MDPI

MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) is a publisher of open-access scientific journals. It publishes over 390 peer-reviewed, open-access journals. MDPI is among the largest publishers in the world in terms of journal article output, and was the largest publisher of open access articles in 2020. It was founded by Shu-Kun Lin as a chemical sample archive. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of peer-reviewed papers published by MDPI grew significantly, with year-over-year growth of over 50% in 2017¹, 2018 and 2019¹, attracting attention to their very fast article processing times. In a review of 26 open-access "mega-journals" that published over 3,500 papers in 2022¹, 11 (42%) of the journals were from MDPI. Besides launching its own journals, MDPI has acquired journals from other publishers, such as Tomography from Grapho Publications in 2021¹, and Nursing Reports and Audiology Research from PagePress Publications in 2020. As of January 2024, MDPI publishes 433 academic journals, including 92 journals indexed within the Science Citation Index Expanded, 7 journals indexed within the Social Sciences Citation Index, 138 journals listed in SciFinder, and 270 in Scopus. Its journals are included in the DOAJ. MDPI also publishes open access books indexed in DOAB, OAPEN and BCI.…

MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) is a publisher of open-access scientific journals. It publishes over 390 peer-reviewed, open-access journals. MDPI is among the largest publishers in the world in terms of journal article output, and was the largest publisher of open access articles in 2020. It was founded by Shu-Kun Lin as a chemical sample archive. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of peer-reviewed papers published by MDPI grew significantly, with year-over-year growth of over 50% in 2017, 2018 and 2019, attracting attention to their very fast article processing times. In a review of 26 open-access "mega-journals" that published over 3,500 papers in 2022, 11 (42%) of the journals were from MDPI. Besides launching its own journals, MDPI has acquired journals from other publishers, such as Tomography from Grapho Publications in 2021, and Nursing Reports and Audiology Research from PagePress Publications in 2020. As of January 2024, MDPI publishes 433 academic journals, including 92 journals indexed within the Science Citation Index Expanded, 7 journals indexed within the Social Sciences Citation Index, 138 journals listed in SciFinder, and 270 in Scopus. Its journals are included in the DOAJ. MDPI also publishes open access books indexed in DOAB, OAPEN and BCI. It is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM), and a participating publisher and supporter of the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC). MDPI's business model is based on establishing entirely open access broad-discipline journals, with fast processing times from submission to publication and article processing charges paid by the author, their institutions or funders. MDPI's business practices have attracted controversy, with critics suggesting it sacrifices editorial and academic rigor in favor of operational speed and business interests. MDPI was included on Jeffrey Beall's list of predatory open access publishing companies in 2014; it was removed in 2015 following a successful appeal, while applying pressure on Beall's employer. Some journals published by MDPI have also been noted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Norwegian Scientific Index for lack of rigor and possible predatory practices; as of 2025¹, CAS no longer lists any MDPI journals on its Early Warning List. In 2024, Finland's Publication Forum, which classifies publication channels for academic research, downgraded 193 MDPI journals to its lowest, level 0 rating. ===2016 data breach=== In August 2016, MDPI was breached, leaving exposed 17.5 GB of data, including 845,000 e-mail addresses and e-mail exchanges between authors, editors and reviewers. According to MDPI, the unprotected instance at which the data was breached has since been protected. === Allegation of anomalous citation patterns=== In July 2021, Maria Ángeles Oviedo-García published a paper in OUP journal Research Evaluation claiming that MDPI journals had anomalously high self-citation rates compared to leading journals in the same fields. The alleged high self-citation rate is not to other articles in the same journal, but rather to other MDPI journals. Oviedo-García argued that this is indicative of predatory journals. MDPI released a response to Oviedo-García's paper on their website eight days later. MDPI highlighted a number of issues with the article and its framing, arguing in particular that leading journals should not be directly compared to non-leading journals; MDPI also argued that, when compared to other publishers, MDPI does not have anomalously high self-citations. Research Evaluation published an expression of concern for Oviedo-García's paper in September 2021, which eventually led to a correction published in April 2023. Changes made to the article added caveats and toned down inflammatory language, however the core conclusions remained the same. A 2023 study utilizing a different method reached a broadly similar conclusion that MDPI journals had more self-citations than journals by other publishers. The study also found that MDPI journals received more citations from a smaller network of journals, relative to journals by other publishers. ===2023 Clarivate delistings=== In February 2023, Clarivate discontinued coverage of two MDPI journals, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and the Journal of Risk and Financial Management in the Web of Science, for publishing content not related to their scope. As a result, both were removed from the Clarivate Web of Science database, losing their impact factors. Also, citations from these journals no longer affect the impact factors of other journals. ===Stealth corrections=== A 2025 study in Learned Publishing examining journals conducting post-publication changes without indicating the permanent or temporary alterations of published material found evidence of MDPI journals engaging in this practice. The study suggested that this practice may "threaten scientific integrity" as such stealth corrections may "potentially benefit journals, publishers and authors engaging in misconduct". The study highlighted shortcomings in MDPI editorial practices and guidelines which perpetuate this issue. ==Proliferation of special issues== Paolo Crosetto, research director at INRAE-GAEL, first noted the proliferation of MDPI special issues in his blog in April 2021, giving them, alongside a fast turnaround time, credit for MDPI's success. He reported that in 2013, MDPI published 388 special issues, or about 5 per journal, while in 2021, the number grew to nearly 40,000, or about 500 per journal. Special issues usually are proposed by scientists to a journal, which then makes the decision of whether or not the special issue is suitable for the journal. Crosetto noted that in contrast, "at MDPI, it is the publisher who sends out invitations for Special Issue , and it is unclear which role, if any, the editorial board of the normal issues has in the process." In July 2021, Oviedo-García analysed the number of special issues published by MDPI journals in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the numbers varied greatly, from 14 in the journal Vaccines, to 500 in the journal International Journal of Molecular Sciences, with the average number of special issues in each journal being 113. The number of special issues was more than double the number of regular issues in over 90% of MDPI journals. In 2020, the numbers were even higher, reaching "as surprisingly high as 788 special issues in Sustainability, 830 in Applied Sciences, and 846 in Materials." Nearly 95% of all MDPI journals published more than one special issue per week. According to Jack Grove in Inside Higher Ed, International Journal of Molecular Sciences will host 3,514 "special issues with a closing date in 2023", and Sustainability 3,512, averaging over more than nine special issues per day. This number of special issues leads to "concerns about how peer review can be conducted effectively at this scale" as well as questions about the thematic relevance to the journal.

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