The academic community is about more than just publishing research. In short, you can get involved at any stage of the editorial process, including acting as a reviewer, Guest Editor, or Editor-in-Chief.

Because this side of participation is not the central aspect of our operations, there are usually loads of questions about it.

So, we’ve compiled this short list of questions and answers with the hope of guiding those interested in collaborating with us.

If your question isn’t answered here, leave us a comment below!

How do I volunteer to review for an MDPI journal?

We welcome new reviewers!

To apply to become a reviewer, log into the SuSy portal, and then fill out the volunteer reviewer form.

Then, you’ll typically be contacted within three working days by the journal’s Managing Editor with further details.

Meanwhile, you can find guidelines for MDPI reviewers on our website.

How can I become a Guest Editor/Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member?

• Guest Editor

You can nominate yourself to be a Guest Editor. Firstly, you’ll need to either propose a topic or propose a Special Issue.

• Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board Member

These positions are offered to academics in specific fields who meet the requirements of the journal. To accept an invitation, simply reply to the email expressing your interest.

Is there any guidance for Guest Editors/Editors-in-Chief/Editorial Board Members?

You can find this on our information for editors page.

Then, you can reach out to the journal’s Editorial Office for further details.

Is the institutional membership program free?

The Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) is free for institutions to join for the first year. After the first year, institutions can pay a fee and receive even larger discounts for their authors. Membership is flexible and you can cancel at any time.

If you’re an interested academic, you can recommend the IOAP membership scheme to your librarian.

For further details, please see the IOAP memberships page.

Where can I submit a proposal for a new journal?

You can send it in via email to the journal’s Editorial Office.

Above all, make sure that you include:

• an outline of the proposed scope;
• a list of potential Editorial Board Members;
• a few lines about how the journal will contribute to the field.

Does MDPI support conferences?

Yes, MDPI financially supports some conferences.

In addition, you can use conference organisation tool Sciforum to plan your conference.

For instance, Sciforum can help you:

• Set up a website for your conference
• Receive abstracts
• Register attendees
• Send out mass emails
• Register doi numbers
• Export attendee data

Moreover, Sciforum has a free version ready to use.

If you can’t find a specific answer to a question, let us know in the comment section below.

Article originally published by Martyn Rittman in November 2015.