Announcements

Opening Thoughts

Recognizing the People Behind Peer Review

September marked Peer Review Week 2026, this year focused on “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed, and Quality.” The theme reflects a challenge across scholarly publishing: research output and submissions continue to grow, while the time and expertise researchers can dedicate to reviewing are finite.

At MDPI, more than 200,000 reviewers contribute their expertise each year. Their work is fundamental to maintaining the quality and integrity of the research we publish, and Peer Review Week gave us an opportunity not only to thank them, but also to reflect on how we can better support their contribution.

This year, we highlighted three commitments that guide our approach: protecting reviewers’ time and judgment, ensuring high-quality and efficient processes, and recognizing and rewarding reviewers for their contribution. We also shared results from our 2026 Voice of the Community surveys. Among 1,627 reviewer respondents, 86% rated their experience with MDPI as “Good” or “Excellent,” 88% said manuscripts matched their expertise, and 92% found our reviewer instructions clear and helpful. From the author perspective, 95% of 16,795 respondents agreed that reviewers’ comments helped improve their manuscripts.

Recognition is an important part of this relationship too. Through our Top 1000 Reviewers program, 743 scholars accepted awards this year, with a combined CHF 526,500 returned directly to the reviewer community through cash awards and APC vouchers. During Peer Review Week, we also created opportunities for reviewers to share their own experiences through webinars, including The Reviewer’s Perspective: Navigating Volume, Speed, and Quality in Peer Review and our UK Reviewer Club.

Peer review ultimately depends on people choosing to give their time and expertise to the work of other researchers. As publishing continues to evolve, including through new technologies and increasing research volumes, we should not lose sight of that human contribution. Thank you to all the reviewers who work with MDPI, and to our colleagues who support them every day.

Read more about Peer Review Week 2026 here.

Inside MDPI

Welcoming Dr. Constanze Schelhorn as MDPI’s Chief Publishing Officer

This month, we announced the appointment of Dr. Constanze Schelhorn as MDPI’s Chief Publishing Officer (CPO). The appointment marks an important step for MDPI and the latest chapter in a journey within the organization that now spans a decade.

Looking Ahead

Publishing has changed considerably over the past decade, and that change is only accelerating. Research integrity, artificial intelligence, editorial standards, indexing requirements, new publishing models, and changing expectations from researchers and institutions are just some of the areas we are navigating.

“Please join me in congratulating Constanze on her appointment”

Growing Together

There is another aspect of this appointment that I think is worth recognizing about MDPI. I appreciate seeing people develop alongside the organization. Constanze’s journey from joining MDPI in 2016 to becoming our Chief Publishing Officer ten years later is a good example of what can happen when experience, knowledge, and responsibility build over time.

Our 30th anniversary naturally gives us an opportunity to look back at how far MDPI has come. But it should also make us think about the people who will shape where we go next. I’m pleased that Constanze will be one of those people.

Please join me in congratulating Constanze on her appointment as we look forward to continuing to work with her in this new role and seeing what we can accomplish together.

Impactful Research

A Decade of the Tu Youyou Award: Celebrating Scientific Excellence

Few examples demonstrate the potential impact of scientific research as clearly as Professor Tu Youyou's discovery of artemisinin. Her team’s work contributed to the development of artemisinin-based combination therapies for malaria, which the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as the main treatment for P. falciparum malaria.

Behind that achievement is also a remarkable scientific journey: drawing on knowledge from traditional Chinese medicine, Professor Tu and her team investigated hundreds of extracts before identifying artemisinin and helping transform the treatment of malaria.

This legacy is at the heart of the Tu Youyou Award, established by MDPI in 2016 to recognize outstanding achievements in natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry.

“Professor Tu Youyou's scientific journey is an extraordinary example”

Ten Years of the Tu Youyou Award

This year marks a decade since the award was established. Over that time, six scholars have been recognized as Tu Youyou laureates for their contributions to research and innovation.

The connection between MDPI and Professor Tu Youyou’s work goes back even further. In 2009, MDPI Founder and President, Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, launched a Special Issue in MDPI journal Molecules commemorating Professor Tu’s 80th birthday, several years before the establishment of the award.

Below is a photo of Professor Tu Youyou with MDPI Founder and President Dr. Shu-Kun Lin during an MDPI visit to congratulate Professor Tu on receiving the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The 2026 Tu Youyou Award continues this tradition, awarding CHF 100,000, together with a medal and certificate, to recognize the achievements in natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry.

Scientific Excellence and Impact

Professor Dr. William Gerwick, Chair of the 2026 Tu Youyou Award Committee, recently reflected on what distinguishes the award: “This award is truly special in that it recognizes scientific excellence as well as impact.”

I think this combination is important. Research advances our understanding, but its influence can extend much further: inspiring new discoveries, informing new treatments, addressing societal challenges, and ultimately improving people’s lives.

Professor Tu Youyou's scientific journey is an extraordinary example. Her work combined rigorous scientific investigation with a problem of enormous human importance, ultimately contributing to treatments that have transformed the fight against malaria.

Recognizing researchers who continue this tradition allows us to celebrate both scientific achievement and the broader contribution research can make to society.

Nominations Open Until 31 October

Nominations for the 2026 Tu Youyou Award are now open to scientists with outstanding achievements and contributions in natural products chemistry and medicinal chemistry. Nominations may be submitted by directors of nominees’ host research institutions or scientists within the field. Self-nominations are not accepted.

The nomination deadline is 31 October 2026, with the announcement of the winner planned for March 2027.

Learn More

• 2026 Tu Youyou Award – Nomination Information
• Tu Youyou Award Website
• https://blog.mdpi.com/2026/05/28/2026-tu-youyou-award/

Coming Together for Science 

OASPA 2026: Conversations Shaping the Future of Open Access

From 21–23 September, I attended the 2026 Conference of the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) in Zagreb, Croatia.

 MDPI has been a Platinum Sponsor of the OASPA conference for several years, supporting an event that brings together the open access (OA) community to discuss some of the opportunities and challenges shaping publishing. This year, MDPI also sponsored the conference reception at the City Museum of Zagreb.

The program covered topics from sustainable publishing and research assessment to open infrastructure, new models for OA agreements, and, of course, the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI). For me, though, the value of conferences like OASPA goes beyond the program. It’s about hearing different perspectives from across publishing, reconnecting with familiar faces, building new relationships, and having conversations that sometimes lead somewhere unexpected.

There are no simple answers, but hearing these discussions highlighted the fact that many of us across publishing are working with similar questions. Creating spaces where we can explore them together is valuable.

“Who is responsible for ensuring that AI-generated or AI-mediated information can be trusted?”

Conversations That Lead Somewhere

The conference also reminded me of the value of simply meeting people. I had a great conversation with César Pallares from Consortia Colombia about the publishing ecosystem in Colombia and the possibility of exploring a consortium agreement with MDPI in Colombia. César was very open to continuing the conversation, and I’ve already connected this opportunity with colleagues from our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) team.

I also caught up with Yvonne Campfens, Executive Director of OA Switchboard, who has recently taken on the role of Director for the Academic Publishing in Europe (APE) conference. We look forward to continuing to support APE as part of MDPI’s broader commitment to academic and publishing-industry events.

And, of course, it was good to connect with familiar faces from previous OASPA conferences and meet new ones. These conversations happen over coffee, between sessions, at receptions, or sometimes while walking through a city. Not every conversation needs to result in a project or partnership. Sometimes the value is simply understanding another perspective, sharing what we’re working on, or beginning a relationship that develops over time.

Thank you to the OASPA team, speakers, moderators, participants, and fellow sponsors for creating that space in Zagreb. I’m pleased that MDPI could once again support the conference and, more importantly, be part of the conversations taking place there. I look forward to seeing where some of them lead.

Closing Thoughts

AI Is Making Science More Accessible. How Do We Keep It Trustworthy?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how people find, understand, and interact with scientific research.

For decades, one of the biggest barriers to engaging with scientific research was access. Open Access (OA) has helped change that, with around 61% of global journal articles, reviews, and conference papers published in 2025 now openly accessible. AI is now beginning to lower another barrier: understanding. Researchers can quickly navigate large volumes of literature, patients can ask for complex medical research to be explained in plain language, and policymakers can more easily explore findings outside their own areas of expertise.

A recent study cited in the article found that when GPT-4o was tested without external retrieval and asked to cite recent scientific literature, it fabricated citations in 78–90% of cases. By contrast, OpenScholar, a specialized AI system that retrieves information from millions of OA papers, achieved citation accuracy comparable to human experts.

One line about the gap between AI content generation and verification particularly stood out to me: “Generation is becoming cheap, but verification is not.” While AI can reproduce the appearance of credible scientific information, verifying the underlying data, references, methods, and conclusions still requires time, expertise, and access to the evidence.

“The important question is whether the underlying research can be trusted”

Detection Is Not Verification

Giulia’s distinction between AI detection and research verification is particularly relevant to scholarly publishing. A manuscript can contain AI-assisted language and report sound research. Equally, something written entirely by a person can contain fabricated data, inappropriate methods, or unsupported conclusions. The important question isn’t only “Was AI used?” but whether the underlying research can be trusted.

For publishers, this makes strong editorial processes, expert peer review, research integrity checks, transparency, and human accountability increasingly important.

A Shared Responsibility

Giulia argues that publishers cannot address this challenge alone. Researchers, institutions, publishers, technology providers, and readers all have a role to play in how scientific information is created, evaluated, communicated, and understood.

As AI continues to develop, our understanding of scientific literacy must develop alongside it. Making knowledge accessible and helping people understand it are important. The next question is: how do we make it easier for people to examine where information comes from and decide how much confidence it deserves?

You can read the full article on Research Information. It is a great example of the expertise within MDPI contributing to conversations about the future of scientific publishing and communications. Technology can help us address some of these challenges, but ultimately people must remain accountable for the decisions that shape the scientific record.

Opening Thoughts

MDPI Reaches 2 million Published Articles

This month, MDPI reached an important milestone: the publication of our two-millionth article.

It is a number that would have been difficult to imagine in 1996, when MDPI’s first journal, Molecules, published its first volume of 74 papers. It took 25 years to reach our first million published articles in December 2022, and less than four years to reach the second million in August 2026.

From 74 Papers to Two Million Articles

The milestone also comes during our 30th anniversary year, providing another opportunity to reflect on how both MDPI and Open Access publishing have developed over the past three decades. Today, more than half of the world’s published research is Open Access, while MDPI has grown into a portfolio of journals supported by more than 70,000 Editorial Board Members. In 2025 alone, articles published in MDPI journals received 1.9 billion views and downloads.

While two million is an impressive number, what matters most is what sits behind it. Every article represents research conducted and shared by authors, editorial decisions made by academic editors, expertise contributed by reviewers, and the work of colleagues across MDPI supporting the publication and dissemination of research.

Many of the stories in this month’s CEO Letter reflect these communities. We recognize the contributions of the more than 209,000 reviewers who supported MDPI journals in 2025, celebrate scientific excellence through the inaugural Michele Parrinello Award, and look at how communities continue to develop through AIS 2026 and the 12th World Sustainability Forum.

“In 2025 alone, articles published in MDPI journals received 1.9 billion views and downloads”

Publishing at Scale, with Purpose

Reaching two million articles is an important milestone in MDPI’s history, but it is also a reminder of the responsibility that comes with publishing at this scale. As we look ahead, our focus remains on quality, research integrity, strong editorial standards, and providing researchers with reliable and efficient ways to share their work openly with the world.

Thank you to our authors, editors, reviewers, institutional partners, and colleagues around the world who have contributed to this journey.

Impactful Research

Recognizing Scientific Excellence: The Michele Parrinello Award

Supporting researchers means more than publishing and disseminating scientific work. It also means recognizing the researchers, editors, reviewers, and scholars whose contributions advance their fields.

I’m pleased to highlight the inaugural Michele Parrinello Award, which has been awarded to Prof. Ursula Röthlisberger of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Prof. Röthlisberger was recognized for her contributions to computational chemistry and molecular simulation, particularly her pioneering work in ab initio molecular dynamics and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) multiscale simulation methods. 

Prof. Röthlisberger leads the Laboratory of Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry at EPFL, developing computational approaches to understand complex chemical, biological, and materials systems at the atomic level. Her work also extends to next-generation photovoltaic materials, demonstrating the interdisciplinary reach of computational science.

The Michele Parrinello Award was established in 2025 to honor Prof. Michele Parrinello's pioneering contributions to atomistic simulation and computational science. Presented biennially, it recognizes senior researchers who have made significant contributions across physics, chemistry, and materials science. The recipient receives a EUR 50,000 prize, commemorative medal, and certificate.

Awarding Scientific Excellence

The selection was overseen by an international Award Committee, chaired by Prof. Dr. Xin-Gao Gong of Fudan University and a group of researchers from institutions in China, Italy, the UK, and the USA. Nominations were evaluated based on rigor, integrity, and academic excellence. In announcing the winner, Prof. Gong highlighted the impact of Prof. Röthlisberger’s research across multiple scientific disciplines, alongside her contributions to education and leadership within the international research community.

Recognizing Contributions Across the Research Community

The Michele Parrinello Award is part of MDPI’s broader commitment to recognizing excellence across different disciplines, contributions, and career stages.

Our journal awards include:

• Best Paper Awards – recognizing outstanding published research
• Young Investigator Awards – supporting exceptional early-career researchers
• Best PhD Thesis Awards – recognizing promising emerging scholars
• Outstanding Reviewer Awards – acknowledging the essential contribution of peer reviewers
• Travel Awards – helping early-career researchers participate in international conferences
• Editor of Distinction Awards – recognizing exceptional contributions from Editorial Board Members.

Alongside these journal awards, MDPI supports flagship initiatives including the Tu Youyou Award, the World Sustainability Award, the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award, and now the Michele Parrinello Award.

Learn More: 

• Ursula Röthlisberger Receives the Inaugural Michele Parrinello Award
• Media Coverage: STM Publishing – EPFL Professor Ursula Röthlisberger Wins Michele Parrinello Award
• Explore MDPI Awards

Inside MDPI

Recognizing the People Behind Peer Review: MDPI’s 2025 Outstanding Reviewer Awards

Behind every published article is a network of people contributing their expertise to the scholarly record. Among them, reviewers play an essential role, providing independent assessment, feedback, and subject expertise that help editors make informed decisions and authors build on their research.

In 2025, more than 209,000 individuals contributed their expertise as reviewers for MDPI journals. This represents an enormous contribution of time and knowledge from researchers around the world, occurring often alongside their own research, teaching, and professional responsibilities.

I’m pleased to share the recipients of MDPI’s 2025 Outstanding Reviewer Awards, recognizing reviewers who have shown great dedication, expertise, and responsiveness throughout the peer-review process.

Outstanding Reviewers

As at July 2026, 181 MDPI journals have presented Outstanding Reviewer Awards to 412 recipients, highlighting their work across disciplines ranging from biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine to environmental sciences, public health, and the social sciences. To learn more about the list of outstanding reviewers, please visit the following pages:

• Biology and Life Sciences;
• Business and Economics;
• Chemistry and Materials Science;
• Computer Science and Mathematics;
• Engineering;
• Environmental and Earth Sciences;
• Medicine and Pharmacology;
• Physical Sciences;
• Public Health and Healthcare;
• Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.

While these awards highlight a select group of outstanding contributors, they also create an opportunity to acknowledge our entire reviewer community. Peer review depends on researchers sharing their knowledge and experience with others. Their feedback can improve manuscripts, support editors in making informed decisions, and contribute to maintaining the quality and integrity of the scientific record.

“Reviewers play an essential role, providing independent assessment, feedback, and subject expertise”

Supporting the Academic Community

The Outstanding Reviewer Awards are part of MDPI’s awards program, through which our journals recognize contributions across the academic community, including those from researchers, early-career scholars, reviewers, and Editorial Board Members.

Bringing these contributions to the forefront is important because much of the work that supports scholarly publishing happens behind the scenes. The time, expertise, and critical feedback provided by reviewers are essential to a rigorous and constructive peer-review process.

As MDPI celebrates its 30th anniversary, I would like to thank the more than 209,000 reviewers who contributed to our journals in 2025 and to congratulate the 412 Outstanding Reviewer Award recipients recognized for going above and beyond in supporting their respective research communities.

Coming Together for Science 

AIS 2026: Growing a Community Around AI and Sensor Research

One of the most rewarding aspects of our conference program is seeing scientific communities develop over time. A conference may begin by bringing together researchers around an emerging field, but with each edition it can create new relationships, collaborations, and opportunities for researchers to reconnect and exchange ideas.

The 3rd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers (AIS 2026) is a good example of this growth.

“What stands out is the community developing around AIS”

This year’s conference took place from 2 to 7 August in Jeju, South Korea, welcoming over 560 participants – an increase of 225 attendees compared with 2025 and 160 compared with the inaugural conference of 2024. Across the program, participants contributed 373 presentations and 109 poster displays, including four plenary presentations, 52 keynote speeches, 192 invited talks, and 125 oral presentations.

Building an International Research Community

Beyond the numbers, what stands out is the community developing around AIS. Many researchers have now participated in all three editions of the conference, with delegates already expressing their intention to return for AIS 2027. The program also brought together established researchers from across the field for discussions on AI sensors and emerging sensing technologies.

Building Engagement in South Korea

This year’s conference reflects our continued engagement with the research community in South Korea. AIS 2026 welcomed 150 participants from the Korean academic community and strengthened our cooperation with the Korean Sensors Society.

This is an important part of what our conferences can achieve. By bringing researchers together in person, we create opportunities to present the latest research and build relationships between scholars, institutions, societies, and at MDPI that can continue after an event concludes.

Looking Ahead

With this momentum, AIS 2027 is planned for 29 July to 3 August 2027 in Kunming, Yunnan, China, with the participation of an international group of Conference Chairs already confirmed from institutions in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.

Three editions into AIS, the continued growth of this conference shows what is possible when we invest consistently in scientific communities. The objective is not simply to organize larger conferences each year but to create spaces where researchers return, new collaborations develop, and scientific communities become stronger.

Many thanks to the Conference Chairs, speakers, sponsors, supporting organizations, participants, and all MDPI colleagues who contributed to AIS 2026. Growing an international event takes years of relationship-building and considerable work behind the scenes, and this year’s conference reflects that collective effort.

Closing Thoughts

World Sustainability Forum 12: Coming Together for a More Sustainable Future

Sustainability challenges rarely sit within a single discipline, institution, or country. Addressing them requires researchers, policymakers, industry, and communities to exchange ideas and work across traditional boundaries.

This is one of the ideas behind the World Sustainability Forum (WSF), which has now reached its 12th edition.

From 21 to 24 August, the 12th World Sustainability Forum (WSF-12) took place in Hong Kong, bringing together more than 300 experts, scholars, policymakers, and industry representatives from over 100 universities and research institutions across 53 countries and regions. The Forum received 543 abstract submissions, showcasing international interest in sustainability research.

Connecting Research, Policy, and Industry

Across four days, the scientific program featured 230 onsite presentations, including plenary, keynote, invited and oral presentations, together with 53 poster presentations. The program also included a plenary panel discussion, Connecting Sustainability Solutions Across Sectors, presenting perspectives from academia, government, and industry.

This interdisciplinary exchange is particularly important in sustainability research. Challenges relating to our cities, environment, energy systems, economies, and societies are increasingly interconnected, and progress depends on creating opportunities for different disciplines and sectors to learn from one another.

WSF-12 also generated opportunities for industry participation. As a Strategic Partner, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) E-Light International Communication Brand contributed to industry engagement throughout the Forum.

MDPI Sustainability Foundation Awards

Another highlight of WSF-12 was the presentation of three MDPI Sustainability Foundation Awards, celebrating the 2025 and 2026 winners of the World Sustainability Award and the 2026 winner of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award.

Recognizing researchers and emerging leaders in their fields is an important part of supporting scientific communities. These awards are an opportunity to celebrate individual achievements and highlight research that contributes to a more sustainable future.

Looking Ahead to WSF-13

After twelve editions, WSF is a great example of how a scientific community can develop over time. This is also what we hope to achieve through MDPI’s broader conference program. Scientific meetings should be more than individual events: by investing consistently in research communities, we can create spaces where people return, new relationships develop, different perspectives meet, and collaboration continues beyond the conference itself.

The next chapter is already taking shape. The 13th World Sustainability Forum(WSF-13) will take place from 8 to 11 June 2027 in Nice, France. Chaired by Prof. Dr. Adel Ben Youssef and organized by MDPI and the journal Sustainability in collaboration with Université Côte d’Azur, WSF-13 will continue the Forum’s interdisciplinary approach across the natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences.

Thank You

Many thanks to the Conference Chairs, speakers, strategic partners, sponsors, supporting organizations, participants, and all MDPI colleagues who contributed to WSF-12. Events of this scale require considerable coordination and collaboration behind the scenes, and the continued growth of WSF reflects the collective efforts of the MDPI Conference Department and a global community committed to sustainability research, innovation, and collaboration.