Announcements

As a leading open access publisher, MDPI provides scholars with a high-quality and rich academic exchange platform by continuously expanding into new and exciting research areas.

In December 2022, MDPI launched five new journals, covering multiple subjects such as life sciences, biology, medicine and pharmacology, social sciences and humanities. These new journals are being edited by established scholars across the world.

If you are interested in creating more open access journals with us to publish cutting-edge research, please send your journal proposal application to newjournal-committee@mdpi.com.

MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page. 

We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

In collaboration with the Peking University Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, the journal Future (ISSN: 2813-2882) was founded in June 2022. It is an international peer-reviewed journal published online, which focuses on growth and development and school health. The journal utilizes clinical practice, public health, and implementation science to promote the health of all children and adolescents across the disciplines such as maternal care, sexual and reproductive medicine, child and adolescent health, and mental health.

Future is dedicated to publishing high-quality original articles, critical reviews, research notes, protocols, case reports, and short communications with regard to the realization that the human potential for development requires age-specific investment throughout childhood and adolescence.

Open Positions: Topical Advisory Panel and Editorial Board Member

The Topical Advisory Panel is comprised of early career researchers seeking editorial experience. Early career researchers that currently hold an independent research position in academia or government institute are invited to apply to join the panel, to support our Guest Editors, Topic Editors and Section Board Members.

The main responsibilities of Topical Advisory Panel Members are as follows:

• Submitting 1-2 qualified works to Future;
• Providing professional peer-review at least three times per year;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue (SI) in partnership with a senior researcher within two years of appointment and proposing a detailed strategy for the SI;
• Providing a detailed plan for the SI, including assisting with preparation of the Special Issues/Topics title, aim and scope, summary and keywords, soliciting papers, and promoting the SI;
• Promoting Future both regionally and internationally;
• Working with Editorial Board Members or the Editorial Office to promote high-quality/featured papers (for example, writing a summary or highlights for the editor's selected papers).

To qualify as Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the field;
• Have received a Ph.D. within the last 10 years;
• Have published at least 6 papers in the last 5 years as the first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

The benefits of becoming a Topical Advisory Panel Member include:

• The opportunity to publish one paper per year in Future at a discount, as well as potential discounts for additional papers you invite;
• A certificate in recognition of your position;
• Travel grants for conferences that you attend or organize;
• Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated and outstanding members will be promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

The Editorial Board Members will be responsible for final decisions on manuscripts in their field of expertise and for editing Special Issues. They may also be invited to review manuscripts.

The main responsibilities of Editorial Board Members are as follows:

• Pre-screening and making decisions about new submissions related to your research interests;
• Setting up at least one Special Issue during your term on a topic related to your research interests (or supervise Special Issues related to your research field);
• Helping to promote the journal among your peers or at conferences;
• Reviewing manuscripts.

The benefits of becoming an Editorial Board Member include:

• The opportunity to publish one paper per year free of charge in Future, as well as certain discounts for papers invited from your scientific network. If you have no immediate plans for publication, you may recommend other experts who may wish to publish with us;
• A certificate recognizing you as an Editorial Board Member of Future;
• Additional sponsorships for conferences organized by Editorial Board Members;
• Travel grants for conferences that you attend or organize.

How to Apply:
If you are interested in applying for either position, or would like to recommend potential candidates, please contact the Future Editorial Office (future@mdpi.com) for more details. We look forward to hearing from you.

Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.

We invite you to view the event recording:

During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:

• Peer Review Week 2022
• Research Integrity
• What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
• 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
• How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
• Inviting Great Peer Reviewers

In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.

You can find the Podcast here.

We hope you enjoy the contents!

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2021 in the “Medicine & Pharmacology” category. The winners were selected by the journals’ editors.

We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Biomedicines:

• Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong
• Mateusz Maciejczyk, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland

Current Oncology:

• Matteo Lambertini, University of Genova, Italy

Dentistry Journal:

• Helen Rogers, Newcastle University, UK

Healthcare:

• Amir Karami, University of South Carolina, USA

Journal of Clinical Medicine:

• Andrea Palermo, Campus Bio-Medico University, Italy

Journal of Personalized Medicine:

• Simone Di Franco, University of Palermo, Italy
• Catriona Hippman, University of Calgary, Canada

Medicina:

• Veeru Kasivisvanathan, University College London, UK
• Andrea Cortegiani, University of Palermo, Italy; University Hospital Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, Italy

Pharmaceutics:

• Qi Zhou, Purdue University, USA

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the “Medicine & Pharmacology” category for their outstanding presentations and to present them with the prize.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the Travel Awards winners for the year 2021 and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Biomedicines:

• Soheil Saeedi, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Dentistry Journal:

• Shawn Alexander Hallett, University of Michigan, USA

Medicines:

• Claire Albert, Yale University, USA

Pharmaceuticals:

• Raquel Filipa da Costa Viveiros, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal
• Patrick Jim Küppers, University Hospital Bonn, Germany