Announcements
7 August 2025
Meet Us at the 12th Indoor Environment and Health Conference (IEHB 2025), 8–10 August 2025, Dalian, China
5 August 2025
Welcoming New Early Career Editorial Board Members of Sustainability
Sustainability (ISSN: 2071-1050) is pleased to add the following 100 researchers to the 2025 Early Career Editorial Board and congratulates them on becoming part of the Sustainability community!
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Name: Dr. Daniel Sánchez-García |
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Name: Dr. Renata Camboim Salatino Tubelo |
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Name: Dr. Francesco Carlucci |
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Name: Dr. Muhammad Ali Musarat |
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Name: Dr. Mohamed Karam Hussein Ismail |
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Name: Dr. Jamiu Odugbesan |
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Name: Dr. Ahmed A. Elansary |
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Name: Dr. Biao Hu |
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Name: Dr. Lianxu Zhou |
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Name: Dr. Zhi-Wei Shan |
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Name: Dr. Iasmina Onescu |
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Name: Dr. Swarna Kanchan |
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Name: Dr. Zhichao He |
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Name: Dr. Enrico Mancinelli |
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Name: Dr. Rishu Thakur |
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Name: Dr. Wanlu Ouyang |
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Name: Dr. Gang Wang |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Qian Cao |
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Name: Dr. Ting Yang |
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Name: Dr. Giulia Ferronato |
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Name: Dr. María Liliana Flores-López |
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Name: Dr. Opeyemi Ayodeji Akogun |
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Name: Dr. Maria João Da Silva Rodrigues |
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Name: Dr. Carla Cavallo |
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Name: Dr. Sebastian Elgueta |
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Name: Dr. Fernando Pablo Fuentes Peñailillo |
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Name: Dr. Andreea Ona |
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Name: Dr. Karolina Almonaityte |
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Name: Dr. Anam Azam |
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Name: Dr. Hamidreza Mahdavi |
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Name: Dr. Chiara Martino |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Alessia Acampora |
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Name: Dr. Fahad Asmi |
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Name: Dr. Alessandro Antonio Papa |
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Name: Dr. Mona Tawfik Al-Shemy |
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Name: Dr. Lei Huang |
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Name: Dr. Qiulai He |
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Name: Dr. Lulu Liu |
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Name: Dr. Isaac Akomea-Frimpong |
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Name: Dr. Jeonghyun Kim |
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Name: Dr. Yingliang Zhao |
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Name: Dr. Xiao Huang |
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Name: Dr. Ye Zhang |
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Name: Dr. Lili Li |
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Name: Dr. Darina Dupláková |
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Name: Dr. Vishal Kumar |
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Name: Dr. Fan Zhang |
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Name: Dr. Wandercleiton Cardoso |
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Name: Dr. Sundar Rathnarajan |
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Name: Dr. Georgiana Bunea |
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Name: Dr. Seyed Mahdi Miraftabzadeh |
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Name: Dr. Moaaz Kabil |
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Name: Dr. Muhammad Salem |
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Name: Dr. Piotr Jaskowski |
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Name: Dr. Huihui Wang |
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Name: Dr. Hongchi Zhang |
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Name: Dr. Xuan Ma |
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Name: Dr. Zaishang Li |
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Name: Dr. Peiheng Yu |
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Name: Dr. Chao Liu |
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Name: Dr. KeChrist Obileke |
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Name: Dr. Aminhossein Jahanbin |
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Name: Dr. Federico Minelli |
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Name: Dr. Xinjun He |
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Name: Dr. Hossein Ebadi |
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Name: Dr. Yuanxing Xia |
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Name: Dr. Weize Song |
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Name: Dr. Chao Lei |
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Name: Dr. Jianbo Zhang |
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Name: Dr. Yang Zhou |
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Name: Dr. Lorenzo Mario Pastore |
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Name: Dr. Muhammad Asif Nawaz |
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Name: Dr. York Castillo Santiago |
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Name: Dr. Praveen Kumar |
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Name: Dr. Xiaolei Liu |
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Name: Dr. Krishnamoorthy Ramalingam |
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Name: Dr. Dušan Mladenović |
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Name: Dr. Cheng Shi |
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Name: Dr. Muhammad Zubair Khan |
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Name: Dr. Matia Mainardis |
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Name: Dr. Setyo Budi Kurniawan |
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Name: Dr. Xuran Liu |
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Name: Dr. Shuoxun Dong |
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Name: Dr. Naveen V. Kulkarni |
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Name: Dr. Massimiliano Marino |
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Name: Dr. Rakesh Kumar |
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Name: Dr. Linghao Kong |
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Name: Dr. Mengqi Zheng |
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Name: Dr. Weichen Lin |
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Name: Dr. Linton Munyai |
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Name: Dr. Mohammad Jaber |
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Name: Dr. Shu Wang |
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Name: Dr. Runfa Tan |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Jin-Wei Wang |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Lotfi Mouni |
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Name: Dr. Khaled Obaideen |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Paulina Vilela |
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Name: Dr. Jiani Tan |
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Name: Dr. Zhanbin Luo |
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Name: Prof. Dr. Jing Dong |
4 August 2025
Meet Us at the Second National Conference on Information Geography, 17–20 August 2025, Chengdu, China
1 August 2025
Meet Us at the Aquaculture Europe 2025 (AE2025), 22–25 September 2025, Valencia, Spain
31 July 2025
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #25 - 8,000 Staff Worldwide, Korea Visit, 100,000 Preprints, Malaysia Roundtable, Canada Consortium Deal
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
Talent Drives Our Progress
For the first time in MDPI’s history, we now have over 8,000 colleagues across the company. I would like to take a moment to celebrate this milestone and acknowledge the driving force behind our growth and success: our people.
As the world’s leading fully open access publisher, MDPI has grown thanks to the dedication, talent, and teamwork of colleagues across the company. Already halfway through 2025, we’ve welcomed nearly 2,000 new colleagues.
“Our achievements are also about the people behind them”
We now manage over 475 journals, with 298 receiving an Impact Factor, and hundreds more indexed in major databases, including 343 in Scopus, and 92 by PubMed. As the reach and impact of our journals continues to grow, so does the need for dedicated and qualified teams to support that growth. Thus, attracting and retaining exceptional talent remains a cornerstone of our success.
Our achievements are not just about the results of journal expansion, however: they’re about the people behind them. From our hardworking editors to our meticulous English editing and production teams – from our journal relationship specialists, public relations, marketing and communications professionals to our conference teams and the project teams behind Preprints, Scilit, SciProfiles, JAMS and more. Our success reflects the work of thousands of people showing up each day, taking pride in their work, and committed to excellence and service.
What we’re doing to support talent:
- Investing in onboarding and training to help new colleagues feel welcomed and empowered to thrive.
- Creating clearer career paths across all functions, from editorial to communications and beyond.
- Launching mentorship programs and internal knowledge-sharing sessions to promote growth and collaboration.
- Evolving our recognition and rewards programs to better celebrate your contributions.
- Expanding our training systems and platforms.
MDPI’s in-house training department offers over 215 training courses, covering topics from editorial development to cross-cultural collaboration. In 2024 alone, we had 44 full-time trainers and 196 part-time training assistants supporting the learning and development needs of colleagues worldwide. These efforts ensure our teams are equipped with the skills and confidence to grow professionally and contribute meaningfully.
Over two-thirds of our workforce is editorial, and of our more than 5,400 editors, 87% hold a Master’s degree and 6% a PhD. Their collective contributions are central to delivering a high-quality publishing experience and supporting global academic communication.
As we celebrate this milestone, we also aim to continue on a path of steady and sustainable growth, one that balances journal expansion with investment in people, outreach, processes, and innovation. Together, we are shaping the future of open access and academic publishing. Thank you for your hard work, your ideas, and your commitment to serving the global research community.
Let’s continue working together to create a culture where great talent grows and every colleague feels valued.
Impactful Research
Visiting South Korea: Building Connections and Supporting the MDPI Seoul Office
In July, I had the opportunity to visit our team in Seoul and engage directly with academic communities in South Korea. The visit focused on deepening MDPI’s relationships with local universities, institutions, and partners, and supporting the great work of our colleagues at the MDPI Seoul office.
Korea Association of Private University Libraries (KAPUL) Conference
A highlight of the visit was our participation in the Korea Association of Private University Libraries (KAPUL) Conference, where we presented to over 100 academic librarians. I delivered a keynote speech titled “The Evolving Publishing Landscape: Open Access and Beyond,” while my colleague Dr. Jisuk Kang (Public Affairs Specialist) shared insights in her presentation, “Inside MDPI: Editorial Practices & Research Integrity.”
Our participation received media coverage, including:
NEWS1: “Publishing Open Access Papers' MDPI...Supporting the Expansion of Korean Research Influence”
UNN (University News Network): “MDPI Announces ‘Seoul Declaration’... “Presenting Standards for Authenticity and Transparency in Korea”
Beyond Post: MDPI CEO Visits Korea to 'Support for the Development of Domestic Knowledge Ecosystem'
Facts & Figures: South Korea
- South Korea is MDPI’s sixth-largest publishing country by article volume (over 90,000 MDPI papers published to date).
- In 2024, Korea ranked 16th globally by total publications, and 6th (among these top 20 countries) by citation impact.
- 52% of Korean publications in 2024 were OA – and 73% of those were Gold OA.
- MDPI published about 20% of all OA papers from Korea in 2024.
- Over 2,000 active Editorial Board Members from South Korea contribute to MDPI journals, with 11 Section Editors-in-Chief.
- We currently have 11 Institutional Open Access Program agreements and two society partnerships in Korea:
- Korean Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology (with MDPI journal Pharmaceutics)
- Korean Tribology Society (with MDPI journal Coatings)
MDPI Seoul Office and the First Korea Salon
Our Seoul office serves as a regional hub for marketing, communications, and community engagement. It continues to grow in size and influence, prioritizing supporting scholar visits, conference sponsorships, and outreach events such as the recent MDPI Korea Salon.
The inaugural Salon, themed “Exploring Research Trends in Medical Publishing, Ethics, and AI,” brought together over 20 scholars and Editorial Board members serving MDPI journals.
Thank you to our guest speakers including Professors Young-Joon Surh of Seoul National University, Kwang-Sig Lee of Korea University, and Jin-Won Noh of Yonsei University who presented on the landscape of medicine in South Korea and across the globe. The Salon also included presentations from MDPI colleagues on Open Access, ethics, and how the IOAP can support researchers in this field.
“Our Seoul office continues to grow in size and influence”
Looking Ahead
MDPI is already the leading OA publisher in South Korea, yet challenges and misconceptions around OA and APCs remain. Visits like this one, along with the ongoing efforts of our Seoul office, are important to building understanding, trust, and long-term relationships with the local academic community.
A big thank-you to our colleagues in Seoul for their warm hospitality, professionalism, and energy! Our new office is well situated, staffed, and ready to grow. This visit marked an important step forward in our continued mission to support global research communities and advance Open Science.
Inside MDPI
Preprints.org Reaches 100,000 Preprints: A Major Milestone for MDPI and Open Science
In case you missed it, Preprints.org recently surpassed 100,000 preprints posted. This is a major milestone for our platform and one worth celebrating.
Preprints are a key pillar of the Open Science movement, which promotes transparency, equity, and faster knowledge-sharing through initiatives such as Open Access, Open Data, Open Source, and Open Peer Review. The benefits of Open Science extend beyond researchers, as they support funders, educators, policymakers, and the public in advancing discovery and innovation.
What is behind the 100,000 preprints milestone?
Since its launch in 2016, Preprints.org has grown into one of the world’s leading preprint platforms, now ranked fifth globally by publication volume.
More than 350,000 researchers have contributed, helping shape this dynamic and collaborative space for sharing early-stage research across all disciplines.
Read the full announcement here:
https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/12202
“Preprints.org has grown into one of the world’s leading preprint platforms”
Some quick facts worth noting:
- About 56% of the preprints on Preprints.org are later published in peer-reviewed journals.
- The platform is now indexed in Web of Science (Preprint Citation Index), Europe PMC, and Crossref, helping improve visibility and trust in the preprints shared.
- Recent upgrades – including a revamped website, new features such as search subscriptions, curated reading lists, and community feedback tools (PREreview) – show our commitment to developing Preprints.org in line with researchers’ needs.
This growth and progress would not be possible without the dedication of the Preprints.org team, our Advisory Board members, screeners, and colleagues across MDPI who support the platform’s development. This milestone is a reminder of our shared mission: to accelerate scientific communication and build a more open, transparent, and inclusive research ecosystem.
I’m excited to see what’s ahead as we approach Preprints.org’s 10-year anniversary in 2026!
Coming Together for Science
Malaysia Media Roundtable: Educating on Open Access and MDPI’s Presence in Southeast Asia
At the end of June, I had the opportunity to participate in a strategic media roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, focused on raising awareness about the importance of Open Access (OA) and on MDPI’s growing presence in Southeast Asia.
We welcomed five Malaysian media outlets for an engaging private session that included presentations and open discussion.
I gave an overview of the benefits of Open Access, MDPI’s global developments, and our collaborations in Malaysia.
My colleague Yu Nwe Soe (Public Relations Specialist), presented on our editorial process, helping to clarify how MDPI supports authors and maintains research quality.
We were also joined by two local Editorial Board Members (EBMs) who offered first-hand insights into their experiences working with MDPI and how OA has shaped their publishing choices.
The discussion covered a range of questions from the press, from OA publishing models to editorial standards, and highlighted MDPI’s unique contribution to accelerating scientific communication in the region.
As the leading fully OA publisher, we see it as our responsibility to continue educating research communities and the broader public on the impact of OA, especially in emerging and high-growth academic markets.
Spotlight on Malaysia
Malaysia continues to rise as a regional research hub, with five universities ranked in the global top 200 and 11 subjects in the global top 50. In 2024, Malaysia ranked 2nd in Southeast Asia in total publication output, 10th in Asia, and 25th globally.
MDPI’s presence in Malaysia:
- Over 21,000 research articles published to date from Malaysian institutions
- More than 1,100 articles published in 2024 alone
- In the period 2020–2024, 54% of Malaysia’s total publications were OA
- 36 EBMs from Malaysia, across 27 MDPI journals
- Around 100 conferences sponsored in Malaysia in the past five years
- MDPI is hosting the 2nd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers in Kuala Lumpur (29 July- 3 August 2025)
Media Coverage & Editorial Voices
Following the roundtable, we saw positive coverage across several local outlets, with articles highlighting MDPI’s role in empowering Malaysian researchers. Notable pieces included:
- Open-Access Empowers Malaysia’s Research Future
- Empowering Malaysian Researchers to Meet the Nation’s Innovation Ambitions
- MDPI and empowering Malaysian researchers
Our local EBMs also shared their perspectives:
Prof. Denny Ng Kok Sum (Sunway University, EBM of MDPI journal Processes) and Prof. Lee (EBM of MDPI journal Bacteria) share their experiences with MDPI and the role Open Access plays in their publication decisions.
“We see it as our responsibility to continue educating research communities on the impact of OA”
“I didn’t want my work stuck behind a paywall.”
— Prof. Denny Ng Kok Sum, Sunway University, Processes Editorial Board Member
“Open Access opens doors for collaboration and visibility, especially in fast-developing regions like ours.”
— Prof. Lee, Bacteria Editorial Board Member
This roundtable marked another step in building trust, understanding, and collaboration in Southeast Asia. A big thank-you to the MDPI Malaysia team and all those who contributed to the event’s success.
Closing Thoughts
MDPI Signs First North American Agreement with Canadian Consortium
We are proud to announce a major milestone for MDPI Canada and an important step forward for OA in North America.
In July, our Toronto office finalized MDPI’s first North American consortium agreement with the Federal Science Libraries Network (FSLN). This is a significant achievement that strengthens our expansion in Canada and reinforces our global commitment to supporting Open Science.
This two-year agreement gives Canadian federal agencies access to MDPI’s IOAP, including discounted article processing charges for affiliated researchers across our portfolio of over 475 OA journals. It lowers barriers for Canadian scientists to share their work more openly and reach a global audience.
Ryan Siu, Institutional Partnerships Manager at MDPI.
“The Open Science landscape in Canada is rapidly evolving, with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy set for renewal by the end of 2025. This reflects ongoing efforts to foster greater scientific transparency and accessibility at a national policy level,” says Ryan Siu, Institutional Partnerships Manager at MDPI.
“Our new agreement with FSLN represents our shared commitment to further these efforts and foster wider readership. By aligning with these initiatives, we make progress towards research that’s both inclusive and impactful, benefiting local and global communities alike.”
Participating FSLN institutions include:
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Health Canada
- National Research Council Canada
- Natural Resources Canada
By partnering with some of Canada’s largest science-based agencies, we reaffirm our goal of advancing OA across continents. We look forward to developing our support for Canadian researchers and continuing to drive progress in Open Science across North America and beyond.
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG
31 July 2025
Meet Us at VII EUROSOIL 2025 & X Iberian Congress of Soil Science, 8–12 September 2025, Seville, Spain
30 July 2025
Scientific Publishing Workshop: Navigating Trends, Challenges & Opportunities, 21 August 2025
In collaboration with Taylor’s University and University Kebangsaan Malaysia, MDPI will be holding a workshop designed to empower early-career researchers, postgraduate students, and aspiring authors with essential knowledge and skills in academic publishing.
The workshop will cover key aspects of scholarly communication—from understanding open access publishing to responding to peer reviewers and structuring high-quality manuscripts.
Participants will gain practical insights through interactive skill labs, hear firsthand publishing experiences from established academics, and explore the emerging role of artificial intelligence in academic writing.
As part of the afternoon segment, we are pleased to welcome Prof. Wong Hyuk Nien, from the National University of Singapore, as a guest speaker, who will share his experience publishing in Q1 and Q2 journals.
Date: 21 August 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Venue: Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Schedule:
| Speaker | Program and Content | Time |
| Registration | 9:30–10:00 a.m. | |
| Opening Address by Session Chair/Welcome Message | 10:00–10:05 a.m. | |
| Dr. Colin Wee | MDPI and Open Access, Journals Introduction This session provides an introduction to MDPI, both globally and within Singapore, and the Open Access publishing model, and offers a concise overview of MDPI’s editorial process, including peer-review and ethical practices. Reasons for Rejection at Pre-Check Participants will explore the most common reasons manuscripts are rejected during the pre-check stage. This session will provide actionable advice on preparing submissions, including adhering to author guidelines, checking for ethical compliance, and ensuring the manuscript aligns with the journal’s objectives. Q&A Session |
10:05–10:35 a.m. |
| Dr. Colin Wee | How to Respond to Peer Reviewers This session will guide authors on effectively addressing major and minor revision comments from peer reviewers. Participants will learn how to make the necessary adjustments to their manuscripts while ensuring that all feedback is adequately addressed. By mastering this process, authors can improve their chances of successful publication. Q&A Session |
10:35–11:15 a.m. |
| Dr. Lee Wei Thye | How to Write and Structure an Academic Paper Developed by MDPI’s Author Services team, this section provides effective strategies for crafting clear, coherent manuscripts, improving logical flow, readability, and impactful communication with reviewers and readers. Q&A Session Skill Lab: Reviewer Says, You Respond In “Reviewer Says, You Respond,” participants will practice crafting professional responses to sample peer-reviewer comments. They will learn to address feedback, provide clear rebuttals, and revise manuscripts while maintaining a collaborative tone. Skill Lab: Catchy Yet Clear – Title-Crafting Challenge Participants will practice writing concise, informative, and engaging research paper titles that reflect the study’s content and attract potential readers. |
11:15–12:30 p.m. |
| Lunch Break | 12:30–2:00 p.m. | |
| Overview Presentation and Panel Discussion The Application of AI in Academic Writing: - Overview Presentation: Artificial Intelligence in the Scientific Publishing Industry by MDPI; - Panel Discussion. |
2:00–2:45 p.m. | |
| Dr. Wong Nyuk Hien | Experience Sharing by Professor Wong: Publishing Experience in Q1 and Q2 journals. |
2:45–3:15 p.m. |
| Closing Remarks | 3:15–3:30 p.m. | |
| Tea Break | 3:30–4:00 p.m. |
Invited Speaker:
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Dr. Wong Nyuk Hien is currently working as a Professor at the Department of the Built Environment, College of Design and Engineering (CDE), National University of Singapore, Singapore. He completed his PhD in building performance and diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University, USA, in 1998. He has served as Vice Dean of the College of CDE/SDE, in charge of research and graduate students. Prof. Wong has carried out extensive research on the Urban Heat Island effect in Singapore, and explored the various mitigation measures, such as the effective utilization of urban greenery and cool roof materials. Prof. Wong has received honors including the Local Merit Scholarship, Public Service Commission, Singapore, Building Science Gold Medal, National University of Singapore, NUS Excellent Teachers award, and the Excellent Teachers award three times since AY2003/2004. He also supervised a number of graduate students. He has published more than 200 research articles in journals and contributed to 21 books/monographs as author/co-author. He is a member of many national and international advisory boards and editorial boards. He has also delivered a number of presentations at scholarly meetings/ workshops. |
MDPI speakers:
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Dr. Wei Thye Lee earned his PhD from the National University of Singapore (NUS), where his research focused on experimental therapeutics in pre-clinical models of neurodegenerative diseases. He has published in many Scopus- and Web of Science (WOS)-indexed journals throughout his academic career. At MDPI, he has held various editorial roles, including Assistant Editor, Publishing Specialist, and Special Issue Editor. He is currently serving as the Institutional Partnership Manager for MDPI, liaising with institutions across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. |
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Dr. Colin Wee joined MDPI in October 2021 as the Publishing Specialist for the “Social Sciences” portfolio of journals. He holds positions as Publishing Manager for multiple journals, Journal Relations Lead, and a Scientific Review Board Member. He has a liberal arts undergraduate education in psychology and neuroscience, graduating with honors from Grinnell College, Iowa. He received his PhD in industrial–organizational psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focused on vocational interest and psychometrics. He has studied in Singapore, the UK, Japan, and the USA. |
30 July 2025
Meet Us Virtually at the 1st International Online Conference on Inventions—Energy Security and Sustainable Development, 25–26 June 2026
8 July 2025
Meet Us at the AOGS2025 22nd Annual Meeting, 27 July–1 August 2025, Singapore
8 July 2025
Meet Us at the 2025 Science and Technology Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, 18–20 July 2025, Nanjing, China
