Announcements

25 June 2025
Universe Receives an Updated Impact Factor of 2.6


We are pleased to share that Universe (ISSN: 2218-1997) was awarded an increased Impact Factor of 2.6 in the 2024 Journal Citation Reports™ released by Clarivate™ in June 2025. Universe ranks in Q2 (35 among 84 titles) in the “Astronomy & Astrophysics” category.

The 2024 Journal Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations received in 2024 to all publications in the journal from 2022 and 2023 by the total number of citable publications from those same years.

To learn more, visit our journal statistics website for detailed metrics or check out our news article for general information.

The support and dedication of all the editors, reviewers, authors, and readers are an integral part of the journal’s performance. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have contributed to the journal.

19 June 2025
Meet Us at the 16th Asia Pacific Physics Conference (APPC16), 19–24 October 2025, Haikou, China


Conference: The 16th Asia Pacific Physics Conference
Organization: Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS); The Chinese Physical Society (CPS)
Date: 19–24 October 2025
Place: Haikou, China

MDPI journals will attend the 16th Asia Pacific Physics Conference as an exhibitor. The conference will take place in Haikou, China, from 19 to 24 October 2025.

As a triennial conference series organized by AAPPS, APPC brings together physicists from across the region to share and discuss cutting-edge research and education in all areas of physics. Hosted by CPS in 2025, APPC16 will provide a unique opportunity for scholars to foster collaborations, strengthen friendships, and exchange ideas with colleagues from the Asia–Pacific community.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the symposium:

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://appc16.scimeeting.cn/en/web/index/24735.

18 June 2025
Welcoming New Early Career Editorial Members of Universe

Universe (ISSN: 2218-1997) is pleased to announce the following 30 researchers, who have been added to our group of 2025–2026 Early Career Editorial Board Members. Please join us in congratulating them on joining the Universe community!

Name: Dr. Ana Alonso-Serrano
Affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert-Einstein-Institute) Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
Research interests:
high-energy physics; general relativity; quantum field theory; special and general relativity; quantum physics; cosmology; gravitational physics; fundamental physics; quantum cosmology; black holes; wormholes; universe; multiverse; thermodynamics; relativistic quantum information; philosophy of science

Name: Dr. Amirnezam Amiri
Affiliation: Physics Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
Research interests:
AGN; gas-phase metallicity; SED and star formation; galactic environments; extraterrestrial artificial intelligence; observational data analysis; computational astronomy

Name: Dr. Alexander Ayriyan
Affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Wroclaw, Max Born Pl. 9, 50-204 Wroclaw, Poland
Research interests: neutron stars; dense nuclear matter; equation of state (EOS); compact stars, Bayesian analysis; relativistic stellar structure

Name: Dr. Francesco Bajardi
Affiliations: 1. Scuola Superiore Meridionale (SSM), Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80138 Napoli, Italy; 2. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Napoli, Via Cinthia 9, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Research interests:
classical and quantum cosmology; Noether symmetries; general relativity; modified theories of gravity

Name: Dr. Indranil Banik
Affiliation: Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Dennis Sciama Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
Research interests:
cosmology; galactic dynamics; Milgromian dynamics

Name: Dr. Trambak Bhattacharyya
Affiliation: Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce 25-406, Poland
Research interests:
heavy-ion physics; quark–gluon plasma; Tsallis statistics; socio-physics

Name: Dr. Simone Biondini
Affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstr. 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Research interests: high-energy physics phenomenology; effective field theories; early universe

Name: Dr. Mattia Dalla Brida
Affiliation: Theoretical Physics Department, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
Research interests:
lattice QCD; phenomenology of the standard model; quantum field theory

Name: Dr. Luca Buoninfante
Affiliation: NORDITA, Hannes Alfvéns väg 12, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
Research interests:
general relativity; quantum gravity; higher-derivative gravity; nonlocal quantum field theory; black holes; gravitational waves

Name: Dr. Xiong-Hui Cao
Affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Research interests:
hadron physics; dispersion relations; hadron form factors; chiral effective field theories

Name: Dr. Xiao Yan Chew
Affiliation: School of Science, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang , China
Research interests:
gravitational physics; numerical relativity

Name: Dr. Pedro Cunha
Affiliation: Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
Research interests: gravity and general relativity; black holes; exotic compact objects; strong gravitational lensing and black hole shadows

Name: Dr. Artur Czerwinski
Affiliation: Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Intypeatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, ul. Grudziadzka 5, 87-100 Torun, Poland
Research interests: quantum optics; entanglement; quantum dynamics; open quantum systems; non-Markovian evolution; quantum state tomography; time-bin encoding; phase retrieval; quantum Hamiltonian tomography; tomography; entanglement measures; quantum measurement; decoherence

Name: Dr. Antonia Frassino
Affiliation:
Departament de Física Quàntica i Astrofísica and Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Research interests: black holes; holography; EFT; quantum gravity, QFT in curved spacetime

Name: Dr. Cláudio Gomes
Affiliation:
Centro de Física das Universidades do Minho e do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Research interests: gravitation; cosmology; alternative theories of gravity

Name: Dr. Rahul Gupta
Affiliation:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Research interests: gamma-ray bursts (GRBs); fast X-ray transients; supernovae

Name: Dr. Szymon Piotr Harabasz
Affiliation:
Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt 64289, Germany
Research interests: heavy-ion collisions; dileptons; statistical hadronization; azimuthal flow; high-density QCD

Name: Dr. Guansheng He
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Physics, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Research interests: general relativity; gravitational lensing; post-Newtonian dynamics

Name: Dr. Ricardo G. Landim
Affiliation
: Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
Research interests: cosmology; theoretical physics; dark energy; dark matter; baryogenesis/leptogenesis; extra dimensions; 21 cm hydrogen line; fast radio bursts; radio astronomy

Name: Dr. Zhenyan Lu
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Research interests: high-energy physics; axion physics; theta vacuum; chiral perturbation theory; chiral anomaly quark matter

Name: Dr. Raffaella Anna Marino
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Research interests: astrophysics; formation and evolution of galaxies; intergalactic medium; star formation; instrumentation; imaging; spectroscopy; IFU; big data analytic and visualization; algorithms development; simulations

Name: Dr. Mehrab Momennia
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México
Research interests: black hole perturbation theory; relativistic astrophysics and accretion disks; thermodynamics of black holes; relativistic kinetic theory on curved spacetime; accretion process into black holes; modified gravity; cosmology

Name: Dr. Alessandro Peca
Affiliations:
1. Eureka Scientific, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA; 2. Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Research interests:
active galactic nuclei (AGN); X-ray astronomy; multi-wavelength studies; AGN variability; obscuration processes

Name: Dr. Luciano Petruzziello
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 I-84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Research interests: neutrino physics; quantum field theory in curved spacetime; quantum gravity; general relativity; extended theories of gravity; Casimir effect; quantum information

Name: Dr. Alessia Platania
Affiliation:
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Research interests: quantum gravity; asymptotic safety; renormalization group; quantum gravity phenomenology; cosmology; black holes

Name: Dr. Venkatessh Ramakrishnan
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Concepcion, Concepcion, Bio Bio 4030000, Chile
Research interests: imaging supermassive black holes; accretion physics of AGNs; gas kinematics and stellar dynamics; multifrequency SED modeling; sparse image processing

Name: Dr. Marco Danilo Claudio Torri
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano e INFN, 20133 Milano, Italy
Research interests: quantum gravity; quantum field theory; theoretical physics and spacetime symmetries (Lorentz and CPT symmetries); neutrino physics; cosmic ray physics

Name: Dr. Andreas Trautner
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany
Research interests: CP violation; flavor physics; neutrino interactions; physics beyond the standard model; particle cosmology; strong CP problem; symmetries and outer automorphisms

Name: Dr. Syed Uddin
Affiliations:
1. The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813, Santa Barbara Street, Pasadean, CA 91101, USA; 2. Centre for Space Studies, American Public University System, Charles Town, WV, USA
Research interests:
supernova cosmology; large-scale structure; instrumentation

Name: Dr. Wolfgang Wieland
Affiliation:
Institute for Quantum Gravity, Theoretical Physics III, Department of Physics Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstraße 7, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
Research interests: quantum gravity; loop quantum gravity and spinfoam models; spin structure of spacetime; quasi-local observables/quasi-local realisations of the holographic principle

9 June 2025
Universe Receives an Increased CiteScore of 5.2


We are pleased to share that Universe (ISSN: 2218-1997) has received an increased CiteScore of 5.2 in June 2025. The CiteScore ranks the journal 63 out of 246 titles (Q2) in the “General Physics and Astronomy” category, an impressive achievement for a journal running in Volume 11.

You can find more statistics on our website.

The current CiteScores measure the average number of citations within a journal over a four-year window (2021–2024). The Scopus database provides a comprehensive suite of metrics that support informed publishing strategies, research evaluation and enable benchmarking of journal performance.

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of our authors, reviewers, and editors. Together we will continue to track the progress of Universe and its growing impact in fundamental and applied physics from circumterrestrial space to cosmological scenarios.

3 June 2025
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #23 - MDPI Summits Spain & Italy, Ei Compendex, and Editorial Independence

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

Highlights from the MDPI Spain Summit in Barcelona (21-22 May)

In May we hosted the MDPI Spain Summit in Barcelona – our second summit in the city following the inaugural one in November 2023.


Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI) at the MDPI Spain Summit in Barcelona, 22 May 2025.

Creating a space for exchange of views

The goal of our summits is to bring together Chief Editors of MDPI journals from across disciplines and institutions. These intimate gatherings provide a platform to present the latest developments at MDPI and to initiate open conversations about our journals, the future of open access, and the evolving landscape of scientific publishing.

Most importantly, these are opportunities for in-person connection, providing a more meaningful space for the exchange of views and for building long-term relationships.

Exploring the future of scientific publishing in Spain

The summit took place on 21–22 May and featured a mix of MDPI presentations (including two guest presentations), roundtable discussions, and Q&A sessions. On the first day, we held a focused session with our Chief Editors to gather feedback and have open discussions on their journal development, the peer-review process, and local accreditation systems.


Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Scientific Communications Lead, MDPI, presents MDPI’s Editorial Process and Peer Review Quality Metrics at the MDPI Spain Summit in Barcelona, 22 May 2025.

I had the pleasure of opening the Summit with a welcome address and an overview of MDPI’s recent milestones. The agenda then included the following sessions:

  • MDPI and Recent Developments in the Spanish Market – Dr. Marta Colomer (Public Affairs Specialist, MDPI)
  • MDPI Editorial Process and Peer Review Quality Metrics – Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Scientific Communications Lead, MDPI)
  • Open Access in Spain – Dr. Remedios Melero (Researcher, CSIC – guest speaker)
  • AI in Publishing and MDPI's Actions – Dr. Enric Sayas (Business Analyst, MDPI), Daniele Raimondi (Data Scientist, MDPI), and Dr. Alexandre López-Borrull (Researcher, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya – guest speaker)
  • Publication Ethics – Ana Stankovic (Research Integrity and Publication Ethics, MDPI)
  • Opening and Closing remarks were provided by Rocksy Zhang (Editorial Director, MDPI)

We are extremely grateful for the strong engagement shown by our Editors, who were clearly appreciative of the event and the discussions we had. They felt seen and heard, which is a vital prerequisite for building open channels of communication and cultivating productive long-term collaborations.


MDPI colleagues during MDPI Spain Summit in Barcelona (22 May 2025).

A big thank-you to the entire Barcelona team for organizing such a successful event!

Upcoming MDPI Summit events:

  • Italy Summit – Rome (26–27 May)
  • US Summit – Boston, MA (5–6 June)
  • France Summit – Paris (12–13 June)
  • US Summit – Houston, TX (26–27 June)
  • UK Summit – London (16–17 September)
  • Germany Summit – Berlin (18–19 September)
  • Romania Summit – Bucharest (23–24 October)
    ...with more in between, and more to follow.

Impactful Research

50 MDPI Journals Now Indexed in Ei Compendex

Indexing is a key indicator of a journal’s scientific impact. An indexed journal gives research greater visibility and credibility within the global academic community and is recognized for its quality and relevance. While many of our journals are included in major databases such as Web of Science and Scopus, MDPI also places strong emphasis on journal inclusion in subject-specific indexing platforms that align with each journal’s scope. This ensures that when you publish with MDPI, you publish with impact.

I’m pleased to share that as at May 2025, 51 of our journals are now indexed in Ei Compendex, a leading bibliographic database for engineering and applied sciences. This is a major milestone that reflects both the quality or our editorial processes and the relevance of the research we publish in these fields.

“When you publish with MDPI, you publish with impact”

Discoverability and reach

Inclusion in Ei Compendex means greater discoverability for our authors and broader reach of our journals in the fields of engineering and technology. It improves our ability to support global research and innovation, while building MDPI’s reputation in the applied sciences. This recognition is the result of the dedicated work of our editorial teams, reviewers, and authors, and of our overall commitment to excellence in publishing.

You can read our full announcement here.

Appreciative thanks to everyone involved in reaching this milestone.

Inside MDPI

 

One Year of MDPI’s Seoul Office

On 29 April, we marked one year since the opening of our Seoul office, MDPI’s first local hub in South Korea. South Korea is a key market for MDPI, currently ranking as our sixth-largest contributor to the company’s total publications, with over 89,000 MDPI articles authored by individuals affiliated with Korean institutions. Over the past 12 months, the Seoul team has made great strides in building our visibility, networks, and presence in the region.

A few highlights from the past year


Claude Seo (MDPI Korea Office Manager, Seoul)

Claude Seo, who has over 15 years of experience in the academic publishing industry, is the Office Manager of the Seoul office.

In its inaugural year, the Seoul office focused primarily on marketing and promotional activities to support the MDPI brand locally. During that time, the team concentrated on scholar visits to local institutions, attending academic conferences, and hosting editorial board meetings.

The team also secured 10 Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) renewals, signed three new IOAP agreements, and established one new Society affiliation.

The Seoul office also hosted its first library book fair and reached over 1,000 followers on its LinkedIn channel, which is an encouraging indication of local visibility and engagement.

“The Seoul team has made strides in building our visibility, networks, and presence in the region”

Growth plans

Later this year, we are working on opening a new Seoul office in a more central location, with room for our growing team. The new space will bring us closer to other publishing partners and provide easier access to and from the airport. The Seoul office will continue to expand its efforts in outreach and engagement as its builds its presence in South Korea.

Warm thanks to the entire Seoul team for their hard work and dedication, and to all MDPI colleagues who have contributed to this exciting chapter in our global journey.

Coming Together for Science

Highlights from the MDPI Italy Summit in Rome (26–27 May)

We closed the month of May by hosting the first MDPI Italy Summit in Rome. This was an important event for us, as Italy has consistently ranked among the top ten countries globally for open access publications over the past decade.

MDPI and Italy: Facts & Figures

  • With over 144,000 publications (as at 31 May 2025), Italy is MDPI’s third largest contributor after China and the USA.
  • In 2024, MDPI was the second-largest publishing house in Italy.
  • The 7,165 Editorial Board Members (EBMs) drawn from Italian institutions represent 8.9% of all MDPI academic editors.
  • Among these, 319 serve as Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) or Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiCs).
  • Eleven Italian EBMs were recognized as 2024 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers.
  • In 2024, MDPI received 24,873 review reports and collaborated with 88,578 reviewers from Italy.
  • 23,131 Guest Editors from Italian institutions led 4,827 Special Issues across 248 MDPI journals.
  • MDPI partners with over 900 institutions globally, of which 17 are in Italy.

The MDPI Italy Summit in Rome


Dr. Prof. Giulio Cerullo, EiC of Applied Sciences, at the MDPI Italy Summit in Rome (27 May 2025).

Held on 26–27 May, the MDPI Italy Summit brought together 25 Chief Editors from across our journal portfolio, including some of our largest journals such as Applied Sciences, to discuss MDPI’s latest developments and collaborations in the Italian market, our use of data intelligence and AI to support strategic decision-making, a look into our editorial process, peer-review quality metrics, and conversations around research integrity and community engagement.

The Summit featured MDPI presentations followed by Q&A and concluded with a roundtable discussion. On the evening of the 26th, we hosted a dinner with our Editors to connect personally, learn more about their research, and hear feedback on journal operations and the broader academic landscape in Italy.


Gathering of Editors-in-Chief and MDPI staff at the MDPI Italy Summit in Rome (27 May 2025).

Event Agenda – 27 May

Moderated by Maddalena Favaretto (Conference Scientific Advisor, MDPI), the program featured:

  • MDPI Overview, Achievements, Latest News and Future Developments – Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI)
  • Country Report: Italy – Dr. Laura Perez Martin (Conference Assistant, MDPI)
  • AI in Publishing and MDPI’s Actions – Dr. Andrea Perlato (Head of Data Analytics, MDPI)
  • MDPI Editorial Process and Research Integrity – Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Scientific Communications Lead, MDPI)
  • Panel Discussion – Stefan, Andrea, Giulia


Panel Discussion with Stefan Tochev (CEO, MDPI), Dr. Giulia Stefenelli (Scientific Communications Lead, MDPI), Dr. Andrea Perlato (Head of Data Analytics, MDPI) during the MDPI Italy Summit in Rome (27 May 2025).

A big thank-you to our Conference team and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make these events run smoothly.

Closing Thoughts

Upholding Editorial Independence in Scholarly Publishing

A recent MDPI blog post written by Dr. Ioana Craciun (Scientific Communications Specialist, MDPI), “Editorial Independence and Publisher Support: Collaborating to Uphold Integrity,” highlights the important balance between editorial autonomy and publisher collaboration in academic publishing.

As the leading fully Open Access scholarly publisher, we are proud to champion editorial independence within our publishing process.

Drawing from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, the article emphasizes that while editors must have the freedom to make decisions based on scholarly merit, publishers play a critical role in providing the necessary infrastructure and tools to support the editorial process. This collaborative approach ensures the integrity of the peer review process, builds trust among authors and readers, and upholds the quality and relevance of published content.

MDPI highlights its commitment to this model by investing in research integrity specialists, AI tools for plagiarism detection, and administrative support, all aimed at empowering editors to make independent, informed decisions.

Stefan Tochev
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG

29 May 2025
Meet Us at the SKA Pulsar Science Symposium 2025, 2–4 July 2025, Qingdao, China


SKA Pulsar Science Symposium 2025 will be held from 2 to 4 July 2025 in Qingdao, China, and is organized by Qingdao University of Technology.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental radio telescope project to be built in Australia and South Africa. The SKA, with a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre, represents the next-generation radio telescope. A large group of scientists in China are working actively in the field of pulsar astronomy, and a platform like the SKA Pulsar Science Symposium (SPSS) is highly desirable for facilitating communication and cooperation among pulsar astronomers. SPSS will bring together experts in the field, advance scientific studies of pulsars, foster the young generation, and eventually make an impact on the global SKA community.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

If you are planning to attend the above-mentioned conference, we warmly welcome you to visit our booth and engage with our representatives. We look forward to meeting you in person and are here to assist with any questions that you may have. For more information about this conference, please visit the official website at https://psr.pku.edu.cn/conference/ska/ska2025/ska2025.html.

28 May 2025
Meet Us Virtually at the 3rd International Online Conference on Universe (IOCU 2026), 4–6 March 2026


We cordially invite you to attend the 3rd International Online Conference on Universe (IOCU 2026) organized by MDPI’s Universe (ISSN: 2218-1997, Impact Factor 2.5), which will take place online via Sciforum platform from 4 to 6 March 2026, Central European Time (CET).

Conference Chair: Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Iorio, Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito, Italy.

Topics of interest:

S1. Gravitation and cosmology;

S2. Quantum gravity and field theory;

S3. High energy nuclear and particle physics;

S4. Foundations of quantum mechanics;

S5. Space and planetary sciences;

S6. Galaxies, clusters and compact objects;

S7. Solar and stellar physics.

Important Dates:

Deadline for abstract submission: 2 December 2025;
Notification of acceptance: 5 January 2026;
Deadline for Registration: 1 March 2026.

Submit your abstract here.
Register for the conference here.

For any inquiries regarding the event, please contact us at iocu2026@mdpi.com. We look forward to seeing you at IOCU 2026.

13 May 2025
Empowering Academic Growth with MDPI: A Scientific Publishing Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University, 15 May 2025


MDPI is excited to collaborate with Toronto Metropolitan University to host an engaging Scientific Publishing Workshop aimed at empowering scholars with the knowledge and tools needed to succeed in academic publishing. This workshop will delve into the key aspects of MDPI’s open access publishing framework, offering an in-depth exploration of journal selection, the editorial workflow, and the essentials of publication ethics. Participants will also gain practical advice on improving their scientific writing and effectively addressing reviewer comments, with guidance from an experienced professional. This session promises to equip attendees with valuable skills to elevate their publishing journey.

Workshop Highlights:

  • Learn How to Better Write and Structure a Research Article;
  • How to Choose Where to Publish Academic Work;
  • How to Respond to Reviewer Comments;
  • Reasons for Rejection During Pre-Check;
  • How to Navigate Through Ethics and AI Use.

Date: 15 May 2025
Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m.
Venue: Toronto Metropolitan University

Program:

Speakers

Program and Content

Time

Dr. Stephen Mora

Introduction to MDPI

12:00–12:05 p.m.

 

How to Write and Structure a Research Article

12:05–12:45 p.m.

 

How to Respond to Reviewer Comments

12:45–1:30 p.m.

Dr. Stephen Mora has an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in kinesiology and health science from York University, Canada. He started working at MDPI in May 2024 and is now the Managing Editor of IJOM, a newly transferred society journal published by MDPI. During his graduate studies and MDPI tenure, Stephen has gained extensive experience in attending conferences, meeting with scholars, and hosting online and in-person presentations.

30 April 2025
MDPI INSIGHTS: The CEO's Letter #22 - 300 Journals in WoS, Norway & Sweden Consortiums, Self-citations

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

Over 300 MDPI Journals are Indexed in Web of Science

Indexing is essential to scholarly publishing as it promotes visibility and the impact of research. I’m excited to share that MDPI now has over 300 journals indexed in the Web of Science (WoS). This milestone reflects the work of our authors, editors, reviewers, and the entire MDPI staff, contributing to greater visibility and impact for open access research.

Publish with MDPI, publish with impact.

Having over 300 MDPI journals indexed in the Web of Science is more than a numbers game. It represents a recognition of the quality, consistency, and relevance of the research published in our journals. For the academic community, it reflects the growing trust in MDPI as a reputable publisher, leading the way in open access publishing.

A closer look at the achievement

Being indexed in the WoS nvolves meeting a list of quality criteria, including 24 quality benchmarks for ESCI journals. 

For MDPI, rigorous editorial standards and scientific integrity are key. These enabled over 300 journals to pass the Web of Science quality criteria for indexing.

Here we share a blog post discussing the importance of this milestone for MDPI and open scholarly research. In this post, Constanze Schelhorn, Head of Indexing, at MDPI, and Giulia Stefenelli, Scientific Communications Lead, share their thoughts and insights on what this achievement means for our commitment to high-quality research.

“MDPI has a well-structured quality assurance framework that applies to all our journals. We also apply clear, standardized peer-review policies across our portfolio, ensuring transparency and consistency.” – Constanze Schelhorn, Head of Indexing

“This achievement is a step forward for Open Access research, reinforcing the mission to share scientific knowledge globally and facilitate research progress.” – Giulia Stefenelli, Scientific Communications Lead

Read the blog here: https://blog.mdpi.com/2025/04/03/300-mdpi-journals/

Looking to the future

This milestone is a testament to MDPI’s dedication to peer review, editorial excellence, and innovation in academic publishing. It highlights our role as leaders in open access publishing.

Personally, I see this as just the beginning. We will continue to support researchers, expand our contributions to scholarly communication, and push the boundaries of academic publishing.

Impactful Research

Nearly 920 partner institutions in MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program

I’m pleased to share some exciting progress from MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), which now includes nearly 920 partner institutions worldwide. This is more than just a number. It reflects the growing trust and collaboration we’ve built with universities, libraries, and research organizations across the globe. 

The IOAP offers institutions discounted Article Processing Charges (APCs), access to a dedicated institutional dashboard, and transparency throughout the publishing process.

Norway’s Sikt Consortium Renews national agreement with MDPI

MDPI has renewed its national agreement with the Sikt Consortium, which now supports 36 institutions across Norway. New partners, such as Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, join long-standing collaborators such as NTNU, the University of Bergen, and UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. The agreement promotes affordable, high-quality open access publishing through centralized APC funding, and reinforces Norway’s leadership in open science.

These agreements reflect MDPI’s mission to remove barriers to scientific publishing and make research freely available to all. By collaborating with national consortia and institutions, we advance the open access and strengthen our global network and collaborations.

Our IOAP Team

A big thank-you to our IOAP team for driving these important collaborations. Their work includes increasing MDPI’s visibility in scholarly communications, strengthening relationships with IOAP partners, and building trust with key stakeholders.

These efforts not only help researchers to publish their work openly and affordably but also reinforce MDPI’s position as a trusted leader in open access.

What are the benefits of MDPI’s IOAP?

For Authors: Researchers affiliated with IOAP partner institutions benefit from automatic discounts on APCs, Book Processing Charges (BPCs), JAMS, and Author Services across MDPI’s journals. The process is seamless as there is no need for codes or special applications. The publishing experience is smoother and more affordable, and centralized invoicing helps simplify the process, allowing authors to focus on their research rather than administration.

For Libraries: Participating libraries receive access to a dedicated institutional dashboard with live metadata on submissions from affiliated authors, past and present. They also benefit from flexible invoicing options (direct, collective, or prepayment) to help streamline administration, while clear, transparent agreements ensure that there are no hidden clauses or small print. Automated deposits into Institutional Repositories further reduce manual work, supporting libraries in their mission to advance open access and serve their research communities.

Inside MDPI

MDPI Self-citation study shows industry alignment

Earlier this month, Dr. Giulia Stefenelli and Dr. Enric Sayas published a thoughtful and transparent article on the ALPSP blog, presenting a self-citation analysis across MDPI’s 237 journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

They found that MDPI's average self-citation rate in 2024 was 14.85%, well within industry norms and ranking 6th among the top ten publishers. Only 2.3% of MDPI journals were identified as outliers with high self-citation rates, compared to 4.7% among other leading publishers. An alternative approach, using weighted average by publication volume, shows MDPI’s self-citation rate rises from 14% to 19.7%, shifting our rank from 6th to 3rd. The study also shows that the impact of self-citation on journal quartile placement is minimal.

Read the full article on the ALPSP blog: https://blog.alpsp.org/2025/03/mdpi-self-citations-study-highlights.html

Why is this important?

As explained in the full article, the results “reinforce the fact that self-citations have minimal influence on MDPI journal rankings, emphasizing the integrity of editorial practices and the absence of any deliberate efforts to manipulate impact.”

Self-citation is a hot topic, and MDPI is sometimes unfairly singled out in this area. This analysis helps put some perspective to that narrative.

At MDPI, we are committed to transparency and to using data-driven insights to address common misconceptions about open access publishing. Our focus on self-citation reflects this commitment, and we plan to extend our efforts to other areas where the Gold OA model is often misunderstood.

About the authors

Dr. Giulia Stefenelli, Scientific Communications Lead, leverages her expertise in science communication, editorial processes, and Open Access (OA) promotion to address both institutional and country-specific challenges. She collaborates with teams across PR, Editorial Procedures, Institutional Partnerships, Research Integrity, AI and more, developing strategies to engage stakeholders, including policymakers, academics, and industry leaders. Her responsibilities include enhancing MDPI’s scientific network and promoting OA initiatives at events worldwide, supporting the efforts of various departments, and ensuring effective communication to both specialist and broader audiences.

Dr. Enric Sayas is a Business Analyst specializing in the integration of AI and Machine Learning in scientific publishing.

Within MDPI’s AI team, Enric combines his editorial expertise with his passion for AI to support the development of AI-driven solutions tailored to editorial needs, enhancing efficiency and improving decision-making.

Enric’s interests extend to data science methodologies applied to scientific publishing, as well as the broader impact of AI on open science, peer review, and the future of scientific publishing.

Coming Together for Science

 

Plants 2025: From Seeds to Food Security


Prof. Dr. Dilantha Fernando presenting at Plants 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.

The MDPI Conference Plants 2025: From Seeds to Food Security took place in Barcelona, Spain, from 31 March to 2 April 2025.

It was chaired by Editor-in-Chief of MDPI journal Plants (Q1 journal); Prof. Dr. Dilantha Fernando from the University of Manitoba, in Canada, and Section Editor-in-Chief of Plants; Dr. Fermín Morales from Instituto de Agrobiotecnología (IdAB) – CSIC, in Spain; and Prof. Dr. Oscar Vicente from Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Spain.

The conference brought plant scientists together to discuss innovations in sustainable agriculture, crop improvement, and environmental conservation.

With the global population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the conference addressed key challenges such as food security, climate change, and sustainable agroecosystems through keynote talks and seven specialized sessions.

The conference gathered 111 attendees from 36 different countries, featuring 1 keynote speaker, 9 invited speakers, and 41 selected talks, along with 56 posters. The event received just over 200 submissions and 102 accepted abstracts.

From insightful talks, engaging poster sessions and engaging networking moments, Plants 2025 was a special experience. You can relive the highlights from the Plants 2025 conference here with our after movie!


Awards

Four awards were presented at the conclusion of the conference, sponsored by the journal Plants: two Best Poster Awards (€250 each) and two Best Oral Presentation Awards (€300 each).

Plants 2025 Conference Team

The Plants 2025 Conference was organized by colleagues from MDPI’s Conference Team: Ana Sanchis (Conference Manager), Cédric Spinnler (Senior Conference Organizer), Raquel Sellès (Conference Organizer) and Laura Perez (Conference Assistant).

Upcoming event

5–7 May 2025
The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Metals
Location: Online event (Central European Summer Time)

As one of the pillar technologies that support the development of modern society and metallurgy, IECME 2025 will present the state-of-the-art of Metallurgy and Metals.

Find more upcoming MDPI events here.

Closing Thoughts

Swedish consortium renews partnership with MDPI

I’m pleased to share that MDPI has renewed its national partnership with Sweden’s Bibsam Consortium. This is a continued commitment to advancing open access publishing and supporting Sweden’s vision for fully open research.

Under this renewed agreement, 22 leading institutions including KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Linnaeus University, and Linköping University, will continue to benefit from MDPI’s IOAP. This provides discounts on APCs and a more streamlined, researcher-friendly publishing experience.

MDPI and Bibsam renew national agreement for Sweden

“With robust backing from national open science guidelines, Sweden’s open-access landscape is rapidly advancing,” says Becky Castellon, institutional partnerships manager at MDPI.

“In fact, fewer than 15% of all Swedish research outputs were locked behind paywalls in 2023. We are passionate about the positive impact our ongoing partnership with the Bibsam Consortium will have on Swedish research, paving the way for ground-breaking developments and a more inclusive, open scientific community. Through flexible solutions and tailored policies, we enable institutions to prioritize research, foster innovation, and enhance accessibility, driving the shift to full open access.”

Recent MDPI IOAP Consortium signings from 2025:

  • The UK’s Jisc Consortium extended its national agreement, continuing support for more than 60 institutions across the UK.
  • Switzerland’s CSAL (Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries) renewed its agreement, continuing our collaboration with top institutions such as ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne.
  • In Germany, we signed a new national agreement with ZB MED that includes over 100 universities and research institutions, with 78 institutions joining under a central or flat-fee model to simplify APC coverage.
Stefan Tochev
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG

30 April 2025
Announcing the Award Committee for the 2024 Tu Youyou Award

We are honored to introduce the award committee for the 2024 Tu Youyou Award, composed of distinguished scientists from around the world whose research covers diverse areas of natural product chemistry, pharmacognosy, and drug discovery. Their broad expertise and pioneering contributions have significantly advanced medicinal and natural products research.

Through their collective insights, rigorous evaluation, the committee has carefully selected this year’s award recipients, recognizing exceptional achievements in the field.

We sincerely thank these distinguished scholars for their efforts and dedication to upholding the standards of the Tu Youyou Award.  Below is the list of committee members. For more information about the Tu Youyou Award, please visit https://tuyouyouprize.org/

Chair:


Prof. Dr. A. Douglas Kinghorn
Ohio State University, USA
Prof. Dr. A. Douglas Kinghorn is a leading expert in pharmacognosy and natural products research. He is recognized for his key contributions to discovering bioactive compounds from plants, especially in anticancer, cancer chemopreventive, and substances with a sweet taste and taste-modifying agents. His prolific contributions include over 590 peer-reviewed works and book chapters and edited or co-edited 40 scientific volumes.
Committee Members:

Prof. Angelo Fontana
University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy
Angelo Fontana is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Naples “Federico II” in Italy and serves as Director of the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry at the National Research Council (CNR). His research focuses on bioactive small molecules derived from marine eukaryotes, with a particular interest on their pharmaceutical applications in immunology and oncology. He also explores their potential as molecular tools for probing and modulating complex biological systems. Prof. Fontana is a co-founder of BioSEArch SRL and has been recognized with numerous grants and honors, including the Apivita Award from the Phytochemical Society of Europe.

Prof. Binghe Wang
Georgia State University, USA
Prof. Binghe Wang’s lab works on drug design, drug delivery, click chemistry, chemical biology, new diagnostics, and gaseous signaling molecules such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide. His interdisciplinary research supports advances in cancer, infectious diseases, organ protection, inflammation, and other areas.  

Dr. Diana Pinto
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Dr. Diana Pinto, an Associate Professor at the University of Aveiro, specializes in organic synthesis of bioactive heterocyclic compounds, sustainable catalysis (organo-, heterogeneous, and biocatalysis), and natural product research, including isolation, characterization, and total synthesis.

Prof. Hideaki Kakeya
Kyoto University, Japan
Prof. Hideaki Kakeya conducts cutting-edge research in chemical biology, high-throughput screening, and biosynthesis of bioactive natural products for system chemotherapy and other therapeutic applications.

Dr. RuAngelie Edrada-Ebel
University of Strathclyde, UK
Prof. RuAngelie Edrada-Ebel heads the Natural Products Metabolomics Group (NPMG), specializing in marine natural products discovery and metabolomics-driven drug development. A recognized expert in bioactive metabolites, she collaborates with industry and academia to address antimicrobial resistance and sustainable bioprospecting. She serves on the Editorial Board of Marine Drugs and holds two patents in the field.

Prof. Thomas Prisinzano
University of Kentucky, USA
Prof. Thomas Prisinzano combines medicinal and natural product chemistry to explore neurotransmitter systems and develop treatments for drug abuse and pain. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Innovator Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Prof. Wei Li
University of Tennessee Health Science Center, USA
A distinguished professor and Director of the Drug Discovery Center, Prof. Wei Li is also the founder of SEAK Therapeutics, and the 2025 Chair-Elect of the Drug Discovery and Development Division of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). His work focuses on medicinal chemistry and small molecule drug discovery, with over 200 publications and 15 issued US patents.

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