Announcements
2 February 2024
Acknowledgment of the Reviewers of JPM in 2023
31 January 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #8 - Altmetric and Flat Fee Agreement
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 and Digital Science Meeting
At MDPI, we are committed to providing our authors with the essential tools to publish, promote, and track their research. In line with this commitment, we have established a longstanding collaboration with Digital Science, a company specializing in research data and analytical insights for the research community. Our collaboration integrates their Altmetric tool, offering us and our authors the ability to track a variety of sources that monitor and report attention surrounding publications.
As part of our collaboration, we recently hosted Cathy Holland, Director of Global Publisher Business Development, and Helen Cooke, Managing Director of Publisher Sales, from Digital Science, at our MDPI headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Left to right: Facundo Santomé (Senior Marketing Manager, MDPI), Constanze Shelhorn (Indexing Manager, MDPI), Cathy Holland (Director of Global Publisher Business Development, Digital Science), Helen Cooke (Managing Director of Publisher Sales, Digital Science), and Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) in front of MDPI headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
During our meeting, we discussed MDPI’s publishing philosophy and explored further avenues for collaboration. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Digital Science, aiming to improve our services yet further and meet the needs of our authors more closely than ever.
What is Altmetric?
You will notice that MDPI articles feature an Altmetric score, a colourful doughnut capturing the score in the upper right corner of the article page. This score represents ‘alternative metrics,’ as distinct from traditional metrics such as Impact Factor, CiteScore, and Scimago Journal Rank.
Altmetrics complement traditional citation-based metrics by capturing online discussions related to a specific research topic. By analyzing both sets of data, we can obtain a comprehensive understanding of the attention a particular research output receives and the sources in which it is mentioned.
“Almetric provides visual insights into where research is being discussed”
Sources Tracked by Altmetric
Altmetric badge showing the Altmetric score and colour-coded mention sources.
Altmetric monitors various sources, categorizing them into segments such as policy documents, peer reviews, Wikipedia, news and blogs, and social media, among other sources. Each category is identifiable by a specific colour.
The Altmetric badge provides visual insights into where the research is being discussed. A more colourful badge indicates broader mentions across multiple platforms. Such tracking enables us to gauge the extent of an article’s online dissemination, noting that increased visibility may correlate with higher citation rates.
Read more:
Impactful Research
Ten High-Altmetric Articles Published by MDPI
As at 30 January 2024, Altmetric has tracked 670,500 MDPI research outputs from MDPI, resulting in over 4.3 million mentions. This includes over 71,894 mentions in policy and patents and 294,714 mentions in news and blogs, with some achieving an Altmetric score as high as 28,754.
So, what is a good Altmetric score? There are various ways to put this score into context. You can find out more about the score in context and how to evaluate your work by this means.
Here are ten MDPI papers ranking in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric.
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“Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort” J. Pers. Med. 2017, 7(2), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/20477344 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 253 news stories from 209 outlets including Forbes, BBC, and Fox News. |
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“Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis” J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8030404 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/57654628 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 295 news stories from 207 outlets including Forbes, The Atlantic, and New York Times. |
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“The Preliminary Analysis of Cave Lion Cubs Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) from the Permafrost of Siberia” Quaternary 2021, 4(3), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4030024 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/111086701 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 182 news stories from 134 outlets including CBC News, CNN, and National Geographic. |
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“Not the Cat’s Meow? The Impact of Posing with Cats on Female Perceptions of Male Dateability” Animals 2020, 10(6), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10061007 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/83796184 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 124 news stories from 98 outlets including VICE, CNN and The Guardian. |
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“Behaviour and Welfare Impacts of Releasing Elephants from Overnight Tethers: A Zimbabwean Case Study” Animals 2022, 12(15), 1933; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151933 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/133463915 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 192 news stories from 186 outlets. |
How do I use altmetrics?
Altmetric Explorer provides a detailed step-by-step guide and instruction video for first-time users of the tool. The guide includes useful diagrams that make it easy to get started.
Sharing Research Online
For research to be tracked across different sources, Altmetric needs a research output with a persistent identifier: a DOI, ISBN, PubMed ID, handle ID, etc. When sharing research, it is important to include a link to the original research output.
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“An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost” Viruses 2023, 15(2), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020564 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/142929875 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 250 news stories from 180 outlets including CTV, Fox News, and CNN. |
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“The Global Problem of Insufficient Sleep and Its Serious Public Health Implications” Healthcare 2019, 7(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7010001 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/53406248 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 252 news stories from 168 outlets including BBC, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes. |
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“A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(4), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041212 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/86529137 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 197 news stories from 150 outlets including BBC, The Tribune, and World Economic Forum. |
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“An Empirical Study of Chronic Diseases in the United States: A Visual Analytics Approach to Public Health” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(3), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030431 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/34714141 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 232 news stories from 149 outlets including Forbes, New York Times, and Harvard Business Review. |
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“Garden Scraps: Agonistic Interactions between Hedgehogs and Sympatric Mammals in Urban Gardens” Animals 2023, 13(4), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040590 Altmetric page: https://mdpi.altmetric.com/details/142934305 Altmetric shows that this article appeared in 172 news stories from 168 outlets including BBC. |
Inside MDPI
MDPI Annual Meeting Celebrations in China
On Thursday 25 January, over 1,300 MDPI colleagues from our two offices in Beijing gathered to kick off MDPI’s traditional ‘Annual Meetings.’ These celebrations take place in MDPI’s offices across China, including Dalian, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Nanjing.
The evenings include performances, informative talks and presentations, awards, and entertainment, providing an ideal platform to recognize our colleagues, celebrate their achievements, and set our sights on the future.
“It is essential that we stay connected and share best practices”
I sent a video congratulating everyone on their work and sharing our vision of building MDPI into the most trusted OA publisher, highlighting the roles each of us has to play in achieving that goal.
Unfortunately I could not join in person, but you may recall my recent trip, when I visited our offices in Beijing and Wuhan, which I look forward to visiting again this year.
Although our headquarters are in Basel, Switzerland, and we are expanding throughout Europe and North America, the majority of MDPI’s workforce is in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including offices in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and newly opened office in South Korea. It is essential that as a global organization, we stay connected and share best practices in order to grow collectively and continue providing the exceptional service to our authors.
The Annual Meeting is a moment to reflect and enjoy the year’s hard work and dedication.
I extend our best wishes to all for the Chinese New Year (Xīnnián kuàilè)!
Coming Together for Science
MDPI and TU Delft Adopt Flat Fee Model in Extended Partnership
We are excited to announce a renewed three-year partnership with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. This collaboration introduces a fixed lump-sum fee, covering publishing costs from 2024 to 2026.
“This initiative reflects our dedication to transparent and inclusive publishing”
TU Delft-affiliated authors will enjoy cost-free publishing in any MDPI journal during this period, aligning with our commitment to removing barriers for open access publishing. The agreement supports Plan S compliance and facilitates a seamless publishing process for TU Delft corresponding authors. This initiative reflects our dedication to transparent and inclusive publishing, providing stability and predictability both for authors and for institutions.
For further details on our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), please contact us.
Benefits to MDPI’s IOAP
At MDPI we have a long tradition of partnerships, including our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). IOAP supports institutions through simplification, access, transparency, APC discounts, and institutional repository deposits. The program simplifies administrative processes, offers central payment, and allows easy opting in and out. Participants gain free access to Susy, MDPI’s online submission system, with extensive article metadata and exportable data. APC discounts and Book Processing Charge discounts are available for affiliated authors. Automated deposits to institutional repositories and streamlined matching of papers to IOAP participants enhance the overall experience.
For further information, see our IOAP FAQ.
Closing Thoughts
Reflections on the 2024 APE Conference
MDPI was proud to co-sponsor the Academic Publishing in Europe (APE) 2024 Conference that took place in Berlin, Germany, from 9–10 January 2024.
The conference theme, ‘Keep the Conversation Going!’, explored the evolving landscape of scholarly communication. APE is one of the key conferences I make a point to attend each year. January offers a valuable opportunity to engage with new contacts, reconnect with familiar faces, and participate in impactful discussions and presentations among professionals, scholars, and practitioners in the field.
“It's fascinating to see how other publishers are leveraging AI”
Highlights
Some of the standout panels for me include: the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the publishing industry. It was encouraging to hear the current status quo, though I was eager also to learn about the exciting projects planned for 2024 and beyond. These will allow us to track progress in subsequent years. At MDPI, we remain committed to promoting Open–Access (OA) content on SDGs through scientific articles and books. Furthermore, we extend our commitment to sustainability by financially supporting researchers through initiatives such as the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award, as well as waiving the APC for feature papers on each SDG.
In recent years, discussions on AI have become increasingly prominent at such conferences. It’s fascinating to see how other publishers are leveraging AI to meet the evolving needs of their audiences while at the same time using it to safeguard the scientific process. Other engaging panels that I enjoyed included updates on transformation beyond transformative agreements, the principles of lean change, incentive structures related to research integrity, and the panel on reviewer incentives.
“We can share best practices and lessons learned”
Incorporating MDPI’s Insights into Conferences
I must confess that I sometimes feel overlooked when MDPI is not invited to participate in crucial industry discussions. As the leading open access publisher and the third-largest publisher overall, we possess extensive experience in many of these areas and can offer valuable contributions to these discussions. We can share best practices, lessons learned, and our thinking about future trajectories. For instance, in panels discussing reviewer incentives, at MDPI we offer a discount voucher to reviewers for future submissions, reflecting our commitment to fostering a robust peer review process. In 2022 alone, MDPI collected over 1.4 million peer review reports, informing the decision-making processes of our editors. Given our expertise in these areas, it would be natural to include MDPI in such discussions. I therefore extend an invitation to future conference organizers to consider MDPI for speaking engagements and collaborative opportunities.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
24 January 2024
Journal of Personalized Medicine | Most Viewed Papers in 2023
19 January 2024
Journal of Personalized Medicine | Most Cited Papers in 2023
10 January 2024
Meet Us at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research, 18–20 April 2024, Yokohama, Japan
2 January 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #7 - Nobel Laureates Entrust MDPI with Their Research
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
Nobel Prize Laureates Entrust MDPI with Their Research
The Nobel Prize stands as a hallmark of distinction, honouring ground-breaking research across disciplines. Annually, the Nobel Prizes are awarded in six categories: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine or Physiology, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.
Through the years, renowned scholars have entrusted MDPI with their work. As at December 2023, 26 Nobel laureates have contributed to more than 75 articles across 25 MDPI journals, including: Antibiotics, Applied Sciences, Biology, Biomedicines, Cancers, Catalysts, Cells, Crystals, Entropy, Games, IJMS, Life, Materials, Micromachines, Molecules, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutics, Photonics, Quantum Beam Science, Remote Sensing, Sensors, Solids, Universe, Vaccines, and Viruses.
The best of the best trust us with their work.
Nobel Prize Laureates Who Have Published with MDPI
We are proud to list the names of Pierre Agostini, Hiroshi Amano, Werner Arber, Aaron Ciechanover, Robert H. Grubbs, Oliver Hart, Gerard ‘t Hooft, Michael Houghton, Harald zur Hausen, Katalin Karikó, Jean-Marie Lehn, Gérard Mourou, Ferid Murad, Shuji Nakamura, William Nordhaus, Kostya S. Novoselov, Giorgio Parisi, Charles M. Rice, Alvin E. Roth, Donna Strickland, K. Barry Sharpless, George F. Smoot, Anne L’Huillier, Drew Weissman, Kurt Wüthrich, Ada Yonath.
The privilege of hosting such contributors resonates deeply with our editorial teams. For instance, in this interview, the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Universe speaks on the significance of publishing a paper by Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft within the journal.
2023 Nobel Prize Winners Published by MDPI
Nobel Prize Winners, 2023: Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Anne L’Huillier (Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach)
Three laureates from the 2023 Nobel Prize cohort have trusted MDPI as their publishing platform. Notably, in a 2022 Pharmaceutics paper, molecular biologist Katalin Karikó and her team presented a methodology for evaluating mRNA capping efficiency, pivotal for therapeutic applications. Pharmaceutics had previously dedicated a Special Issue to “mRNA Therapeutics: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Katalin Karikó”, spotlighting ten articles from August 2021 to February 2022.
In the journal Vaccines, Professor Drew Weissman, collaborating with scholars from Pennsylvania University and George Mason University, contributed an influential review titled “Nanomaterial Delivery Systems for mRNA Vaccines”. His collaborative efforts spanned five papers across MDPI journals between 2021 and 2023.
Furthermore, Anne L'Huillier of Lund University, only the fifth female recipient of the Physics Prize, co-authored an article in Applied Sciences focusing on "Advanced EUV and X-Ray Optics". Similarly, Pierre Agostini, an Emeritus Professor from Ohio State University, co-authored an article featured in the special issue "Attosecond Science and Technology: Principles and Applications".
We extend heartfelt congratulations to all Nobel Prize laureates and express sincere gratitude for their confidence in MDPI as a platform for their scholarly contributions.
Read more:
Impactful Research
MDPI Journals Newly Indexed in 2023
The aim of indexing is to enhance the quality and credibility of published research, ensuring that researchers access the most credible resources available. While the principle behind citation indexing is straightforward, it remains one of the most dependable methods for tracking an idea's evolution across various scientific disciplines.
Throughout the year, MDPI works to expand the reach of our publications across premier multidisciplinary databases like Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and ProQuest. This initiative is spearheaded by MDPI's Indexing team, under the leadership of Dr. Constanze Schelhorn.
In 2023, MDPI achieved 54 new acceptances in Scopus, 29 in Web of Science, 52 in EBSCO, and 83 in DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals.
The team prioritizes ensuring that our journals feature in numerous specialized databases, including PMC, PubMed, MEDLINE, Inspec, CAS, and FSTA, among others. Currently, MDPI collaborates with over 65 renowned international databases, consistently enhancing our database affiliations annually.
MDPI’s journals are indexed in all major global databases.
Furthermore, we collaborate with universities and government organizations to list our journals in country-specific ranking lists and relevant institutional repositories. This ensures compliance with requirements often set by funders or institutions for authors to publish in specific journals.
Web of Science Adds 24 MDPI Journals to Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
Clarivate recently analysed MDPI’s new journals, resulting in 24 journals, mainly established in 2020, being added to the ESCI in November and December 2023. Additionally, five journals passed this assessment earlier in the year. For a complete list of our journals in Web of Science, refer here. Journals in the ESCI meet 24 quality criteria, ensuring editorial rigor. They may be considered for inclusion in broader indices like the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), or the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), based on four impact criteria.
Read more:
Inside MDPI
MDPI Appoints New Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Alistair Freeland returned to MDPI and assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer in November 2023, a position he previously held from 2013 to 2019. He succeeds Dr. Yu Lin, who will remain a member of MDPI’s Board of Directors, overseeing significant financial decisions for the company. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Yu Lin for his service as COO.
Alistair brings extensive experience not only in scholarly publishing but also in technology and business management. Prior to rejoining MDPI, he was associated with SIX Group, the entity responsible for Switzerland's financial market infrastructure. There, he played a pivotal role in developing the blockchain-based platform SDX (SIX Digital Exchange), which has gained traction among major Swiss banks and the Swiss National Bank.
As COO, Alistair will collaborate with the MDPI management team to improve the practices and services we offer to scholarly communities. I am pleased to welcome Alistair back to MDPI and look forward to his contributions going forward.
Coming Together for Science
MDPI’s 2024 In-Person Academic Events Schedule
MDPI's Conference Team is dedicated to organizing and hosting in-person academic events across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. We recognize conferences as invaluable platforms for scientific collaboration, scholarly exchange, discussions on contemporary topics, networking, and forging collaborations.
Here's a glimpse of the notable events we currently have scheduled for 2024:
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14–16 February, 2024 |
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24–26 April, 2024 |
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28–31 May, 2024 |
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1–4 August, 2024 |
Upcoming events with details to be announced:
- September 2024, Materials 2024 – Basel, Switzerland
- 19–21 September 2024, International Conference on Nanomaterials Sciences 2024 – Beijing, China
- October 2024, ncRNA 2024 – Basel, Switzerland
- November 2024, Pharmaceuticals 2024 – Barcelona, Spain
- 22–26 November 2024, International Conference on Science of Electronics – Wuhan, China
- Stay tuned for more details on the Sustainable Publishing Forum 2024.
Click here for all upcoming MDPI events.
Organize Your Event with MDPI’s Sciforum
Sciforum is MDPI’s platform dedicated to the organization of scientific events. In line with our mission to promote science, Sciforum supports scholars, societies, research networks, and universities at all stages of organizing in-person events, virtual events and webinars. Our platforms are efficient, user-friendly, and cost-effective. We handle all steps related to event management. Contact us for details.
Closing Thoughts
Reflecting on 2023 and Looking Ahead to 2024
As we approach 2024, I reflect on the incredible journey we’ve had together at MDPI this year. The past 12 months have been marked by ambitious projects and initiatives to improve our internal processes, and a commitment to continue delivering top-notch services to our stakeholders. I’d like to thank each and every one of our staff members for contributing to the positive experiences our stakeholders have reported in our surveys. Your dedication to speed, efficiency, and effective communication with our stakeholders is very much recognized and appreciated.
Becoming a stronger organisation
While we have encountered challenges in 2023, it’s important to understand that these are a part of our growth process. Difficulties provide us with opportunities to reflect, address problems at their roots, and ultimately evolve into a stronger organization. Our stakeholders expect us to overcome tough times, and it’s an expectation that we have for ourselves.
I extend my sincere appreciation to every MDPI employee, from our editorial office and IT department to marketing, indexing, IOAP, societies, Scientific Office board, products, production, conferences, finance, operations, admin, and beyond. To our newest team members, a warm welcome; to our longstanding colleagues, your dedication is invaluable.
“I am committed to taking MDPI to a new level of excellence.”
Interacting with many of you during my visits to our offices and representing MDPI at external events has been a personal highlight. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Lin for entrusting me with the role of CEO of MDPI. Looking forward, I am committed to working closely with our management team to lead MDPI and take it to a new level of excellence, aiming to establish it as the most trusted publisher in open access worldwide. This is a collective endeavour, with each of us shaping MDPI’s reputation. I therefore encourage us to take pride in our work, as it represents not only our craft but also MDPI as a whole.
Accountability and communication
As we look forward to 2024, there’s a lot to be excited about. Together, we’ll navigate challenges, seize growth opportunities, and refine our practices. To solidify MDPI’s position as the premier open access publisher globally, we must bolster accountability, improve stakeholder communication, share MDPI’s best practices, champion the open access philosophy, and educate stakeholders about our mission, methodologies, and motivations.
Thank you for engaging with the CEO Letter over the past six months of 2023. I will continue to release this newsletter as a method of sharing the great work being done at MDPI. Please feel free to connect directly with any insights or questions.
Here’s to a joyous and prosperous 2024!
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
25 December 2023
Journal of Personalized Medicine | Top 10 Cited Papers in 2022 in the Section “Omics/Informatics”
15 December 2023
Journal of Personalized Medicine | Highly Cited Special Issues in the Section “Mechanisms of Diseases” in 2022
We are pleased to invite you to read the highly cited Special Issues in 2022 in the Journal of Personalized Medicine (JPM, ISSN: 2075-4426), in the Section “Mechanisms of Diseases”. We hope this announcement will provide useful information for this field.
The Special Issues list is as follows:
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“Personalized Medicine for COVID-19 Patients-Clinical Considerations” Edited by Dr. Paraskevi Katsaounou, Prof. Dr. Dimitrios B. Georgopoulos and Dr. Nikoletta Rovina Views: 75000+ | Cited by 230+ |
“Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in the Era of Personalized Medicine” Edited by Dr. Konstantinos Tziomalos Views: 49000+ | Cited by 150+ |
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“Personalized Medicine in the Field of Inflammatory Skin Disorders” Edited by Dr. Mircea Tampa, Prof. Dr. Monica Neagu, Prof. Dr. Constantin Caruntu and Prof. Dr. Simona Roxana Georgescu Views: 48000+ | Cited by 190+ |
“Personalized Medicine for Parkinson's Disease: New Concepts and Future of Individualized Management” Edited by Dr. Nataliya Titova and Prof. Dr. Kallol Ray Chaudhuri Views: 44000+ | Cited by 90+ |
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“Asthma: From Phenotypes to Personalized Medicine” Edited by Prof. Dr. Petros Bakakos Views: 26000+ | Cited by 70+ |
“Personalized Molecular Neurobiology of Brain Mapping of Global Pain and Mental Illness” Edited by Prof. Dr. Kenneth Blum, Dr. Babak Kateb, Dr. Vicky Yamamoto, Prof. Dr. Igor Elman, Dr. Mark S. Gold and Dr. Kai-Uwe Lewandrowski Views: 37000+ | Cited by 60+ |
You are welcome to view all the Special Issues and submit relevant papers to the Journal of Personalized Medicine. If you have any questions, you can contact the Editorial Office at jpm@mdpi.com.
Journal of Personalized Medicine Editorial Office
30 November 2023
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #6 - MDPI Spain Summit and ResearchGate
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 Spain Summit
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) gives the opening speech at the MDPI Spain Summit.
On Friday 10 November 2023 I was in Barcelona, Spain, to deliver the opening presentation and participate in a panel at MDPI’s Spain Summit, a two-day event, inspired by our salon events in China.
With 16 Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) and 20 Editorial Board Members (EBMs) in attendance, the event, organized by our conference team and Barcelona office, featured presentations on open access (OA), MDPI, and publishing market trends in Spain.
The event provided a great opportunity to engage with stakeholders from various MDPI journals, including Nutrients, Vaccines, Buildings, IJMS, and others. We were able to gather feedback and have open conversations around manuscript quality, the peer-review process, and journal development, as well as accreditation agencies.
Connecting with Editorial Board Members
Stefan Tochev in conversation with Summit participants: "Our EBMs are passionate about the journals they serve."
Interacting with our EBMs in person provides a valuable opportunity to show how important it is to us to connect with them, hear their perspectives on their journals and learn more about their own experience collaborating with MDPI.
From my conversations, it was clear that our EBMs are passionate about the journals they serve. I know the advice they provide may sometimes involve just small tweaks, but these can lead to important improvements. As the saying goes, small hinges swing open big doors.
As at November 2023, MDPI has over 6,300 EBMs affiliated with Spanish institutions, with more than 30 of them serving as EiCs or section EiCs. Furthermore, over 68,000 Spanish scholars have contributed as reviewers in MDPI journals.
Open Access in Spain
In 2023, Spain implemented legislation mandating immediate OA for all publicly funded research, aligning with the EU’s Plan S initiative to expedite the transition to OA. The Spanish government also approved a four-year, €23.8 million annual budget for the first national OA strategy, aiming to make publicly funded research freely accessible upon publication. This strategy aims to strengthen the quality and transparency of research in Spain, and to help promote movement towards a digital, low-carbon economy.
For further details of Spain's OA policy and the history of government mandates, click here.
Spain has already seen a notable decline in subscription-only articles, decreasing by 62% over a 10-year period, while gold OA increased by 42%. Green OA slightly decreased, suggesting a shift towards publishing in gold OA journals rather than traditional subscription-based ones. Here are some statistics from Scopus.
A big thank-you to the various MDPI teams, including our conference team and the Barcelona office, for organizing this very successful event!
MDPI colleagues from various offices gathered to host and support the first MDPI Spain Summit, in Barcelona, Spain.
I think this type of gathering has the potential to become an annual event in various locations. For example, Manchester could be an option, as we have over 30 EiCs and over 3,000 EBMs in the UK, a top market for MDPI that publishes high-quality research.
Impactful Research
769 Editorial Board Members of MDPI Journals Recognized as Highly Cited Researchers in 2023
Congratulations to our 769 Editorial Board Members from 40 countries/territories who have been awarded Highly Cited Researcher status for 2023 by Clarivate. This recognition is based on their outstanding scientific research contributions and significant influence in various fields, as evidenced by Web of Science data.
Click here to view the full list of 769 Editorial Board Members.
Clarivate's Highly Cited ResearchersTM list identifies individuals with exceptional impact in scientific and social science domains over the past decade. Their papers rank in the top 1% of citations in 21 fields analysed in ‘Essential Science Indicators,’ showcasing their substantial influence.
This year, 7,125 Highly Cited Researcher 2023 designations were issued to 6,849 individuals from 67 countries, representing just 1 in 1,000 researchers worldwide.
These researchers demonstrate exceptional influence, representing a small fraction of contributors pushing the boundaries of knowledge, contributing to global well-being, sustainability, and security.
Congratulations to these scholars for their remarkable achievement: we are honoured to have them on board with our journals!
Inside MDPI
Corporate Marketing and Communications Strategy Session
Members of MDPI’s Corporate Marketing & Communications team.
For the past few years, I have led the Corporate Marketing & Communications department in our annual strategy session.
This typically involves 2–3 days of focused sessions covering key topics including budgeting, hiring targets, campaign reviews, and planning for the upcoming year, department strategy, and structure.
We are constantly exploring ways to optimize the Corporate Marketing & Communications department to support MDPI’s primary objectives and better convey the MDPI story while serving the scholarly community.
The strategy session also serves as a team-building activity, during which the team voted on bowling!
Strategy Session
In this strategy session, we looked at how to align our teams in order to better streamline our content with our campaigns, build a dedicated marketing team to strategically support our core MDPI products, expand our communications teams and functionalities to focus on company-critical campaigns and press releases, align our new brand design system with our marketing initiatives, set up a community and engagement team to support various teams with their outreach and communication efforts, and increase our use of data in the evaluation of campaign performance.
To grow in these areas, we will be hiring for various positions, including those of Public Relations Manager, Communications Manager, Internal Communications Manager, Campaign Manager, Marketing Associate, and Editorial Engagement Manager.
I am grateful for the way our Corporate Marketing & Communications department has grown and gelled over the years, and I look forward to supporting the department teams and their ideas for the future.
Coming Together for Science
ResearchGate and MDPI Partner to Boost the Visibility of Open Access Content through Journal Home
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) and Sören Hofmayer (Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, ResearchGate) meet in Berlin, Germany to take their ongoing discussion further.
When I assumed the role of CEO at MDPI, my primary focus was to initiate the building of essential partnerships and collaborations within our industry. After all, I am a firm believer in achieving our goals by helping others achieve theirs and focusing on co-opetition wherever there is an opportunity. I first touched on the notion of co-opetition in MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #3, particularly when discussing collaborations with Elsevier.
In light of this, Sören Hofmayer (Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at ResearchGate) and I connected recently to continue a discussion that had been ongoing for months. I was quickly brought up to speed and felt there was an opportunity for MDPI journals to pilot the Journal Home service that ResearchGate had launched. This would provide a new way for MDPI to engage with authors and readers and amplify the visibility of our journals.
While I receive many offers and opportunities for discussions with vendors, I am a firm believer that timing is everything, and in this case, the time for us is now. Sören and I met in person during my recent visit to Berlin and decided to proceed with piloting ten MDPI journals with the Journal Home service.
The press release below provides further details.
Press Release: Berlin (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland), 15 November 2023
ResearchGate, the professional network for researchers, and MDPI, the largest open access publisher in the world and a pioneer in open access publishing, today announced a partnership that will see ten of MDPI’s open access journals benefit from an enhanced presence on ResearchGate through its innovative Journal Home offering.
This new partnership will expand the reach and visibility of MDPI’s participating flagship journals with ResearchGate’s highly relevant community of more than 25 million researchers globally.
Around 210,000 version-of-record articles from these 10 titles will be readily available on ResearchGate, including the full archive material and all new articles as they are published. These journals also benefit from enhanced brand visibility, with dedicated journal profiles, prominent representation on all associated article pages and all relevant touchpoints across the ResearchGate network – keeping the journals top-of-mind with their reader and author audiences. All articles covered by the new partnership will automatically be added to the authors’ publication records in ResearchGate. This not only reduces MDPI authors’ needs for direct management but also offers them valuable insights into the impact of their work, including data about readership and citations.
Closing Thoughts
November is Men’s Health Awareness Month
Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) listening to music as he writes at a coffee shop in Basel, Switzerland.
November is dedicated to raising awareness of various men’s health issues. I have been fortunate to have positive male role models in my life, and I strive to share my experiences with others.
I used to take part in Movember, growing my moustache throughout November to raise awareness and funds and to help “change the face of men’s health.” With male family and friends impacted by physical and mental health issues, I have recently become more interested in men’s overall well-being.
Men often face stigma involving the perceived need always to be strong and have things figured out. Recently, I’ve had meaningful conversations with male friends and colleagues about issues we rarely discuss, and it was a positive experience.
Various factors impact men’s health and well-being, all too easily leading to risky health behaviours including a lack of health awareness, poor health education, and negative, culturally induced, behaviour patterns in our work and personal lives. I hope we can break down these barriers in our work environment.
Healthy men help build healthy families and a healthy society
Men are less likely than women to seek help with their physical and mental health struggles. This is a reminder to prioritize your overall well-being. I hope that as men, we will continue to open up to one another, becoming vulnerable in order to share what we are going through. By sharing and by supporting each other, we can learn and grow together. You are not alone, and when you fall, you can still get up and stand tall.
From one broski to another, you are loved and appreciated. I hope this mindset carries into December and beyond.
Mindfulness
Our content team recently released a handful of articles on mindfulness, a practice that I believe provides a good opportunity for stress release and self-reflection:
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
29 November 2023
Journal of Personalized Medicine | Top 15 Cited Papers on Disease Biomarkers in 2022
