MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #31 - MDPI 30 Years, 500 Journals, UK Summit, Z-Forum Conference, APE

Opening Thoughts

MDPI at 30: Three Decades of Open Science, Built Together

As we begin 2026, we approach a meaningful milestone in MDPI’s history: 30 years of advancing Open Science.

What began in 1996 as a small, researcher-driven initiative has grown into a global open-access publisher, supporting hundreds of journals, millions of researchers, and a shared belief that scientific knowledge should be openly available to all. Over these three decades, Open Access has moved from the margins to the mainstream, and MDPI has been proud to help shape that transformation.

To mark this anniversary year, we are pleased to share our MDPI 30th Anniversary logo.

The Anniversary logo is intentionally simple, confident, and enduring, designed to work across cultures, disciplines, and digital environments. It reflects both continuity and progress, honouring MDPI’s established identity while representing the company we are today. The green accent symbolizes our connection to the research communities we serve and the collaborative nature of Open Science itself.

Alongside the visual identity, we are also introducing our 30th Anniversary tagline:

30 Years of Open Science, Built Together.

This phrase captures what has always defined MDPI. Open Science is not the work of a single organization: it is a collective effort shaped by researchers, editors, reviewers, institutions, and the many teams who support the publishing process every day. MDPI’s role has been to provide the infrastructure and commitment that allow this collaboration to thrive.

Throughout 2026, we will mark this anniversary through regional events, global conversations, and editorial initiatives that reflect on MDPI’s evolution, its impact across disciplines, and the communities that make this work possible.

“Open Science is a collective effort”

Whether you have been part of MDPI’s journey for decades or are engaging with us for the first time this year, this milestone belongs to all of us. The past 30 years have shown what is possible when openness, trust, and collaboration are placed at the centre of scholarly communication.

As we look ahead, our focus remains clear: continuing to strengthen quality, integrity, and partnership – so that Open Science can keep moving forward, together.

Impactful Research

A Shared Milestone: MDPI’s Journal Portfolio Reaches 500 Titles

MDPI has reached an important milestone: our journal portfolio grew to more than 500 academic journals last year, spanning the fields of chemistry, engineering, biology, medicine, environmental sciences, the social sciences, and beyond.

The number itself is significant, but what matters more is what supports it: hundreds of scholarly communities that have chosen to collaborate, grow, and publish with MDPI.

From our beginnings nearly 30 years ago with a single Open Access journal (Molecules), MDPI has been guided by a simple aim: advancing Open Science. Reaching 500 journals is not an endpoint. It reflects the diversity of disciplines, ideas, and research cultures that now form part of our shared ecosystem. 

Growth with Purpose

Every journal exists because a specific community believes there is a need for focus, visibility, and dialogue in a particular field. As our portfolio has expanded, so has our responsibility to ensure that scale is matched with strong editorial standards, robust research integrity practices, and meaningful academic leadership.

This milestone comes as we enter MDPI’s 30th anniversary year, a fitting moment to reflect on what scale in scholarly publishing truly requires: not only reach, but also dedicated long-term stewardship.

New Journals, New Communities

In December 2025 alone, MDPI welcomed eight newly launched journals and three journal transfers (details below), all of which published their inaugural issues by year-end.

Each of these journals is shaped by its Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and Editorial Board Members, who define its scope, standards, and direction. We are grateful for the time, expertise, and commitment they bring to building these new communities.

Welcoming Transferred and Acquired Journals

We were pleased to publish the first MDPI issues of three recently transferred or acquired journals:

• Cardiovascular Medicine – advancing research on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease
• Germs – addressing infectious diseases through clinical, public health, and translational perspectives
• Romanian Journal of Preventive Medicine (RJPM) – supporting population health, early detection, and preventive care in collaboration with the Romanian Society of Preventive Medicine

Each of these journals brings an established identity and legacy. Our role is to support their continued development with the same editorial rigor, transparency, and Open Access principles that guide our broader portfolio.

A Collective Achievement

Reaching more than 500 journals is not the achievement of any single team or individual. It is the result of collaboration across the entire scholarly ecosystem. As such, I would like to thank our authors, reviewers, academic editors, and Editorial Board Members, as well as our colleagues across MDPI, who support these communities every day.

As we look ahead, we will continue to expand the breadth and depth of our publishing activities while remaining attentive to the evolving expectations of Open Science, research integrity, and responsible growth.

This milestone is a reminder that Open Access publishing is not only about making research available. It is about building platforms where knowledge can be shared, challenged, improved, and trusted, at scale, and with care.

Inside Research

MDPI UK Summit 2026 in Manchester (21–22 January)

On 21–22 January, we had the pleasure of hosting the MDPI UK Summit 2026 in Manchester. Over two days, we welcomed more than 20 Editors-in-Chief (EiC), Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiC), and Associate Editors for an open, in-depth conversations about how MDPI supports Open Science, editorial independence, and research standards across our journals. 

What stood out most was not just the quality of the discussions, but the openness, curiosity, and mutual respect that shaped every session.

What We Covered 

The programme was designed to give insight into how MDPI works behind the scenes and how different teams collaborate to support our journals and editors. Topics included:

• MDPI overview and the evolving Open Access market
• MDPI–UK collaboration and local engagement
• Editorial and peer-review processes
• Research integrity and publication ethics
• Institutional partnerships
• Indexing, journal development, and academic community engagement

Sessions were led by MDPI colleagues across editorial, research integrity, indexing, partnerships, and UK operations, showing how cross-functional our work truly is. 

What We Heard

The feedback from editors was both encouraging and grounding:

• 92% rated the Summit Excellent (8% Good)
• 100% said their understanding of MDPI’s values, editorial processes, and local collaborations had significantly improved
• 69% attended primarily to stay informed about academic publishing and research integrity
• 85% felt fully heard and engaged

A few comments that stayed with me:

• “Today’s event truly gave me the opportunity to see the heart of MDPI UK.”
• “The summit was very informative – I really enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes operations.”
• “Keep being open to discussions and making editors feel part of the MDPI family.”

These reflections remind us that transparency, listening, and dialogue are not nice-to-haves: they are foundational to trust.

Looking Ahead

The UK Summit is one of more than 10 MDPI Summits we are organizing this year across North America, Europe, and APAC. Each one is an investment in relationships, shared understanding, and improvement.

Thank you to the MDPI UK team and supporting colleagues across departments who made this event possible. This was a positive step in strengthening our editorial engagement and kicking off a year of MDPI Summits.

Coming Together for Science

Recapping the Z-Forum 2026 Conference on Sustainability and Innovation (15–16 January 2026)

In January, MDPI supported and participated in the Z-Forum on Sustainability and Innovation, held across Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the city of Baden. With 96 participants and more than 30 speakers and panellists, the forum brought together leaders from government, academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems to explore how sustainability, Open Science, and innovation intersect in practice.

Why this mattered for MDPI

As a Swiss-based publisher with global reach, our investment in Z-Forum reflects a strategic intent: to anchor MDPI more deeply within Swiss research networks while contributing to national and international conversations on sustainability and innovation.

This was not only about visibility; it was also about relationship-building and long-term engagement with institutions shaping research policy and practice in Switzerland.

High-level participation and credibility

The forum was supported and sponsored by several key Swiss institutions, including:

• The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) – Switzerland’s central research funding body
• ETH Zurich
• The University of Zurich
• The University of Basel
• Swiss Innovation Park Central

The sponsorship of SNSF lent the forum strong institutional credibility and signalled the relevance of the themes discussed, especially around sustainability, innovation frameworks, and responsible research practices.

Beyond the Room: Extending the Conversation

While attendance was intentionally focused to encourage dialogue, the forum’s reach extended well beyond the venue. Multiple LinkedIn posts before and during  the event (e.g., Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, and more) built on the discussions and helped position MDPI as an active and credible contributor within Switzerland’s research and innovation landscape.

A Broader Strategic Signal

Z-Forum is part of a wider effort to:

• Build on MDPI’s Swiss institutional relationships
• Reinforce our leadership in Open Science and sustainability
• Engage proactively with funders, universities, and innovation bodies
• Ensure MDPI remains a visible and constructive partner in the ecosystems where research policy and practice are shaped

Thank you to our Conference team and everyone involved in supporting this event, both behind the scenes and on the ground. These moments of engagement may be small in scale, but they are foundational in impact.

Closing Thoughts

Reflections from the Academic Publishing in Europe Conference

During 13-14 January, I attended the Academic Publishing in Europe (APE) Conference in Berlin, a long-standing forum for discussing scholarly publishing and the deeper principles that support it.

An Independent Publishing Industry: The Case for Checks and Balances

In her opening remarks, Carolin focused on the importance of continually evolving systems of checks and balances, both operationally and at the marketplace level, to prevent any single actor from dominating knowledge production. Her framing emphasized shared responsibility across publishers, institutions, and research communities, rather than placing the burden on any one group.

As part of this, she revisited the work of sociologist Robert K. Merton, and his CUDOS norms of scientific ethos, first articulated in his 1942 work, The Normative Structure of Science.

Merton outlined four ideals that support healthy scientific systems:

1. Communalism – knowledge as a public good
2. Universalism – evaluation based on merit, not status or identity
3. Disinterestedness – orientation toward truth over personal or financial gain
4. Organized Skepticism – systematic, critical scrutiny of claims

While these are ideals, and not guarantees that are perfectly lived up to, they remain powerful reference points today for research systems and organizations as they aim to grow and scale.

It was interesting to see how closely these norms align with foundational principles of Open Access. For example, making research openly available supports communalism. Transparent peer review and editorial processes reinforce universalism and organized skepticism. Strong ethics frameworks and governance help counter conflicts of interest and support disinterestedness.

“Merton’s ideals remain powerful reference points today”

 Safeguarding Research: Academic Freedom

Several of the conference sessions touched on the pressures faced by researchers, editors, and institutions: geopolitical tensions, online harassment, misinformation, reputational risk, shrinking resources, and politicized narratives around science.

“Integrity is not static. It must be actively maintained as systems grow.”

A particularly timely presentation came from Ilyas Saliba, who talked about academic freedom. His remarks resonated strongly and underlined the fact that safety in academia is not only physical or digital, but also intellectual.

Academic freedom means safeguarding the ability to ask difficult questions, challenge consensus, publish negative or unexpected results, and participate in scholarly debate without fear of undue personal, political, or commercial consequences. These discussions were a reminder that publishers play an important role in supporting the integrity, accessibility, and credibility of scholarly knowledge, particularly as researchers and institutions face mounting external pressures.

Looking Ahead

The discussions at APE reminded me that integrity is not static. It must be actively maintained as systems grow, expectations evolve, and pressures increase. This applies equally to research integrity, academic freedom, and the broader trust placed in scholarly communication.

I left APE encouraged by the openness of the dialogue and the willingness across publishers, institutions, and communities to engage with difficult questions rather than avoid them. Forums like this play a pivotal role in helping our industry pause, reflect, and recalibrate.

As MDPI continues to grow and as we enter our 30th anniversary, these conversations remind me of the core purpose of science: advancing knowledge for the benefit of society.