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Information for Authors

Overview

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. Further, all manuscripts published in these journals undergo a rigorous and efficient editorial process that offers simplicity to authors. As a pioneer in open access publishing, our core mission is to facilitate the dissemination of and increase access to relevant and impactful research.

We serve scholars from across the globe and from a variety of backgrounds. To deepen our understanding of and strengthen our support for the research communities that we serve, we strive to build an equally diverse and inclusive portfolio of journals. Only by valuing differences can we create an equitable and inclusive environment for scientific exchange and foster the openness that is key to our mission.

The daily exchange of ideas between the East and the West has always been at the heart of MDPI's ethos. Nonetheless, we understand that diversity does not end there. More needs to be done to bridge the gap between the Global North and South, as well as to create equal opportunities for people of any race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, country of origin, physical ability, or socio-economic status. MDPI is committed to publishing research findings based on their scientific merit and to making these findings accessible to all.

Useful Resources for Authors

Manuscript Submission and Instructions for Authors

MDPI’s Pledges to Authors and Readers

  • Publishing rigorously peer-reviewed manuscripts with a high scholarly impact.
  • Maintaining quick publication—our manuscripts are published within 5–7 weeks of submission (provided that no major revision is required).
  • Publishing fully open access journals—readers can access all content published on our platforms for free.
  • Publishing citation-tracked journals—MDPI continuously works toward the prompt coverage and citation-tracking of all of its journals in leading databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PMC, PubMed, and MEDLINE) and in various other databases.

Benefits of Open Access for Authors and Readers

Read the full information regarding open access here.

  • The free availability of research without any subscription or price barriers.
  • Immediate access once an article is published (with no embargo period).
  • Authors retain all copyrights; they will not be forced to sign any copyright transfer agreements.
  • Permission to re-use the published material if proper accreditation is given (Creative Commons Attribution Licenseexternal link).

Market-Specific Taxes

Authors from Switzerland will have the local Value-Added Tax (VAT) added to their invoices. Residents of Japan will have the Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) added to their invoices at the rate set by the Japanese government.

Language and Figures

The article processing charge (APC) includes only minor English editing for accepted papers. Authors are responsible for ensuring good English and clear figures before publication. Unclear language or figures may risk delays and even rejection.

If the language or figures require improvement for clarity, MDPI Author Services offers professional English and Figure Editing services. For expert language and figure editing that elevates the clarity and impact of your work, visit MDPI Author Services.

Funding of APCs and BPCs

Many funding agencies and institutions explicitly allow the use of research grants for the payment of APCs and BPCs for publishing open access articles and books. For more information on APC and BPC funding, please see the following page.

Discounts on APCs

Waivers may be granted at the Publisher's discretion and should be discussed with the Editorial Office when submitting an article. Editorial decision-making is decoupled from the authors' ability to pay the processing charges; however, authors should consider in advance whether they have sufficient funds to cover the full APC/BPC.

MDPI also offers discount vouchers to selected reviewers. Please note that reviewer vouchers can only be combined with IOAP and affiliated society discounts.

Authors affiliated with participating universities receive a discount on the APC for any paper published in an MDPI journal. Note that only one discount through an IOAP scheme is permitted per paper and that the discount can be combined with other available discounts (e.g., reviewer vouchers).

General Peer Review and the Editorial Procedure

All manuscripts published in our journals are strictly and thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts, including research and review articles, spontaneous submissions, and invited papers. The Managing Editor of the journal performs a technical pre-check of a manuscript’s suitability upon its receipt. The Academic Editor is notified of the submission and invited to perform an editorial pre-check. The Editorial Office then organizes the peer review process, performed by independent experts, and collects at least two review reports per manuscript. To uphold transparency and keep the authors informed about the progress of the peer review process, a preliminary version of the reviewers' reports is made accessible to them via the SuSy platform. Authors can view the number of reviewer reports collected, as well as the content of the reviewer reports, once the peer-review process is completed. As these preliminary review reports are not checked by an Academic Editor, the authors are recommended to refrain from undertaking any revision until the full editorial assessment has been conducted and an official notification has been received by the Editorial Office. We ask our authors for adequate revision (with a second round of peer review if necessary) before a final decision is made. The final decision is made by the Academic Editor (usually the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member of a journal or the Guest Editor of a Special Issue). Accepted articles undergo copy-editing and English editing.

Editorial Decision and Revision

All articles, reviews, and communications published in MDPI journals go through the peer review process and receive at least two review reports. An in-house editor will discuss each step of the process with an external Academic Editor and communicate decisions to authors regarding the following:

  • Accept in Present Form: The paper is accepted without any further changes.
  • Accept after Minor Revision: In principle, the paper will be accepted after the authors revise based on the reviewers’ comments. Authors are given five days for minor revision.
  • Reconsider after Major Revision: The acceptance of a resubmitted manuscript depends on the revision. The authors need to provide a point-by-point response or rebuttal if some revisions based on the reviewers’ comments cannot be made. A maximum of two rounds of major revision per manuscript is normally provided. Authors will be asked to resubmit the revised paper within ten days, and the revised version will be returned to the reviewers for further comments.

  • Reject and Encourage Resubmission: An article for which additional experiments and extensive revision are needed to support the conclusions will be rejected, and authors may choose to resubmit their manuscript to the same journal in their own time upon the completion of comprehensive revision. Revised manuscripts submitted to the same journal will be assigned a new manuscript ID and linked to the original submission in our submission system (SuSy). Following resubmission, the editorial process will continue as normal (https://www.mdpi.com/editorial_process). To ensure an efficient and effective peer review process, the same reviewers will be invited to review the resubmitted manuscript.

  • Reject: An article containing serious errors and making no original contribution will be rejected, with no offer of resubmission to the journal.

Digital Preservation of MDPI Content

To ensure the indefinite preservation of our publications, all content published within an MDPI journal is permanently archived in the following databases:

For the purposes of record-keeping, MDPI retains copies of submitted manuscripts and supporting files. However, for articles that are rejected, we comply with requests from authors to delete files.

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