MDPI Mexico City Editors Salon 2026 Summary—Strengthening Engagement Across Latin America

On 26 June 2026, MDPI hosted the MDPI Mexico City Editors Salon, marking the second Editors Salon held in a Spanish-speaking country and the first to take place in Spanish-speaking Latin America. The event welcomed more than 70 attendees, including Editors-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, Section Board Members, Topical Advisory Panel Members, and Guest Editors representing more than 40 MDPI journals.

Held at the NH Collection Mexico City Reforma, the salon provided an opportunity to connect with the local research community through a diverse program featuring presentations by MDPI representatives and invited scholars, recognition of outstanding contributors through the Best Contributor Awards, an open round-table discussion addressing key concerns within the scholarly publishing community, and a dedicated networking session that fostered meaningful exchanges between Editors and MDPI staff.

The program emphasized transparency in MDPI's publishing practices, reinforced MDPI’s commitment to safeguarding research integrity, and provided a valuable forum for better understanding the challenges and opportunities shaping Mexico’s research and scholarly publishing landscape through direct dialogue with the local academic community.

Opening Speech:

Summer Huggard, MDPI Canada Operations Manager, delivered a brief opening speech highlighting the importance of Mexico’s research community to MDPI

MDPI Overview and Services:

Summer Huggard provided an overview of MDPI’s position within the global open access publishing landscape, highlighting recent indexing achievements, the continued growth of open access, and MDPI’s expanding presence in Mexico. The session also presented key metrics related to editorial participation, publishing activity, and institutional collaborations in the country, concluding with positive results from MDPI’s 2025 stakeholder satisfaction survey.

MDPI Editorial Process:

Diana Ribeiro Tosato outlined MDPI’s editorial workflow, emphasizing the role of academic editors, transparent peer review, and quality assurance measures designed to uphold research integrity. She also discussed recently introduced initiatives to strengthen peer review and explained the management of Special Issues, including safeguards to ensure editorial independence and transparency.

Invited Scholar Presentation: “Coordination, Organometallic Chemistry, and their Applications: My Publication Experience with the MDPI Journals” | Dr. David Morales Morales

Dr. David Morales Morales shared his research in coordination chemistry, catalysis, and medicinal chemistry while reflecting on his long-standing collaboration with MDPI. He highlighted the value of Special Issues in advancing scientific collaboration and recognized MDPI’s contribution to supporting researchers and promoting scientific communication in Latin America.

Best Contribution Awards and Presentations

Awards were presented to three distinguished editors in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their journals, MDPI, and the broader scholarly publishing community. The recipients were Dr. Natividad Gutiérrez Chong, Editor-in-Chief of Genealogy; Dr. Oliver Schütze, Editor-in-Chief of Mathematical and Computational Applications (MCA); and Dr. Marco A. Velasco Velázquez, Section Board Member for Pharmaceuticals. Following the award presentation, each recipient delivered a brief acceptance speech, sharing insights into their research activities and reflecting on their contributions to their respective fields.

Awardee presentation: “What role does cultural diversity play in interculturality?” | Dr. Natividad Gutiérrez Chong 

Dr. Natividad Gutiérrez ChongInstituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM), México

Awardee presentation | Dr. Oliver Schütze

Dr. Oliver SchützeDepartamento de Computación, Cinvestav, México

Awardee presentation: “Structure-based drug discovery at the Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, UNAM” | Dr. Marco A. Velasco Velázquez

Dr. Marco A. Velasco VelázquezFacultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM), México

Open Access in Mexico and MDPI Partnerships

Bob Vrooman presented on MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program and society partnership models, highlighting opportunities to strengthen collaborations with Mexican universities and professional societies. The discussion generated strong interest from attendees regarding institutional agreements, journal partnerships, and future collaboration opportunities within Mexico.

MDPI Ethics and Research Integrity

Dr. Sally Wu explored MDPI’s policies and procedures for safeguarding publication ethics and research integrity, including measures to prevent misconduct, manage conflicts of interest, and investigate post-publication concerns. Discussions focused on ethics case management, plagiarism, AI-assisted writing, and the importance of maintaining rigorous editorial standards.

AI in Publishing

Dr. Barnaby Crook examined both the opportunities and challenges presented by generative AI in academic publishing. MDPI’s policies regarding AI-assisted writing, peer review, and editorial workflows were presented, followed by an engaging discussion on AI detection, responsible use, and the evolving role of AI in scientific communication.

Roundtable Discussion

The event concluded with an open roundtable that encouraged direct dialogue between attendees and MDPI representatives. Participants discussed topics including open access affordability in Latin America, institutional perceptions of open access publishing, support for early-career researchers, Special Issue management, reviewer selection, AI in publishing, communication with editorial offices, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration between MDPI and the Mexican research community.

Closing Remarks and Networking

The event concluded with closing remarks by Bob Vrooman, who thanked attendees for their participation and contributions throughout the day before inviting them to the networking session. In an informal setting, participants continued discussions with fellow researchers and members of the MDPI team, exchanging ideas, exploring future collaboration opportunities, and providing positive feedback on the event. The salon then concluded, marking a successful day of dialogue and engagement with Mexico's research community.

Building a Stronger Research Community

The Mexico City Editors Salon marked an important milestone for MDPI's engagement in Latin America, as the first Editors Salon held in a Spanish-speaking country in the region. Bringing together editors, researchers, and publishing professionals, the event created a valuable platform for open dialogue on scholarly publishing, research integrity, open access, and the evolving needs of Mexico's academic community.

Beyond the presentations and discussions, the salon highlighted the enthusiasm, expertise, and collaborative spirit of the Mexican research community. The thoughtful exchanges throughout the day provided valuable insights that will help shape future initiatives while strengthening existing partnerships and fostering new collaborations.

As MDPI continues to expand its presence across Latin America, the Mexico City Editors Salon represents another meaningful step toward building lasting relationships with researchers and supporting the continued advancement of open, high-quality scholarly communication.