Is MDPI only open access?

Yes, MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute is an open access-only publisher, meaning all articles are immediately free for anyone to read and reuse under a Creative Commons license, supported by Article Processing Charges (APCs) paid by authors or institutions. There are no subscription barriers, but authors must pay a fee after acceptance (no charge for rejected papers), with some items like editorials published free of charge.

Are all MDPI journals open access?

MDPI publishes all its journals as fully open access, allowing for the unlimited use and reuse of articles, in addition to giving credit to the authors. All our articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC BY) license.

What kind of source is MDPI?

MDPI is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access journals. MDPI journals are highly visible and widely accessible; they are indexed in leading databases and published under an open access license.

What are the disadvantages of MDPI?

The downside is the questionable reputation which prevents many from submitting to MDPI journals at all. This can go to the extent that some would label the entire career of a researcher void if published even a single article in an MDPI journal; see Figure 4.

Why is MDPI so expensive?

MDPI follows the APC publishing model, whereby accepted articles have to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) before they are published. The APC has increased over time at MDPI. It can go up to more than 2000 CHF. MDPI reports the average APC per article in 2020 amounted to 1180 CHF.

Laws An Open Access Journal from MDPI

Why do people still publish in MDPI?

The one upside to MDPI is that people who publish in it are typically early-career and desperate for collaborators to help build up their own research profile.

Is Elsevier better than MDPI?

Elsevier generally carries broader institutional prestige and long-standing credibility. MDPI offers faster, open-access visibility. Choose Elsevier for reputation and depth of peer review; choose MDPI for rapid, widely accessible publication.

Is MDPI based in China?

Overview. A pioneer in scholarly, open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. Based in Basel, Switzerland, MDPI has the mission to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines.

Is MDPI removed from web of science?

Web of Science excludes individual journals - e.g. from MDPI

The MDPI journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH), for example, no longer meets the "content relevance" criterion for indexing in Web of Science, according to Clarivate.

Is 2.5 a good impact factor for a journal?

Yes, a 2.5 impact factor (IF) is generally considered good or decent, falling into the respectable range for many fields, though it's not "top-tier" like journals with IFs of 10+; it signifies that articles in that journal are cited reasonably often, but its actual quality depends heavily on the specific research discipline, as averages vary significantly.
 

Is 2.7 a good impact factor?

You can find a journal's impact factor by referring to the Journal Citations Report (JCR) or Scopus. 🍋 What is an average 'good' impact factor? In general, an impact factor of 10 or higher is considered remarkable, while 3 is good, and the average score is less than 1.

Is MDPI a respectable journal?

MDPI journals have a mixed and evolving reputation: they are known for fast, open-access publishing and high visibility but have faced past criticism for potentially weak peer review, rapid growth, and predatory accusations (though no longer officially listed as predatory). While some journals are respected (e.g., Batteries), the overall perception varies, with some academics viewing them as lower-tier or "mediocre," while MDPI emphasizes its COPE membership, DOAJ recognition, and efforts to improve standards.
 

How to tell if a journal is open access?

Open Access Button is an excellent tool for checking the open access status of journal articles. On that website, enter the article's title or DOI to check if it is freely available. This will find open access copies on publishers' sites and in repositories. Unpaywall is another great source for this information.

How does MDPI compare to other publishers?

In 2022, MDPI's median time from submission to acceptance was 37 days, well below the 200 days at the PLOS family of journals, another large, open-access publisher he examined for comparison. For about one in three papers, MDPI's turnaround was 1 month or less.

Which are the predatory journals?

Predatory journals—also called fraudulent, deceptive, or pseudo-journals—are publications that claim to be legitimate scholarly journals, but misrepresent their publishing practices.

Is MDPI listed in PubMed?

The following list shows 94 MDPI journals that are currently covered in PubMed. A complete list of journals published by MDPI is also available.

Is SCI better than Scopus?

Unlike SCI, which focuses primarily on natural sciences and technology, Scopus has a wider scope, often including newer journals and emerging research areas. This makes Scopus indexed journals more accessible to early-career researchers or those working in interdisciplinary fields.

Is MDPI free to publish?

No, MDPI is not free to publish for most articles; they are an open-access publisher that charges authors an Article Processing Charge (APC) after acceptance to cover costs, though some specific article types (editorials, corrections) are free, and discounts/waivers are available, especially for institutions or reviewers. While submission is free and there are no charges for rejected papers, you pay the APC if your accepted manuscript is published open access. 

Who owns MDPI?

The publishing house that owns it, MDPI, was founded in Switzerland by the Chinese chemist Shu-Kun Lin and has multiplied its income, thanks to a transfer of millions of euros of public money budgeted for science.

Who are the big 5 publishing companies?

The "Big Five" publishers dominate the US trade book market and are Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster; they control a significant portion of the industry and operate through numerous imprints, often requiring literary agents for submissions. 

What is the acceptance rate for MDPI journals?

Under half of the submissions are accepted

Overall, 381,100 submissions were received in 2020, for which the rejection rate was 57%. Not all papers are appropriate for the journal, collection or Special Issue to which they have been submitted, and not all submitted research reflects MDPI's core values.

Is MDPI a Tier 1 journal?

The Norwegian Scientific Index has been less critical, giving the vast majority of individual MDPI journals designations as "level 1", denoting a publisher as academic; although some journals are ranked "level 0" denoting non-academic status, including one of MDPI's flagship journals, Sustainability.

What is the Elsevier controversy?

Elsevier controversies center on its high journal prices, "double-dipping" subscription/open-access fees, and perceived unethical business practices, leading to boycotts (like the UC system's) and mass editorial resignations. Researchers protest unpaid peer review, author rights, and perceived lack of quality control despite high fees, with ongoing concerns about climate-related data services and potential manipulation in peer review. 

How can you tell if a journal is predatory?

What is a Predatory Journal?

1. Have no rigorous peer review, editorial, or preservation services.
2. Have no quality control in their selection process.
3. Exploit open access publication models for the sole purpose of financial gain.