History of MDPI

MDPI launched in 1996 as a non-profit institute for the promotion and preservation of the diversity of chemical compound samples. Founded in Basel, Switzerland, as a “Verein” under Swiss law, the abbreviation “MDPI” initially stood for “Molecular Diversity Preservation International”. After successfully running several open access journals, including Molecules, Sensors and Entropy, MDPI developed into a leading open access publisher, and the publishing part was transferred into a separate legal entity in 2010. MDPI continued to use the acronym of the newly founded “Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute”, and is now widely known under the name MDPI. The samples project continues today and is maintained by the MDPI Sustainability Foundation. MDPI has hosted or organized a number of scientific conferences, including electronic (virtual) conferences. The timeline below summarizes major milestones in each year since its establishment.

1995
Preparation for founding a worldwide center for the collection of rare chemical samples began. In order to promote this project, a journal entitled Molecules was planned, and ISSN 1420-3049 was obtained after an application from Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, who was then working at Ciba-Geigy in Basel. The Editorial Board of the journal was set up, with Dr. Shu-Kun Lin as the Editor-in-Chief. Several advertisements were published in leading chemistry journals in order to promote the samples collection project.
1996
Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) was officially founded and registered in the commercial register in Basel, Switzerland, in June 1996 by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin and Dr. Benoit R. Turin. The stated goal of the entity was the international promotion and preservation of the diversity of chemical compounds by launching the collection of samples that could be made available to the scientific community for research purposes. The same year, the journal Molecules was launched in collaboration with Springer Verlag as one of the first electronic journals on chemistry. The University of Basel offered to host the first homepage for MDPI, then at www.unibas.ch/mdpi. Later, MDPI launched its own server and the website was made available at www.mdpi.org.
1997
MDPI took over the publishing of Molecules from Springer Verlag and started to publish it as an open access journal. Molecules published 74 papers in 1997. The Molbank section of Molecules was introduced in the same year (Molbank publishes papers on synthetic compounds and natural products as one-compound-per-paper short notes. The section became an independent journal with its own ISSN, 1422-8599, in 2003). Dr. Derek McPhee started working part-time, from Canada, as an Editorial Assistant to the then Editor-in-Chief of Molecules, Dr. Esteban Pombo-Villar. Until 2002, when the first staffed Editorial Offices were established, he would handle all the manuscript processing duties (manuscript receipt, peer review, layout and editing) for Molecules and the new journals as they were launched, while Dr. Shu-Kun Lin handled other publishing and administrative tasks in Basel. The first annual e-conference, ECSOC (http://www.mdpi.org/ecsoc/), was held in this year.
1998
A legal dispute with Springer Verlag regarding the ownership of the title "Molecules" was resolved outside of court. MDPI has continued to publish Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049) until this day, while Springer Verlag published a competing journal titled Molecules Online (ISSN 1433-1373, until it was discontinued in 1999). Molecules published 81 papers in 1998. Dr. Benoit R. Turin left the board of directors of MDPI in order to concentrate on his many other professional activities. The same year, a new journal, the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS), was planned, ISSN 1422-0067 was obtained, and the Editorial Board was formed by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin.
1999
Dr. Shu-Kun Lin took over as Editor-in-Chief of Molecules, replacing Dr. Pombo-Villar whose senior management duties with Novartis no longer allowed him to dedicate appropriate attention to the journal. Dr. Derek McPhee was formally appointed its Managing Editor. Over the years, Derek has actively edited thousands of manuscripts and has supervised the editorial procedure for several thousands of manuscripts in his current function as the Editor-in-Chief of Molecules. Another MDPI journal, Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300), was founded by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, who also served as the founding Editor-in-Chief. Two Nobel Laureates joined the Editorial Board of Entropy (Prof. Dr. Philip W. Anderson, Princeton University and Prof. Dr. Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University) and stayed until 2006, when the original Editorial Board was reorganized. A total of 94 papers were published in 1999.
2000
IJMS officially started publishing, with Prof. Dr. Jerzy Leszczynski as the founding Editor-in-Chief and two Nobel Laureates on the Editorial Board (Dr. Jerome Karle, Naval Research Laboratory and Prof. Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee, Academia Sinica). Dr. Francis Muguet (1955–2009) joined MDPI as an Associate Editor for Molecules, Entropy and IJMS, and initiated the production of print issues of these three journals using the infrastructure kindly provided by ENSTA. Francis also helped to run several mirrors of the MDPI website (some still running today). Molecules published 381 papers in 2000.
2001
Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220) was launched. The idea of launching this title was formed earlier when Dr. Shu-Kun Lin met Prof. Dr. Ursula E. Spichiger-Keller on a train leaving the French-speaking part of Switzerland—Ursula was returning to Zurich from her home, and Dr. Shu-Kun Lin was returning to Basel after handling chemical samples in an office offered by Dr. Benoit R. Turin in a village in Valais. A total of 260 papers were published.
2002
The MDPI office moved from Sängergasse 25, 4054 Basel, to Matthäusstrasse 11, 4052 Basel. Dr. Shu-Kun Lin opened an editorial office in Qingdao, China, in collaboration with the Ocean University of China. The International Symposium on Frontiers in Molecular Science, 2002 (ISFMS2002, http://www.mdpi.org/isfms2002), was held in Qingdao, China the same year. It was the second scientific congress organized by MDPI (see http://www.mdpi.org/conferences.htm). The Editorial Office in Qingdao operated until early 2005. A total of 242 papers were published.
2003
The journal Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397) was launched in the Qingdao Editorial Office. The International Symposium on Sensor Science (I3S 2003) was held for the first time in Paris, France, organized mainly by Dr. Francis Muguet. I3S 2004 was held in Nanjing, China (organized by Prof. Dr. Huangxian Ju), and I3S 2005 at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany (organized by Prof. Dr. Michael J. Schoening). A total of 315 papers were published.
2004
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN 1660-4601) was launched. Many papers in the earlier volumes of this journal had been presented at the International Symposium on Recent Advances in Environmental Health Research (organized by Prof. Dr. Paul B. Tchounwou, the Editor-in-Chief). The journal Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247) was planned, and one paper was published. However, this journal only started to grow in 2009, thanks to the great editorial work done by Ms. Yan (Jely) He. A total of 270 papers were published.
2005
MDPI started to use a two-tier publication system, whereby certain papers were published in a subscriber-only area for those submissions where authors did not wish to contribute financially to the publication costs (see https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/10/6/583/). Mr. Dietrich Rordorf joined MDPI as Dr. Shu-Kun Lin's assistant in August 2005. As an experiment, a modified version of the online submission and editorial system based on the Open Journals System (http://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/) was launched by Dietrich for IJMS. The handling of manuscripts was subsequently transferred to an in-house editor (the papers had previously been handled by the Editor-in-Chief’s assistant). Molecules celebrated its tenth anniversary. A total of 391 papers were published.
2006
Using the experience of IJMS, several other previously externally edited journals were taken back in-house, including Entropy, Marine Drugs and Sensors. The editorial board of Entropy was reorganized after a dispute with the former Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Francis Muguet and Derek McPhee helped MDPI to defend the interests of this open access journal and MDPI. The editorial handling of manuscripts was professionalized and standardized across all MDPI journals. The two-tier publication system was abandoned after a few months of tests and replaced by a fully open access policy (see https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/8/3/131/). A total of 417 papers were published.
2007
The editorial office in Basel was expanded by hiring and training two full-time editorial staff members. Mr. Matthias Burkhalter joined as an Assistant Editor of Sensors in February 2007. Another staff member was hired as an Assistant Editor for IJMS in March 2007. During that Summer, Dietrich Rordorf and Marco Biasini worked on a database and publication system which enabled the semi-automated conversion of scientific articles to XML format and the production of PDF and HTML versions. Two papers were experimentally published in Marine Drugs using this conversion system at the end of the year. Later, part of the system was detached to build a new database and dynamic publication system for the journals. The XML conversion system had been further improved and began to be regularly used in 2011. Three new journals were planned in 2007 with preliminary websites set up: Algorithms, Energies and Materials, which were all launched in the following year. For the first time, slight profitability was achieved for the publication project, which demonstrated the financial viability and success of a fully open access publication model. A total of 663 papers were published.
2008
The domain www.mdpi.com was purchased to host the future publication system for the MDPI journals. Sensors and Molecules rapidly expanded through several topical special issues, guest-edited by leading scientists. MDPI joined Crossref and started to assign DOI numbers to each published paper in May–June 2008. At the same time, the open access policy which had been initiated in 2006 was further clarified, and a Creative Commons license was adopted, retrospectively, for all papers published by MDPI. An office was re-opened in China and three editorial staff members were quickly hired. The office in Basel was expanded by hiring a few students working part-time. The new publication system was launched on www.mdpi.com in October 2008. With the new website, a series of tools were made available to editors to simplify the maintenance of the publications database and to guarantee data integrity. The three journals planned in 2007 entered publication. Three new journals were planned for 2008 with preliminary websites set up: Sustainability, Remote Sensing and Viruses. A total of 1124 papers were published.
2009
Twelve new journals started publication, effectively doubling the MDPI journal portfolio: Cancers, Diversity, Future Internet (a journal founded following the advice of Dr. Francis Muguet), Nutrients, Pharmaceutics, Polymers, Remote Sensing, Sustainability, Symmetry, Toxins, Viruses and Water. A new system was deployed to host electronic conferences at www.sciforum.net and launched with the hosting of the 13th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry (ECSOC-13). Dr. Yuan Gao was appointed as the Managing Director for the branch office of MDPI’s editorial work in Beijing, China. A total of 2332 papers were published.
2010
MDPI AG (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) was founded in May 2010 as an operating company for the journals by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf. Dietrich Rordorf was appointed CEO. The publication system of the journals, including the administration backend, was re-engineered. The second version of the publication system brought large performance increases and further efficient administration of the database. An internal reporting and controlling system established more transparency for the evolution of the journals. Ten new journals were launched; a total of 4103 papers were published.
2011
A new submission and manuscript handling system (SuSy)—internally developed by Mr. Thomas Schurter—was launched for all MDPI journals. The promotion activities of MDPI were intensified: flyers of the journals and promotional gifts with engraved MDPI logos were sent out to the editors and authors of MDPI journals. MDPI also started using social media, creating a Facebook page. The XML conversion system was further modified and finally used on a larger operating scale. There were 25 newly launched journals; 4684 papers were published. In total, 15,430 papers were published from 1995 to 2011.
2012
iPhone and Android app versions of the MDPI platform were made available via the iTunes and Google Play stores. Total staffing of the two Editorial Offices reached 100 in June 2012. In total, 23 new journals started publication during 2012. Four journals were accepted for coverage by the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Toxins, Remote Sensing, Water and Polymers. This year, 7000 papers were published; 21,000 papers had been published in total.
2013
A new office was opened in Wuhan, China in March 2013. Jely He served as the Managing Director for the operations in China. The Basel headquarters moved from Kandererstrasse 25, 4052 Basel, Switzerland to a larger office at Klybeckstrasse 64, 4057 Basel, Switzerland in July 2013. Most impact factors of MDPI journals grew significantly, and five journals received their first impact factor ratings in June 2013. Forests, Atmosphere, Micromachines and Symmetry were newly accepted for coverage by the Science Citation Index Expanded. Sustainability was accepted for coverage by the Science Citation Index Expanded and the Social Sciences Citation Index. Religions was accepted for coverage by the Arts & Humanities Citation Index. The MDPI Magazine was launched in Summer 2013. A rewritten version of the MDPI submission system was released in August 2013. A first version of Scilit was released, and an institutional membership was set up in the autumn of 2013. MDPI sponsored various conferences all over the world. The total number of staff reached 180 by the end of 2013.
2014
The number of published articles exceeded 40,000 papers by November 2014, and the number of publications exceeded 12,300. Four journals received their first impact factors: Symmetry, Sustainability, Micromachines and Atmosphere. Four journals were accepted for Web of Science coverage in 2014: Minerals, Metals, Nanomaterials and Catalysts. A total of twelve new journals were launched. Sciforum.net, the platform for open scholarly exchange and collaboration, was expanded, and features for discussion groups, commentaries and conference hosting were introduced. The total number of institutional members exceeded 50 by December and the total number of staff members reached 230 by the end of 2014. The Haidian office moved to a larger office space.
2015
Delia Mihaila was appointed CEO. The number of published articles surpassed 60,000 papers in December, and compared to 2014, the volume of publications grew 40% in 2015. Thirteen journals were launched in 2015. MDPI journals were recognized as having some of the fastest median average publication times across the industry: 69 days from submission to publication; 84% of the content published in MDPI journals was indexed in Web of Science databases (including 34 journals indexed in the newly launched database ESCI). Four journals were included in SCIE (Applied Sciences, Genes, Crystals and the ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information). MDPI organized two international conferences in Basel in collaboration with the University of Basel (The 4th International Symposium on Sensor Science and the 5th World Sustainability Forum). The total number of regular MDPI staff members exceeded 350 at the end of 2015.
2016
MDPI celebrated its 20th anniversary. Dr. Franck Vazquez was appointed CEO in May 2016. The total number of articles published surpassed 86,500 at the end of 2016, with 23,500 alone published in 2016 (a 35% increase compared to 2015). Molecules and Sensors both reached the milestone of publishing their 10,000th paper. Fifteen journals were launched. Coatings was included in SCIE, and 24 journals were indexed in the newly launched database ESCI. More than 90% of the content published in MDPI journals became indexed in Web of Science. MDPI opened a new office in Barcelona and a new office in Serbia and the headquarters moved to a new office in St. Alban-Anlage 66, 4052 Basel. The total number of MDPI staff members reached 454. MDPI organized the international Viruses2016 conference in Basel, and the First Basel Sustainability Forum: Energy in collaboration with the University of Basel. MDPI ran its first publishing course at the University of Basel. MDPI joined as a member of SPARC, as a member of the United Nations Global Compact and was added to the list of OA publishers which comply with the Wellcome Trust criteria for the funding of APCs. Preprints, a multi-disciplinary platform for the early showcasing of articles in all research fields and disciplines, was launched.
2017
The total number of articles published reached 122,470 at the end of 2017. With 35,950 peer-reviewed articles published in 2017 (a 52.5% increase compared to 2016), MDPI became the leading purely open access publisher in terms of the number of articles published in 2017 (source: DOAJ). Nine journals were accepted for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Cancers, Journal of Clinical Medicine, Animals, Agronomy, Cells, Electronics, Insects, Pharmaceutics and Processes. Nineteen new journals were launched during the year, and the number of full-time employees reached 1000. MDPI reinforced its links with scholarly communities by sponsoring and meeting researchers at scholarly events; by publishing journals in cooperation with learned societies; by hosting 24 conferences on its conference hosting service at Sciforum.net; by offering its Journal and Article Management System (JAMS) to institutional publishers such as UCL (University College London) Press; and by collaborating with over 300 academic institutions around the world, who participated in the Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP).
2018
The total number of articles published reached 193,780 at the end of 2018. With 64,687 peer-reviewed articles published in 2018 (a 79.7% increase compared to 2017), MDPI became the seventh largest publisher in terms of the number of articles published in 2018, and the largest publisher of open access articles in DOAJ. Ten journals were accepted for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Biomolecules, Diversity, Foods, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Mathematics, Metabolites, Microorganisms, Pathogens, Plants and Vaccines. The journals Medicina, World Electric Vehicle Journal and the Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity were acquired by MDPI. Fifteen new journals were launched during the year. The number of full-time employees reached 1248. The number of scientific societies partnering with MDPI or affiliated with MDPI journals reached 63 at the end of 2018. The Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) reached 503 academic institutions around the world.
2019
Delia Mihaila was appointed CEO in May 2019. The total number of articles published reached 300,000 at the end of 2019. With 106,152 peer-reviewed articles published in 2019 (representing a 64% increase compared to 2018), MDPI became the fifth largest academic publisher. Seventeen journals were accepted for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Photonics, Life, Biology, Membranes, Agriculture, Healthcare, Separations, Journal of Personalized Medicine, Journal of Fungi, Chemosensors, Biosensors, Magnetochemistry, Toxics, Actuators, Children, Pharmaceuticals and Biomedicines. Land and Healthcare were indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science). The European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education was transferred to MDPI. The European Burn Association started a new journal in collaboration with MDPI, and fourteen other new journals were launched during this year: Acoustics, AgriEngineering, Chemistry, Clean Technologies, Clocks & Sleep, Forecasting, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction, Physics, Prosthesis, Psych, Quantum Reports, Sci and Vehicles. The number of scientific societies partnering with MDPI or affiliated with MDPI journals reached 95. The open access, peer-reviewed journal Sci, the scholarly encyclopedia Encyclopedia.pub, article endorsements and recommendations and the scholarly networking platform Sciprofiles.com were launched. Five new offices were set up: in the United Kingdom (Manchester), Japan (Tokyo), Romania (Cluj-Napoca), China (Tianjin) and Thailand (Bangkok). The number of full-time employees reached 2137 at the end of 2019.
2020

At the end of 2020, the total number of articles published reached 470,000, with 160,313 peer-reviewed articles published in this year alone. Nine journals were accepted for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Aerospace, Buildings, Fermentation, Fractal and Fractional, Gels, Horticulturae, Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, Machines and Veterinary Sciences. In 2020, 53 new titles were launched: AI, Analytica, Applied Mechanics, Applied Nano, Automation, Birds, Chemistry Proceedings, CivilEng, Corrosion and Materials Degradation, Dairy, Diabetology, Earth, Ecologies, Electrochem, Electronic Materials, Endocrines, Eng, Engineering Proceedings, Epidemiologia, Environmental Sciences Proceedings, European Burn Journal, Fuels, GeoHazards, Hearts, Hemato, Hydrogen, IoT, Journal of Molecular Pathology, Journal of Nanotheranostics, Journal of Nuclear Engineering, Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Journalism and Media, Materials Proceedings, Modelling, NeuroSci, Nitrogen, Oceans, Optics, Organics, Polysaccharides, Psychiatry International, Reactions, Reproductive Medicine, Sexes, Signals, Solids, Surgeries, Sustainable Chemistry, Telecom, Tourism and Hospitality, Transplantology and World. Fourteen journals were transferred to MDPI from other publishers: Audiology Research, Cardiogenetics, Clinics and Practice, Current Oncology, Dermatopathology, Gastroenterology Insights, Infectious Disease Reports, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Xenobiotics, Microbiology Research, Neurology International, Nursing Reports, Pathophysiology and Pediatric Reports. The number of scientific societies partnering with MDPI or affiliated with MDPI journals reached 124. A new office was set up in Kraków, Poland. MDPI had a global workforce of 3861 people based in 13 different locations. In 2020, MDPI ran a total of 38 conferences: four physical conferences (two MDPI and two which were externally organized), 31 online conferences (29 MDPI and two external), three virtual conferences which had been switched from physical conferences, one poster competition and a total of 53 stand-alone webinars.

2021

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the original foundation of MDPI (see 1996 entry above). The total number of articles published by MDPI has surpassed 715,000, with 235,638 peer-reviewed articles published from January to December 2021. Eleven journals were accepted for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science): Axioms, Batteries , Bioengineering, Biomimetics, Drones, Fire, Fishes, Inorganics, Journal of Functional Biomaterials, Lubricants, and Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. Behavioral Sciences, Journal of Intelligence, and Systems were accepted into the Social Sciences Citation Index. During 2021, 84 new titles were launched: Adolescents, Allergies, Applied Microbiology, AppliedChem, AppliedMath, Aquaculture Journal, Architecture, BioChem, Biologics, Biomass, Biomechanics, BioMed, BioMedInformatics, Biophysica, Businesses, Coasts, Compounds, Conservation, Construction Materials, Crops, Dermato, Digital, Disabilities, DNA, Dynamics, Encyclopedia, Forensic Sciences, Foundations, Future Pharmacology, Future Transportation, Gases, Geographies, Geomatics, Geotechnics, Histories, Humans, Hygiene, Immuno, International Journal of Translational Medicine (IJTM), Journal of Ageing and Longevity, Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy, Kidney and Dialysis, Knowledge, Liquids, Literature, Livers, Journal of Respiration, Livers, Macromol, Magnetism, Merits, Metrology, Micro, Mining, Nanoenergy Advances, Nanomanufacturing, Network, Nutraceuticals, Obesities, Onco, Oral, Osteology, Oxygen, Parasitologia, Photochem, Phycology, Physchem, Physiologia, Pollutants, Radiation, Rheumato, Ruminants, Solar, Standards, Stresses, Taxonomy, Textiles, Thermo, Trauma Care, Uro, Wind, Women, Youth, and Zoonotic Diseases. Two journals were acquired by MDPI from other publishers: Current Issues in Molecular Biology and Tomography. Our global workforce grew to 5700 people with new offices opening in Singapore, Nanjing (China), Toronto (Canada), and Bucharest (Romania). At the end of June, the 2020 citation metrics were released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) by Clarivate. A total of 85 MDPI journals were included in the latest edition, of which 96% of journals increased their impact factor from 2019 and 32 journals (38%) ranked among the top 25% of journals in at least one category. Ten journals received a first impact factor: Aerospace, Buildings, Fermentation, Fishes, Fractal and Fractional, Gels, Horticulturae, Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD), Machines, and Veterinary Sciences. This year's Peer-Review Week was held from 20 to 24 September 2021. At MDPI, we value reviewers' work and consider peer review to be the most important stage in the editorial process. Rigorous peer review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. We are proud supporters of Peer Review Week and have created a report with insights on what make peer review successful.

2022

The number of peer-reviewed articles published from January to December 2022 was 295,046. In December, we reached the milestone of one million articles published in total. 32 journals published their first issues in 2022: Agrochemicals, Alloys, Analytics, Anatomia, Applied Biosciences, Astronomy, Bacteria, Chips, Colorants, Commodities, Dietetics, Drugs and Drug Candidates, Fintech, Grasses, Hydrobiology, International Medical Education, Journal of Vascular Diseases, Meteorology, Methane, Microplastics, Muscles, Organoids, Pharmacoepidemiology, Poultry, Powders, Psychoactives, Receptors, Seeds, Software, Trends in Higher Education, Venerology, and Virtual Worlds . Four transferred journals released their first issue with MDPI: Thalassemia Reports, International Journal of Plant Biology, Hematology Reports, and Surgical Techniques Development. 31 journals were accepted for coverage in Scopus: Acoustics, Audiology Research, Agriengineering, Applied Mechanics, Chemistry, CivilEng, Clean Technologies, Clinics and Practice, Clocks & Sleep, Engineering Proceedings, Forecasting, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Genealogy, Humanities, Journal of Risk and Financial Management, Journal of Xenobiotics, Laws, Logistics, Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction, Microbiology Research, Nursing Reports, Particles, Physics, Prosthesis, Sci, Stats, Telecom, Transplantology, Urban Science, Vehicles, and Vibration. Stats and the World Electric Vehicle Journal were added into the Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science). At the end of 2022, our global workforce grew to 6750 people. International Women’s Day was celebrated on 8 March 2022 with the theme of #BreakTheBias. We featured three members of our management team in a special interview, discussing their experience and aspirations. In March, we released the 2021 Annual Report designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary, including a timeline to reflect on our progress and celebrate some major milestones from MDPI's first 25 years. The report also highlights our initiatives and achievements from 2021. As of June 2022, 98 MDPI journals have earned a 2021 Journal Impact Factor in Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports. Eighty-six percent of journals have increased their Impact Factor from 2020. Thirteen journals received their first Impact Factor. Peer Review Week was held in September under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. At MDPI, we celebrated Peer Review Week through a series of blog articles, podcast, and webinar.

2023

In the period from 1 January to 31 December 2023, 279,544 peer-reviewed articles were published. Twenty-one journals released their first issues until December 2023: Aerobiology, Air, Arthropoda, Blockchains, Fossil Studies, Future, Gastronomy, Gout, Urate, and Crystal Deposition Disease, Journal of Clinical & Translational Ophthalmology, Hardware, Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Analyses, Lymphatics, Kinases and Phosphatases, Logics, NDT, Platforms, Sclerosis, Spectroscopy Journal, SynBio, Targets, and Waste. Additionally, 50 journals were accepted for inclusion in the Scopus database: Adolescents, AI, Analytica, Automation, Biomechanics, BioMedInformatics, Biophysica, Birds, C, Dairy, Diabetology, Digital, Disabilities, Dynamics, Earth, Ecologies, Electricity, Electrochem, Electronic Materials, Eng, Epidemiologia, Future Transportation, Geographies, Hemato, Immuno, IoT, Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy, Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Journalism and Media, Limnological Review, Livers, Modelling, Network, Nitrogen, Oceans, Optics, Parasitologia, Plasma, Polysaccharides, Psychiatry International, Reactions, Signals, Solids, Surfaces, Surgeries, Taxonomy, Technologies, Thermo, and Tourism and Hospitality. At the end of the year, 238 of our journals were indexed in Web of Science, with an addition of 29 journals throughout the year. In March, MDPI joined the international community in celebrating International Women's Day, with the theme "Embrace Equity," which highlighted the importance of recognizing and addressing the unique challenges and experiences faced by women. Finally, the Annual Report for 2022 was released in March. The 2022 Scopus and Web of Science journal citation metrics were officially released in June, with 111 MDPI journals receiving a first Impact Factor and 31 MDPI journals receiving a first CiteScore. The total number of our journals with an Impact Factor is now 208, while 216 journals have a CiteScore. 90% of our journals ranked with an Impact Factor in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) are ranked above average, in Q1 or Q2 (in at least one category). Looking at CiteScore ranks in the Scopus database, 80% of MDPI journals have a score that ranks them in Q1 or Q2 in at least one subject category. MDPI also appointed Stefan Tochev as the company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in June 2023. In this role, Stefan will employ transparent and effective leadership communication to foster engagement with the company and its philosophy while supporting the company's growth and global brand. During the last week of September, MDPI once again joined in the global campaign of Peer Review Week, celebrating the essential role that peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

2024 (Q1)

The number of peer-reviewed articles published from 1 January to 31 March 2024 was 54,181. We dedicated a webpage, Championing Women's Healthcare and Access to Healthcare Information, for International Women’s Day on 8 March. One journal released its first issue in March 2024: Emergency Care and Medicine. Eleven journals have been accepted for coverage in Scopus this year: Biomass, Compounds, Forensic Sciences, Mathematical and Computational Applications, Organics, Photochem, Physchem, Ruminants, Stresses, and Textiles. Twenty journals were added into Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science): Analytica, Applied Mechanics, Automation, CivilEng, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Corrosion and Materials Degradation, COVID, Electricity, Eng, Epidemiologia, GeoHazards, Hydrogen, IoT, Journal of Molecular Pathology, Journal of Nuclear Engineering, Macromol, Signals, Surgeries, and Sustainable Chemistry.

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