The APC advertised by an MDPI journal may be lower than the amount the payer ultimately spends. A submission-ready budget must account for confirmed reductions, tax treatment, currency conversion, bank charges and licence obligations before an author commits to the journal.
What does it cost to publish in an MDPI journal?
The cost depends on the selected MDPI journal, article type and fee terms applicable to the manuscript. Record the listed APC together with its currency, fee date and the publication milestone that determines which fee applies.
The MDPI APC is specific to the journal and article type
- Check the journal’s current fee page rather than a search result or publisher-wide estimate.
- Confirm whether the manuscript type is chargeable and whether exceptions or special conditions apply.
- Record the APC, currency, article type, page URL and access date.
- Save dated evidence immediately before submission.
The advertised APC is not always the final payable amount
Confirm separately whether tax, optional services or payment costs can apply. The documented base APC is only the starting point for calculating the invoice and the payer’s final local-currency outlay.
How do you calculate the final MDPI invoice amount?
The likely cost is the listed APC minus confirmed reductions, plus applicable tax and payment costs. The estimate is dependable only when the invoice currency, billing details, discount eligibility and bank charges are documented.
The MDPI cost formula should separate invoice items from bank costs
Publisher invoice total = listed APC minus confirmed reductions plus applicable tax.
Final local-currency outlay = converted invoice total plus foreign-exchange spread, transfer charges and possible intermediary-bank costs.
- Record the listed APC as variable A in the currency displayed by the journal.
- Subtract only discounts, waivers or vouchers confirmed for the specific manuscript.
- Add applicable tax as variable T using the final billing details.
- Convert the invoice using the payer’s documented exchange-rate method and date.
- Add bank and intermediary charges separately rather than labelling them as publisher fees.
Taxes depend on the billing details and applicable jurisdiction
Tax treatment can differ even when two authors face the same APC. Confirm whether the customer is an individual or institution, the billing address, tax-registration status and any documents required by the publisher or payer.
A UAE institution paying an overseas publishing invoice should obtain written treatment from its finance team and consult applicable UAE tax guidance. A working budget is not a substitute for institutional tax advice.
A Sustainability APC estimate must use the current journal page
A Sustainability estimate should record the current APC, currency, chargeable article type, fee date and governing workflow milestone. If those details cannot be verified, retain variable A instead of quoting an assumed live price.
The next question is whether a discount, waiver or institutional arrangement can validly reduce A.
Which MDPI discounts, waivers and institutional agreements can actually be used?
An MDPI reduction belongs in the budget only after the publisher or participating institution confirms eligibility for the manuscript. Institutional benefits, reviewer vouchers, society discounts, special offers and waivers may have different conditions and deadlines.
An IOAP affiliation does not automatically prove that the institution will pay
Institutional participation may provide a discount or administrative route without committing the university to pay the remaining APC. Confirm the eligible author role, journal coverage, article type, institutional email requirement, funding limit and approval stage with the library or research office.
For example, the University of Arkansas Libraries’ MDPI guide describes a 10% discount across all MDPI journals for eligible current faculty, staff, students or postdoctoral researchers who are an author or co-author. The guide, which identifies MDPI as the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute and describes its scientific and social-science publications, directs applicants to use a university email and apply after acceptance.
This is one institution’s conditional arrangement. It is not a universal MDPI rule, proof of central payment or precedent for UAE institutions.
MDPI waiver and voucher requests require documented eligibility
A waiver or voucher should enter the estimate only when its value, validity period and redemption conditions remain applicable. Verify any qualifying criteria, voucher expiry, supporting documents and the manuscript stage at which the request must be made.
Strong evidence is written confirmation identifying the manuscript, approved reduction and resulting APC basis. An old email, general webpage or unused voucher does not establish invoice eligibility.
Discount stacking must follow MDPI’s current combination rules
Check institutional benefits, vouchers, society reductions and special offers separately. Confirm whether benefits can be combined, prioritised, capped or replaced, including any expiry or article-type restrictions.
If two apparent reductions are B and C, do not budget “APC minus B minus C.” Subtract only the amount confirmed for that manuscript, then carry the result into the invoice estimate. Payment timing is the next source of exposure.
When does an MDPI APC become payable, and what happens after acceptance or withdrawal?
Authors should confirm the selected journal’s invoice trigger, payment deadline and withdrawal terms before submission. Do not assume that submission, acceptance or publication automatically represents the same financial milestone.
When does an MDPI APC become payable, and what happens after acceptance or withdrawal shown as an editorial planning reference.
The MDPI payment timeline should be mapped before submission
- Confirm whether the selected journal and article type require any charge at submission.
- Record the milestone that triggers invoicing and the payment deadline.
- Identify accepted payment methods, remittance instructions and the invoice contact.
- Allow time for purchase orders, funder approval and institutional finance processing.
- Ask whether publication depends on cleared payment or documented institutional processing.
The payer should approve the billing address, tax details, currency and purchase-order reference early. Written instructions are especially useful if the invoice may require correction after acceptance.
Withdrawal and refund exposure changes by manuscript stage
Check withdrawal exposure at submission, peer review, acceptance, production and publication. Verify whether withdrawal creates an obligation, whether cancellation or credit-note terms apply, and how the payer can dispute or correct an invoice.
Do not rely on assumptions about refunds or completed production work. Once the payment exposure is clear, examine the licence that will control reuse of the published article.
What licence do MDPI authors grant, and what rights remain?
Publishing in MDPI journals normally involves an open-access licence, but the exact licence and version must be checked for the selected article. The licence controls downstream reuse, while the publication terms define the author’s copyright position and rights granted to the publisher.
The Creative Commons licence controls downstream reuse
The named Creative Commons licence determines whether readers may copy, redistribute, adapt or commercially reuse the work. Check the article licence against the corresponding deed and legal code, including attribution requirements and the obligation to indicate changes.
A CC BY licence generally permits adaptation and commercial reuse when its conditions are followed. APC payment should not be treated as proof that copyright transfers, so preserve the article notice and signed publication agreement.
Authors must clear third-party material separately
An article licence cannot grant rights that the authors do not hold. Review photographs, maps, datasets, lengthy quotations and previously published figures. Obtain permission or confirm a compatible existing licence, provide the required credit line and identify material excluded from the article’s open licence.
Funder and university mandates should be checked before licence selection
A funder or university may require a particular licence, repository deposit, rights-retention statement or approval before treating the APC as eligible. Institutional discount conditions may also restrict the licence choice.
What licence do MDPI authors grant, and what rights remain shown with practical context cues.
The University of Arkansas Libraries guide, for example, states that articles claiming its agreement must use CC BY and that no other licence is accepted under that arrangement. Authors should place the applicable licence, permissions and mandate evidence beside the cost estimate.
What should an author confirm before submitting to an MDPI journal?
A defensible MDPI budget is a dated evidence pack, not an APC copied from a search result. The file should support the listed fee, every adjustment, the payer’s approval and the intended publication licence.
The MDPI pre-submission file should preserve dated proof
- Official journal fee and policy pages saved with access dates
- Written approval for each discount, waiver, voucher or institutional benefit
- The named payer, backup payer and maximum approved budget
- Finance confirmation of tax handling and any purchase-order reference
- A local-currency estimate with a dated exchange assumption and contingency
- The applicable licence, copyright terms and funder requirements
- The budget approver’s name and approval date
A webpage’s displayed update timestamp does not replace the author’s own dated copy. Preserved evidence helps the payer resolve later changes to fees, eligibility or exchange assumptions.
Submission should pause when the payer or licence remains uncertain
Pause if funding, tax handling, discount eligibility or reuse rights remain unresolved. Ask the library, research office, funder, finance team or publisher for written clarification, then verify the journal’s current Scopus coverage before submission.
What should an author confirm before submitting to an MDPI journal shown with practical context cues.
Proceed only when the evidence supports the approved ceiling. Otherwise, compare journal scope and publication policies and make a documented go, pause or choose-another-journal decision.