Dear Resham Sharma ,

I suppose you mean the following special issue:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/phytoremediation_polluted_environments_current_status_future_directions

This special issue belongs to the journal “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph ) published by MDPI.

This journal has a real impact factor (2.849) since it is indexed in SCIE and additionally is indexed/abstracted in:

-Scopus

-DOAJ member (important indicator for reliable open access journals)

-PubMed/Medline

So more genuine than this is hardly possible. However, keep in mind that unless you can arrange something it is an open access journal and in this case the costs are substantial (is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs)).

Best regards.

PS. Indeed MDPI has been discussed quite extensively also here on RG, see for example:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Im_gonna_ask_whether_publishing_in_MDPI_journals_is_good_or_more_specifically_how_is_publishing_in_International_Journal_of_Molecular_Sciences

I can recommend two very readable articles with thorough analysis of MDPI which are nuanced and mild about this publisher in the end:

https://danbrockington.com/2020/07/23/mdpi-journals-2015-to-2019/

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/08/10/guest-post-mdpis-remarkable-growth/

Dear Resham Sharma ,

I suppose you mean the following special issue:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/phytoremediation_polluted_environments_current_status_future_directions

This special issue belongs to the journal “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph ) published by MDPI.

This journal has a real impact factor (2.849) since it is indexed in SCIE and additionally is indexed/abstracted in:

-Scopus

-DOAJ member (important indicator for reliable open access journals)

-PubMed/Medline

So more genuine than this is hardly possible. However, keep in mind that unless you can arrange something it is an open access journal and in this case the costs are substantial (is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs)).

Best regards.

PS. Indeed MDPI has been discussed quite extensively also here on RG, see for example:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Im_gonna_ask_whether_publishing_in_MDPI_journals_is_good_or_more_specifically_how_is_publishing_in_International_Journal_of_Molecular_Sciences

I can recommend two very readable articles with thorough analysis of MDPI which are nuanced and mild about this publisher in the end:

https://danbrockington.com/2020/07/23/mdpi-journals-2015-to-2019/

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/08/10/guest-post-mdpis-remarkable-growth/

Thanks Rob Keller for the detailed clarity :)

Di.... Most of the mdpi journals have a Thompson Reuters impact.... They are genuine n their impact is increasing day by day

Thanks dear @Sukhmeen

For clarity you should always refer to master journal list of clarivate analytics which is another name of WoS (Thompson Reuters). If the journal is included, then you can proceed without doubts.

Resham Sharma MDPI is legitimate, but having publications in MDPI journals will lead to underestimation of your profile by the renowned researchers and institution. So better to avoid MDPI. Here is one of the messages by a professor from one thread, where 300+ other professors have similar concerns.

As for MDPI, I must admit that I can understand the general resentments posted here. Today, another farce caused by MDPI's unprofessional practice has come to an end. Let us recall how it usually works. Typically, an associate editor asks you kindly for the review. They grant you a more or less generous period of time to think about whether you accept or decline. Once accepted, they would appreciate receiving your review within 3 weeks, which is a typical time period in journals I do publish. In what follows, you will find the quotes and the days passed, as extracted from the email correspondence with MDPI. Day 0: "We have received the following manuscript to be considered for publication ... and kindly invite you to provide a review to evaluate its suitability for publication ... We would appreciate receiving your comments within 10 days ... we look forward to hearing from you." Ten days is ambitious. I need some time to think about whether to accept or decline, because I am unsure to be able to deliver a professional review of high quality in that short time. Day 1: "[Yesterday] we invited you to review the following paper ... As we have not yet heard from you, we would like to confirm that you received our e-mail ... We look forward to hearing from you soon." I still did not make a decision. They now look forward to hearing from me "soon" instead of looking forward to hearing from me, as yesterday. The pressure on my shoulders is rising. Day 2: "Sorry to bother you again. We have sent you a peer-review request [the day before yesterday] but received no reply yet. We are sending this reminder to ask for your consideration again. Please forgive us if you are bothered by this email. We look forward to hearing from you soon." Now, they are aware to bother me, and they want me to forgive them. As a gesture of forgiveness, I press the “Accept” link. Day 5 after review acceptance: "We understand that ... you may be busy and have other obligations recently. However ... your report is of great importance for the following process. We really appreciate if you may assist with expediting the process. *You can surely submit your valuable report at your most convenient time*. ... We are looking forward to your valuable comments." Motivated by these two asterisks in the email and by the obvious state of emergency, I now read thoroughly through the whole manuscript and make notes, which consumes quite a bit of my life that nobody can give me back. Day 6 after review acceptance: "Hope this message finds you well. We just, fortunately, received enough review reports from other reviewers and would like to know whether you have started to review it or not. If you already started, we would appreciate receiving your report within two days. However, if you did not start yet, I hope you will not mind if we cancel this review request for you. Thanks in advance for your understanding and sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Looking forward to hearing from you." ====== End of the story and end of my engagement for this journal ======

Thanks Dr. Hands and Dr. Ahmad, considering the discussion, I don't have money to spend on getting articles published, so safest alternative seems to be typically known and recognised publication houses, thanks again.

No.

MDPI is not a predatory publisher.

There are many high-ranking journals.

Please see link - https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/2041

Yes, if they were leading to underestimation of the skills or profile.... How would they get such strong impact factors this year ...almost about 5 new journals from mdpi got Thompson Reuters impact and that to almost around 4-5. They are a legitimate publisher that struggles with their process and wide variation in editorial quality. There are good papers in their journals by credible scientists. They do peer review, which they publish so you can see. Like any publisher, even the big ones, some editors of their journals are better than others.

Thank you all for the clarity, I will keep in mind the essential factors : TR Impact, Clarivate Analysis, the facts which made me pose this question : the language of the email had plenty of grammatical errors ( which makes u think, if it's a fraudulent message ) also they don't mention the processing charges in the email, I came to know about it from a colleague ( so imagine an author, who gets excited upon receiving such a mail, prepares the entire text/ formats it, only to get the revert of costly charges :)) so that's all, thanks for the insights, such discussions help gain a perspective for all, if a particular journal or publication house can be of much consequence.

MDPI is not a predatory publisher.

You can clarify here.

https://beallslist.net/

Same is my openion about MDPI journals. i have an experience about MDPI journal, as one of my article has been pass through several rounds (4 rounds)， and finally excepted. so MDPI journals are not easy as we think about. in my view MDPI journals save the time by making quick decession about an article, and thats a researcher need in the present time.

MDPI is not a predatory publisher. Most of MDPI journals are open access and charged fee for publication. That is why their review process is fast.

Dr Meesam Ali is right

MDPI has fast journals and are open access and charged fee for publication. That's why....

I will not say they are predatory (MDPI journals) but rather very expensive. Similar issue with frontier in plant science. Frontier in Plant science can publish poor articles as well as well structured and scientifically sound articles. However, Frontier is much more expensive than MDPI. Mostly lab groups prefer to publish in free journals.

Following

Mdpi is an excellent and professional publisher - not predatory at all - I have published in it more than 22 papers and a guest editor for a special issue in it.

The point that they are open access and the waiver possibilities are very low.

No, Most of the mdpi journals have a Thompson Reuters impact.... They are genuine not predatory at all. Also, they have advantages than other journals in quick response as well as good reviweing. All the best.

Yes MDPI was predatory! only till 2014. After that, it was removed from the list of predatory journals. Now, MDPI publishes 222 academic journals, including 55 with an impact factor out of 70 covered by the Science Citation Index Expanded. This means 75 % of journals are not impacted. You should check the journal name through (https://jcr.clarivate.com). In my opinion, most open access journals are being a "money machine" . The quality of published papers is changeable.

Follwing

Most of their journals are indexed with high impact factors for example

Dear Resham Sharma

MDPI is not a predatory publisher. You need to check in Thompson Reuters their impact, but you can see how some of their journal are high ranked. You can find some Q1 journals within this publisher. Which journal are you approaching?

In my area, there is an MDPI journal that is so low-ranked that in fact the Australian Research Council doesn't even count it as a publication outlet. I've done peer review for them so I know they are rigorous, but I would not publish there since it would result in my research not counting for funding calculations. However, there are MDPI journals that are well-regarded in other fields and acknowledged by relevant bodies. To be honest, I think with any journal the primary concern should be with the reputation and practices of the individual journal and not with the publisher.

MDPI journal is good though it is expensive for students and researchers from developing countries like Kenya. If I get money, I will not hesitate to publish in their journals.

Recently, it is not. But still expensive.

From my perspectives, MDPI journal is a good one though it is expensive for students and researchers.

It is not a predatory publishers.

Dear Sharma, I hope the professors have managed to give you the way forward.