaborations.
- Collect feedback on MDPI operations and journal practices.
- Empower Chief Editors to confidently represent MDPI beyond the Summit.
While Chief Editors know their journals well, these events help them better understand MDPI. We want them to be ambassadors for our brand. The aim is for them to walk away informed, engaged, and equipped to share positively about MDPI.
|
|
|
|
About the Boston Summit
Held on 5–6 June, our first USA Summit gathered over 25 Chief Editors to learn more about MDPI’s activities and collaborations in the USA. The program included presentations, Q&A, and a panel discussion.
Agenda Highlights:
Moderated by Summer Huggard (Operations Manager [Toronto], MDPI), the program featured:
- MDPI Overview and USA Collaboration – Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI)
- AI in Publishing and MDPI's Actions – Feichi Lu (Junior Data Scientist, MDPI)
- MDPI Editorial Process and Research Integrity – Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Scientific Communications Lead, MDPI)
- Panel Discussion – Stefan, Feichi, Giulia, Claudia
- Society Partnerships – Dr. Clàudia Aunós (Society Partnerships Senior Manager, MDPI)
- Voice of the Customer and Closing Remarks – Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MDPI & the USA: Facts and Figures
- With over 216,000 publications, the USA is MDPI’s second-largest contributor after China.
- In 2024, the USA ranked 2nd in total submissions and 2nd in total MDPI publications, with more than 28,200 publications.
- As of 2020, the cumulative number of authors from the USA until April 2025 was 352,099.
- As at April 2025, there are more than 12,035 active Editorial Board Members (EBMs) from the USA, with 55% having an H-index over 26.
- Among them, 96 serve as Editors-in-Chief (EiC) and 218 as section-Editors-in-Chief (SEiC)
- MDPI has more than 920 Institutional Open Access Program agreements worldwide, with over 130 from the USA.
A special thanks to our Toronto team, and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this event run smoothly.
Coming Together for Science
Highlights from the MDPI France Summit in Paris (12–13 June)
We completed our first MDPI France Summit in Paris last week, and it was a special event. Attendees were engaged from beginning to end, remaining after hours to network and collaborate.
|
|
|
|
Why a France Summit?
We chose to host a France Summit in view of the recent challenges MDPI has faced with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). What we took away from the event is that our authors and editors very much appreciate and enjoy working with us, but we need to address the concerns raised by CNRS, around Article Processing Charges (APCs) and the funding of gold open access publications.
“Our authors and editors very much enjoy working with us”
Some of the claims made in the June 2023 interview with Alain Schuhl, the Deputy CEO for Science at the CNRS, are simply not factual. For example, they state that MDPI’s “average APC charges per article are now around the same as Springer Nature’s.” Here is the relevant passage, reproduced verbatim:
This is not accurate.
A recent preprint analysing APC data from Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, PLOS, MDPI, and Frontiers (2019–2023) shows that MDPI’s average APCs remain significantly lower than those of Springer Nature and several other major publishers.
The MDPI Summits are part of our outreach and communication efforts to address misconceptions and clarify MDPI’s position as one of the most accessible and affordable major gold open access publishers in the world.
Summit Overview
Held on 12–13 June, the France Summit gathered over 20 Chief Editors to learn more about MDPI’s activities and collaborations in France. Many of these editors are influential in their institutions and professional societies. Several also have connections to CNRS, which makes this an important opportunity to clarify how we operate and build trust through open and transparent communication and hopefully turn our editors into informed advocates of MDPI.
Summit Feedback
The feedback has been very positive, with most attendees completing the post-event survey and all rating the experience as Excellent or Good. A few highlights:
- “The whole thing was highly professional and, above all, provided quantified details that will allow us to better answer questions surrounding MDPI.”
- “The summit was an opportunity to meet personally various people directly engaged in the organization and policies of MDPI, which made it possible to clarify some important points concerning publishing with MDPI.”
- “Very well organized! A great opportunity to see all French MDPI partners and editors.”
Program Highlights:
Moderated by Miruna Adelina Nicolcioiu (Senior Conference Producer), the program featured:
- MDPI Overview and France Collaboration – Stefan Tochev (CEO)
- MDPI Editorial Process and Peer-Review Quality – Dr. Marta Colomer (Public Affairs Specialist)
- Institutional Partnerships and Open Access Funding Models – Becky Castellon (Institutional Partnerships Manager)
- AI in Publishing and MDPI's Actions – Daniele Raimondi (Data Scientist)
- Publication Ethics: Global Trends – Diana Cristina Apodaritei (Research Integrity Specialist)
- Closing Remarks – Stefan Tochev
- Panel Discussion – Diana, Becky, Prof. Dr. Patrick Da Cost, and Stefan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MDPI & France: Facts and Figures
- With over 51,000 publications, France is MDPI's tenth-largest contributor, and fifth largest among EU countries after Italy, Spain, Germany, and Poland.
- As of 2020, the cumulative number of authors from France until April 2025 was 87,592.
- As at April 2025, there are more than 2,800 active Editorial Board Members (EBMs) from France, with 59% having an H-index over 26.
- Among them, 22 serve as Editors-in-Chief (EiC) and 61 as section-Editors-in-Chief (SEiC)
- In 2024, IJMS, JCM, and Molecules were the top three MDPI journals in terms of submissions from French-affiliated authors.
Special thanks to our colleagues from Romanian offices for organizing this successful event.
Closing Thoughts
Richard DiMarchi and Rolf Müller Share the 2024 Tu Youyou Award
As we wrap up this month’s newsletter, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the winners of the 2024 Tu Youyou Award, presented by our journal Molecules. I am pleased to share that the 2024 Tu Youyou Award has been conferred upon Richard DiMarchi and Rolf Müller, in recognition of their significant contributions to natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
I invite you to read the editorial co-authored by the Tu Youyou Award Committee, which highlights the significance of the award and the remarkable impact of the recipients’ research.
A sincere thank-you to the 2024 Award Committee for their dedication and selection process, and congratulations once again to this year’s honourees. Your work exemplifies the kind of research MDPI is proud to support and amplify.
|
About the Tu Youyou Award For further information about the award and the winners, please visit the Tu Youyou Award website. |
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
1 July 2025
Meet Us at the 32nd International Cartographic Conference (ICC 2025), 17–22 August 2025, Vancouver, Canada
26 June 2025
Meet Us at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2025, 26–29 August 2025, Birmingham, UK
24 June 2025
Meet Us at the Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America 2025, 10–15 August 2025, Baltimore, MD, USA
12 June 2025
Meet Us at the Goldschmidt2025 Conference, 6–11 July 2025, Prague, Czech Republic
