For MDPI, 2026 brings great opportunity for celebration and reflection. Not only does it mark 30 years of MDPI’s commitment to advancing open science, but it also coincides with many monumental anniversaries for some of MDPI’s leading journals.

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary, this edition of our Journal Spotlight will be taking a look at the achievements and growth of Data (ISSN 2306-5729).

Data is an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal on data in science. The journal publishes methodical papers on processes applied to data collection, treatment, analysis and descriptors.

Editor in Chief: Prof. Dr. Jamal Jokar Arsanjani

Current Impact Factor: 2.0

Current CiteScore: 5.0

Statistics as of May 2026.

A Data MDPI timeline

• 2016 – Inaugural issue was released
• 2017 – Data was indexed in ESCI (Web of Science)
• 2018 – Data became affiliated with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN)
• 2019 – Data was indexed in Scopus (Elsevier)
• 2024 – Data was indexed in Ei Compendex (Elsevier)
• 2026 – 10^th anniversary of Data

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Dr. Jamal Jokar Arsanjani has been Editor-in-Chief of the Data journal since its launch in 2016. Currently a professor of Geoinformatics and Earth Observation at Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark, he has a PhD in Cartography and Geoinformation with a focus on land change modelling from the University of Vienna, Austria, continuing his research career and becoming an Assistant Professor at AAU.

His research interest focusses on the integration of geographical, earth and citizen observation data into computational models and approaches for modelling the present and futuristic state of complex phenomena.

Aims & scope

In the journal’s first editorial piece, Prof. Dr. Arsanjani addresses the importance of data for scientific progress. Data offers an opportunity for scientists to share valuable data and capitalize on this knowledge for further scientific benefit.

Data provides a forum for scientists to publish methodical papers on processes applied to data collection, treatment and analysis, as well as for data descriptors publishing descriptions of a linked dataset.

“Our goal is to provide a unique, international, scientific forum for data scientists as well as for scientists working with data.” – Prof. Dr. Jamal Jokar Arsanjani, EiC (2016 – present)

The journal’s scope includes data in applications, data-related processes and data sets and descriptions. A full list of topics in the journal’s scope can be found here.

Journal metrics

Most cited and viewed

The Data publication that is the most cited paper, as of May 2026, is an article titled “Indian Diabetic Retinopathy Image Dataset (IDRiD): A Database for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Research”. The most viewed paper in the journal is titled “Predicting Student Dropout and Academic Success”.

Impact Factor

Data received its first Impact Factor of 2.6 in 2022 and currently holds an Impact Factor rating of 2.0.

The journal is placed in Q2 for the “Multidisciplinary Sciences” and Q3 for the “Computer Science, Information Systems” Journal Citation Report (JCR) categories.

CiteScore

The journal’s CiteScore sits at 5.0 as of 2026. Data is positioned in Q2 for the “Information Systems”, “Information Systems and Management” and “Computer Science Applications” CiteScore categories.

Indexing

Data is indexed within a large range of databases and archives, including:

• BibCnrs
• CNPIEC
• Dimensions
• DOAJ
• Inspec
• OSTI
• Scopus (Elsevier)
• ESCI (Web of Science)

Access the complete list of associated indexing services here.

Altmetrics

As of May 2026, Data has received 23 mentions in policy documents, 26 mentions in patents and 156 mentions across various news outlets and blogs.

The Data community

MDPI’s Data journal is enthusiastic about fostering positive relationships with the academic community it serves, and does this through various awards, affiliations and conferences.

Awards

Data does not currently have any awards that are open for nominations; however, the journal is announcing the winner of its Best Paper Award on 30 June 2026, for which all papers published in Data in 2025 are eligible, and the winners of the Outstanding Reviewer Award on 31 March 2027, for which all of the reviewers for Data in 2026 will be automatically eligible.

Learn more about the Data awards here, and read our blog article on MDPI’s award programme here.

Conferences

Conferences present a valuable opportunity to connect wider academic communities. The journal engages with a wide range of conferences, hosted by MDPI and other partners.

The next MDPI conference related to the Data journal is the 1^st International Online Conference on Earth Science, taking place virtually from 2 to 4 September 2026. The event will address a variety of research topics, including AI and Big Data in Earth Science.

There are also two partner conferences happening this year:

• The 7^th International Conference on Modern Management based on Big Data (MMBD 2026) – Co-organised by Hannan University and the University of Hong Kong’s School of Computing and Data Science (HKU SAAS), this conference will be held in Matsue, Japan, from 15 to 18 July. The event will aim to provide a high-level platform for experts and scholars to share their latest ideas on big data and management to advance the discipline.
• The 5^th International Conference on Digitalization and Management Innovation – Co-organised by Beijing Wuzi University, Xiangnan University and HKU SAAS, this conference will be held in Xi’an, Shaanxi, China from 24 to 27 August 2026. The event will aim to provide a high-level platform for experts and scholars to share their latest ideas on digitalization and management innovation.

See more information regarding upcoming events related to the Data journal.

Testimonials

“Publishing with MDPI was a seamless experience. The editorial workflow was transparent, the peer review process was constructive and efficient, and communication with the editorial office was excellent. I would highly recommend MDPI to researchers seeking a professional and timely publishing process.” – Prof. Dr. Dan Cristian Manescu, Author

“MDPI is trustworthy and reliable. It is popular among researchers and has an excellent Impact Factor.” – Prof. Dr. Surya Niraula, Reviewer

Submitting a manuscript

Manuscripts for Data should be submitted online at susy.mdpi.com.

Prior to submitting, we recommend that authors explore the useful resources on our instructions for authors webpage.

To submit your manuscript, register and login to the submission website. Once you have registered, click here to go to the submission form. The submitting author, who is generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer review process.

All co-authors can see the manuscript details in the submission system if they register and login using the e-mail address provided during manuscript submission.

If you’d like to find out more about Data and its publication process, please visit the journal website.

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