MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO’s Letter #35 – 30 Years of Open Science, Open Access Policies, Spain Summit, MMCS 2026 & Antibiotics 2026

Opening Thoughts

30 Years of Open Science, Built Together

This month, we officially launched MDPI’s 30th Anniversary campaign and dedicated anniversary website, marking an important milestone in our journey as an open access publisher. What began in 1996 with a single journal and the simple belief that scientific knowledge should be shared openly and freely has grown into a global publishing organization supporting more than 500 journals, 68,000 Editorial Board Members, and millions of researchers worldwide.

The anniversary page, entitled 30 Years of Open Science, Built Together, reflects on the people, milestones, and partnerships that have shaped MDPI over the past three decades. It includes a retrospective of our development, key moments in the evolution of open access, landmark research articles, journal anniversaries, an interview with the CEO, and perspectives from colleagues and partners who have contributed to our success.

While anniversaries naturally encourage reflection, they are also an opportunity to look ahead. The challenges facing scholarly publishing today, including research integrity, artificial intelligence, accessibility, and global participation in science, will require continued collaboration across the research ecosystem. As we celebrate 30 years of publishing, our focus remains on supporting researchers, strengthening trust in open science, and helping shape the future of scholarly communication together.

I encourage you to visit the anniversary page, explore the milestones, and take a moment to reflect on the role each of us has played in contributing to MDPI’s story.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Impactful Research

Highlights from MMCS 2026 in Beijing (14-17 May)

From 14–17 May, MDPI hosted The 5th Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium (MMCS 2026) in Beijing, China, bringing together academia and industry to explore advances in chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, and drug discovery.

The conference hosted more than 230 attendees from 37 countries and regions, alongside 257 submissions and 145 accepted abstracts. With a significant increase in attendance – up by 100 participants compared with the previous edition – the popularity of MMCS continues to grow in terms of its international profile and scientific relevance within this rapidly evolving field.

The scientific program covered seven themes:

• Chemical Biology for Drug Discovery
• Medicinal Chemistry Research Progress
• Natural Products in Drug Discovery
• AI-enabled Drug Discovery
• GPCR & Ion Channel Targeted Drug Development
• Innovative Proximity-Based Drug Modalities
• Biocatalysis for Natural Product & Drug Synthesis

The event featured three plenary speakers, 14 keynote speakers, 35 selected oral presentations, and 98 poster presentations, creating opportunities for open scientific exchange and collaboration. Conference Chair Prof. Dr. Diego Muñoz-Torrero described this edition as one of the most successful MMCS events to date.

Thanks to our Sponsors

MMCS 2026 secured sponsorship support from 12 industrial partners, 11 of which set up on-site exhibition booths. Covering biopharmaceutical R&D, life science supplies, pharmaceutical experimental instruments, and industrial service sectors, exhibitors were able to connect their businesses directly with attendees and make connections at the conference.

30th Anniversary Celebration of Molecules

During the conference, we also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Molecules, one of MDPI’s flagship journals. The celebration brought together Section Editors-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, MDPI leadership, and editorial colleagues to reflect on the journal’s development, achievements, and continued future growth.

Events such as MMCS 2026 highlight the important role conferences play in creating scientific exchange and collaboration, and in connecting our research communities in person.

They also reflect the continued development of MDPI’s conference portfolio and our commitment to supporting academic engagement beyond publishing alone. Thanks to everyone involved in organizing and contributing to the success of this event.

Inside MDPI

Open Access Policies Continue to Accelerate Globally

One of the clearest indicators of the continued momentum behind open access is the growing number of national and institutional policies supporting, and increasingly requiring, open dissemination of research.

Around the world, governments, funding agencies, and universities are building their open access mandates, with increasing focus on transparency, rights retention, and public accessibility of publicly funded research. While these policies vary across regions, the broader direction is clear: expectations around openness and compliance continue to accelerate.

For researchers, navigating these evolving requirements can be complex and time-consuming. Supporting the research community therefore means not only publishing high-quality open access content but also helping stakeholders better understand changing requirements and emerging opportunities. At MDPI, we see this as an important part of our role within scholarly communication.

“Expectations around openness and compliance continue to accelerate”

Through the MDPI Blog, our Content team continues to publish monthly articles overviewing different countries’ relationships with open access, exploring their histories, policies, opportunities, and statistics. All this information is centralized into an article which contains brief summaries of each country, with links to all the full articles, and is updated monthly.

Recent Policy Developments

South Africa

In 2026, South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation introduced the South African Open Science Policy. The policy states that: “Open access shall be required for publications arising from publicly funded research, and desirable for research from all sources of funding.”

The policy envisions a coordinated and broad approach to open science that will sustainably and ethically drive socio-economic development by increasing the practice of open science through policy, training, incentivization, and infrastructure.

Canada

In Canada, the Tri-Agency OA Policy on Publications was revised, removing the 12-month embargo for research that must be deposited in a repository with an open license and with author rights retained.

The Agencies argue that “societal advancement is made possible through widespread and barrier-free access to cutting-edge research and knowledge.”

Chile

Chile is a collaborative and engaged member of the global open access movement.

The National Research and Development Agency (Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, or ANID) is Chile’s main funding agency for R&D. It mandates that all beneficiaries must deposit the final version of their published scientific output, with an embargo period of up to 12 months, into a repository.

ANID also supports the InES Open Science funding program, which allows universities to request funding for capacity and infrastructure building. Further, Chile is an active participant in various international initiatives, such as Redalyc, SciELO, and Red de Repositorios Latinoamericanos.

Openness Beyond Research

At MDPI, openness remains one of our core values, ensuring that research outputs are freely accessible to anyone. This commitment also extends to sharing knowledge about the scholarly publishing landscape itself, which we practice on the MDPI Blog through various topics, including open access, recent advances in science, and opportunities for researchers.

As the open access landscape continues to evolve, helping researchers, institutions, editors, and partners navigate these changes will remain an important priority for us.

Coming Together for Science

Reflections from the MDPI Spain Summit 2026 in Valencia (21 May)

MDPI in Spain

Spain remains one of MDPI's most important academic markets and a leading contributor to OA research globally. Ever since our Barcelona office opened in 2016 (Happy 10th Anniversary!), MDPI Spain has been actively supporting researchers, institutions, societies, and academic partners across the country. Today, the office plays an important role in creating engagement with the Spanish scholarly community through editorial support, partnerships, conferences, training initiatives, and outreach activities.

A cluster of high-level indicators highlight both the strength of the local research ecosystem and MDPI’s role within it:

• 43,218 total publications in Spain in 2025, of which 35,728 (83%) were open access (49% Gold OA).
• 211,200+ total publications (2021–2025), with 84% published open access.
• 13,444 MDPI publications from Spanish institutions in 2025, representing 14% of all open access publications in Spain.
• More than115,100 MDPI publications from Spanish institutions since 1996.
• More than 4,500 Editorial Board Members from Spain, including more than 150 Chief Editors and 57 Associate Editors.
• 42 institutional partners participating in MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP).
• Spain ranks second globally for MDPI society affiliations, with 26 affiliated society agreements currently in place.

Program Overview

What made this summit special was the openness of the discussions around the research landscape in Spain and the role MDPI plays within the market. General topics of the presentations included:

• MDPI Introduction – Stefan Tochev (CEO).
• Engagement with the Academic Community – Dr. Marta Colomer (External Affairs Lead).
• Latest Developments in the Editorial Process – Dr. Jordi Martinez (Deputy Managing Editor).
• Research integrity and Publication Ethics – Slavomir Nikodijevic (Research Integrity Specialist).
• A 360 View of Academic Publishing – Prof. Dr. Luis Angel Ruiz Fernandez (EBM of Remote Sensing).

Panel Discussion

We also hosted a panel discussion moderated by Marta, entitled “The Future of Academic Publishing” with Prof. Luis Ruiz, Prof. Marta Feliz (EBM of the journal Catalysts), Dr. Enric Sayas (Product Owner, AI & Technology Innovation), and myself. The discussion looked at the evolving role of editors, the future of peer review, and the growing importance of maintaining trust, ethics, and research integrity in an era increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence.

Themes from the Summit

Several themes emerged throughout the discussions, reflecting broader conversations taking place across publishing:

• The academic community values efficient publishing workflows, but expectations around scientific quality and editorial rigor continue to rise.
• Reviewer fatigue and long-term sustainability of peer review remain major challenges across the industry.
• AI is rapidly changing scholarly communication and requires transparent and responsible governance.
• Reputation and trust continue to depend on long-term engagement, transparency, and quality-focused decision-making.

“Maintaining an open dialogue with researchers, editors, reviewers, and institutions remains a priority for MDPI”

It was constructive to see the willingness of participants to engage directly and candidly with us. These conversations provide insights that help inform how we continue to develop our editorial processes, engagement activities, and support for the research community. While certain discussions included concerns, there was also recognition that open dialogue between publishers and the research community is essential if we want to improve scholarly communication together.

Events such as this are increasingly important for MDPI. They allow us to present our perspective, to listen to the experiences, expectations, and concerns of editors, reviewers, and researchers, and to address these accordingly.

Thank You

Thank you to our Barcelona Office and all colleagues involved in organizing the summit, as well as all participants for contributing to these thoughtful and constructive discussions.

As publishing continues to evolve, maintaining an open dialogue with researchers, editors, reviewers, and institutions remains an important priority for MDPI. Events such as the Spain Summit play an important role in helping us to build relationships, foster trust, and better understand the needs of our community.

Closing Thoughts

Highlights from Antibiotics 2026 in Barcelona (11–14 May)

This week, MDPI hosted the Antibiotics 2026 — Advances in Antimicrobial Action and Resistance conference in Barcelona, bringing together academics and industry experts to discuss one of the most important scientific and public health challenges of our time: antimicrobial resistance.

The conference welcomed 145 attendees from 42 different countries and territories, alongside 265 submissions and 127 accepted abstracts, showing the international reach of the event and the strong scientific interest in this rapidly evolving field.

Scientific Exchange on a Global Challenge

Antimicrobial resistance continues to be a global concern, creating collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and regions. The conference program focused on a range of topics including:

• Antimicrobial resistance mechanisms
• One Health approaches to antimicrobial stewardship
• Discovery of novel antimicrobial agents
• Innovation in clinical strategies and treatment approaches
• Ethnopharmacology and emerging therapies

Through keynote plenaries, invited lectures, oral presentations, and poster sessions, the conference created a platform for dialogue and scientific exchange.

International Participation and Collaboration

One of the highlights of the event was the diversity of participation across both geography and expertise. Researchers and speakers from Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Latin America took part in discussions throughout the conference, highlighting the global nature of both the challenge and the scientific response.

The scientific program included:

• 2 keynote speakers
• 10 invited speakers
• 36 selected talks
• 78 posters

The conference brought together perspectives from academia, healthcare, and industry, helping facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration around future approaches to antimicrobial research and resistance management.

The Role of Conferences in Scholarly Communication

Conferences are an important platform for collaboration, scientific exchange, and community-building. Events such as Antibiotics 2026 show the value of bringing researchers together in person to discuss emerging challenges, share new findings, and strengthen international networks across disciplines and regions.

Thank You

I would like to thank the conference chairs, speakers, participants, sponsors, and the entire MDPI conference team for their work in making this event a success. The engagement and positive feedback from attendees highlight the importance of our events in addressing some of the most pressing scientific challenges facing society today.