MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) is a publisher of open-accessscientific journals. It publishes over 390 peer-reviewed, open access journals.[2][3] MDPI is among the largest publishers in the world in terms of journal article output,[4][5] and is the largest publisher of open access articles.[6]
It was founded by Shu-Kun Lin as a chemical sample archive.[7] 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,[6] attracting attention to their very fast article processing times.[4][8][9] 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.[10] Besides launching its own journals, MDPI has acquired journals from other publishers, such as Tomography from Grapho Publications in 2021,[11] and Nursing Reports[12] and Audiology Research[13] from PagePress Publications in 2020.
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.[6] MDPI's business practices have attracted controversy,[22][23] with critics suggesting it sacrifices editorial and academic rigor in favor of operational speed and business interests.[4][8][24] MDPI was included on Jeffrey Beall's list of predatory open access publishing companies in 2014[25][26] but was removed in 2015 following a successful appeal[23][25] while applying pressure on Beall's employer.[27] Some journals published by MDPI have also been noted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Norwegian Scientific Index for lack of rigor and possible predatory practices.[28][29][30]
^Ioannidis, John P. A.; Pezzullo, Angelo Maria; Boccia, Stefania (20 March 2023). "The Rapid Growth of Mega-Journals: Threats and Opportunities". JAMA. 329 (15): 1253–1254. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.3212. PMID36939740. S2CID257630165.
^Publisher’s note: Continued publication of tomography by MDPI. 2021. Tomography. 7/1, 65. F. Vazquez. doi: 10.3390/tomography7010006
^Publisher’s note: Continued publication of nursing reports by mdpi. 2020. Nurs Rep. 10/1, 1. F. Vazquez. doi: 10.3390/nursrep10010001.
^Publisher’s Note: Continued Publication of Audiology Research by MDPI. 2020. Audiol Res. 10/2, 49. S.K. Lin, U. Vicario, F. Vazquez. doi: 10.3390/audiolres10020008.