On 30 May 2025, MDPI Canada hosted the MDPI Washington Editors Salon, bringing together thirty editors, researchers, and academics to facilitate discussions regarding the future and challenges of academic research and open access publishing. This meeting was held at the Washington Hilton located on Connecticut Avenue in the heart of Dupont Circle, D.C. This meeting provided a space for discussion, academic exchange, and networking, which contributed to MDPI’s continual commitment to the scientific community and its growth in the North American market.

The event began with a welcome message by Journal Relations Specialist, Ms. Sofia Zelko and opening remarks from our Operating Director, Mr. Elvis Wang. Our first presentation was delivered by Deputy Operations Manager, Ms. Summer Huggard and introduced the audience to MDPI to provide greater insight into our operations within the North American market. This was followed by a talk from Dr. Ryan Siu, an Institutional Partnership Manager, on the benefits of our IOAP program and Institutional Partnerships. Next on the program was our awards ceremony, in which we celebrated the contributions of a few selected attendees and heard their acceptance speeches.  From here, we proceeded to our final presentation from Dr. Milos Cuculovic, in which he discussed the applications and challenges of AI in the publishing industry. After the conclusion of the presentations, we opened the floor to a round table discussion and panel where attendees spoke with panelists about the potential, challenges and guidelines in the usage of AI in scientific paper and publishing, how MDPI manages the impartial and rigorous peer review process, how MDPI tackles the challenges in scientific publishing, institutional partnership to support universities and institutions to publish in open access format, Scientific Publishing Exchanges, and more.

Best Contribution Awards
The MDPI Best Contribution Award is presented to editors to recognize their outstanding dedication and efforts in supporting MDPI journals and acknowledge their exceptional contributions in various key areas, including providing thorough and insightful reviews, making informed and fair decisions, ensuring the quality and integrity of the publication process, and facilitating the timely publication of high-quality manuscripts. Moreover, the award celebrates the recipient’s commitment to their journal’s growth and success through their continued support and collaboration with both authors, reviewers, and the editorial team. This prestigious recognition honors this vital and demanding role in upholding the academic excellence and credibility of their journal(s). The following four winners were recognized at the 2025 Washington Salon:

• Prof. Dr. Richard Calderone, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, USA;
• Prof. Dr. Michael Bukrinsky, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, USA;
• Dr. Konrad Huppi, Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA;
• Dr. Anelia Horvath, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, USA.

Each winner accepted their award and delivered a short speech describing their acknowledgment of the support from MDPI and their engagement with the journals. Unfortunately, Dr. Anelia Horvath was unable to attend this event, but Ms. Sofia Zelko, shared a few words on her behalf.

Looking Ahead
The MDPI 2025 Washington Salon was a successful collaboration between MDPI and scholars discussing the rigorous peer review process and the future of academic publishing. We are thankful to all attendees for their part in making this event possible and for contributing to its success. Looking ahead, we hope to continue to build the momentum set by the Toronto and New York salons in Chicago and Los Angeles and to continue to bring together like-minded individuals to support scientific excellence through high quality service and publishing.