IU Libraries recently partnered with the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) as part of their Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), joining over 550 other institutions. Founded in 2010, MDPI is a publisher of open access scientific journals, meaning that all research outputs are openly licensed and disseminated without barriers, financial or otherwise. Open access publishing is occasionally accompanied with an article processing charge, or APC, which helps offset publishing costs traditionally covered by subscription fees. As part of MDPI’s open access program, researchers from partner institutions receive a 10% discount on their APC when publishing with MDPI. For those interested in publishing with MDPI, the following provides a walkthrough of their submission process, including when and how to apply your IU-affiliated APC discount.
MDPI’s open access program grants free access to their Submission System (SuSy). MDPI aims to “provide libraries and central offices additional control and transparency over papers submitted to [their] journals, and provide early notification of potential costs involved with the submissions.” New users must register with their IU email. Once registered and logged in, researchers can submit a manuscript for publication following MDPI’s 5-step submission process.
Steps 1 and 2 include inputting manuscript and author information, respectively. Authors suggest three peer reviewers in Step 3 and upload their manuscript in either a Word or ZIP file format in Step 4. Step 5 completes the process and sends a confirmation to the journal’s editors. It is here where authors will be prompted to designate their IOAP partnership and any applicable discounts. Authors will be provided with a drop-down box where they can select IU as their institution and receive the discount.
Once Indiana University is selected, the APC discount will be automatically processed. IU’s partnership with MDPI is non-centralized, so the remaining APC will be invoiced directly to the author. In addition to MDPI, IU has also partnered with Frontiers, which provides a 7.5% discount for IUB affiliates, and SpringerOpen/BioMed Central, which provides a 15% discount. For additional APC support, authors can apply for IU’s Open Access Article Publishing Fund, which provides scholars up to $2,000 per year to cover open access APCs. For further questions regarding APCs, the IOAP partnership, or publishing with MDPI, see MDPI’s IOAP FAQ page or contact iusw@indiana.edu.
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