Summary of the MDPI Academic Publishing Workshop at the School of Medicine, Walailak University, Held on 19 August 2026
MDPI was pleased to partner with the School of Medicine, Walailak University, on 19 August 2026 for an Academic Publishing Workshop dedicated to strengthening academic publishing knowledge and research skills. The event brought together researchers, academic staff, and students and was officially opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chuchard Punsawad, Dean of the School of Medicine, Walailak University.
The first session introduced participants to MDPI and its open access publishing model, highlighting MDPI’s commitment to making research freely accessible under a CC BY license. The presentation covered MDPI’s journal portfolio across multiple disciplines, its editorial and publishing services, and key initiatives supporting researchers, including Preprints.org, Author Services, conferences, and other research communication platforms. MDPI’s international publishing and indexing landscape was also introduced, including its coverage in major databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. The session also introduced the MDPI Thailand office, with three relevant open access journals highlighted: Medicina, Cosmetics, and Epidemiologia.
The workshop commenced with an opening speech by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chuchard Punsawad, Dean of the School of Medicine at Walailak University. As a researcher specializing in tropical medicine with an h-index of 23 and over 120 Scopus-indexed publications, he welcomed all participants and expressed strong support for initiatives that strengthen research capacity. He encouraged attendees to actively engage with the sessions and make the most of the opportunity to learn from MDPI’s publishing professionals.
The first session, “How to Effectively Select Journals and Identify Suitable Special Issues”, was delivered by Dr. Juthathip Poofery, Editorial Team Leader and Regional Engagement Editor at MDPI. The session provided practical guidance on evaluating and selecting journals based on scope, indexing, journal rankings, Impact Factor, CiteScore, quartiles, APCs, and institutional or funder requirements. Participants were introduced to Think. Check. Submit. and the MDPI Journal Finder, along with strategies for identifying relevant Special Issues. The sessions generated active discussion, with participants asking about the advantages and limitations of preprints, acceptance rates for regular papers versus Special Issue submissions, and acceptable similarity levels. Participants also provided constructive feedback on the MDPI Journal Finder, suggesting that relevant Special Issues and journal quartile information could be displayed directly in the search results to further support journal-selection decisions.
The second session was presented by Dr. Krit Inthajak, Regional Engagement Editor of MDPI Bangkok office, “How to Write Scientific Papers”. This session comprises on how to prepare literature reviews before deciding to write a manuscript and the contents of the front matter, main text, and back matter. Authors expressed interest in how manuscripts should provide the significance of their results in relation to the literature reviews they have provided. A topic on how to present the manuscript’s results in order to make it attractive to readers and reviewers were also discussed.
The third session, titled “How to Respond to Peer Reviewers”, was presented by Ms. Hathaipat Kittirojana, a Regional Engagement Editor. She discussed the peer-review process at MDPI and guided through how to revise the manuscript professionally. This session also included the key tips of revision preparations and how we can organize a response in an effective way. In conclusion, she encouraged the audience to remain positive, open-minded, and professional when replying to reviewers.
The next session, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Scientific Publishing”, was delivered by Ms. Ploy Assavajamroon, Regional Engagement Editor from MDPI’s Bangkok office. The session provided an overview of AI technologies and their growing influence on academic research and scholarly communication, covering both the capabilities and limitations of generative AI tools commonly used in research. Ms. Assavajamroon emphasized the importance of critically evaluating AI-generated content rather than accepting it without verification. Drawing on COPE guidelines, she outlined MDPI’s policies on the ethical and transparent use of AI by authors and reviewers. The session concluded with a showcase of MDPI’s AI-driven tools designed to support more efficient editorial processes. During the Q&A, participants raised questions about AI detection, with Ms. Assavajamroon clarifying that MDPI does not apply a fixed detection threshold but instead takes a qualitative approach, considering the purpose and extent of AI use on a case-by-case basis.
The final two sessions of the Academic Publishing Workshop focused on creating effective Figures and Tables for scientific papers were delivered by Chanita Thongchuea, providing participants with practical guidance to improve the presentation and readability of their research. The session “How to Make Good Figures for Scientific Papers” introduced different types of figures, methods for selecting the most appropriate figure type, color recommendations, and suitable formats for publication, particularly for MDPI journals. Participants were also introduced to useful tools that could help them create figures according to their specific needs and technical abilities. The final session, “How to Design Tables in Scientific Papers”, covered the basic structure of scientific tables, key design principles, formatting tips, and methods for handling special or complex table formatting. Overall, these two sessions provided practical knowledge and techniques for creating clear, well-structured, and publication-ready Figures and Tables that effectively support and communicate scientific papers.
The MDPI Academic Publishing Workshop at Walailak University’s School of Medicine successfully provided participants with practical knowledge across all key aspects of academic publishing. Through six engaging sessions, attendees gained valuable insights into journal selection, manuscript writing, peer review, AI in publishing, and research presentation skills. MDPI looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Walailak University in supporting the academic community’s research development.