MDPI
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Reasonable if you need fast, funded open-access publication and your institution accepts MDPI journals.
New check
Comparison
MDPI vs Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online)
MDPI and Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online) both land on Depends.
Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online)
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Worth it for libraries and researchers who already have institutional access, or authors targeting a specific T&F journal.
| Compare | MDPI | Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online) |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Researchers needing fast open-access publication | University libraries |
| Who it's not for | Tenure-track researchers building prestige CVs | Individuals without library access . per-article paywalls sting |
| Privacy | One known incident: in August 2016 manuscript submission system logs were intercepted and copied; MDPI appears in breach databases.³ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.14 |
| Support quality | Mixed author reports; employees warn against company | Review snippets too truncated to judge |
| Public sentiment | Academic forum sentiment is split: users praise the fast turnaround but heavily criticize review rigor, fees, and reputation. | Mixed: a trusted, established publisher, but Reddit and Trustpilot users report paywall frustration, access problems, and slow editorial progress. |
| Biggest gotcha | Many researchers report peers and hiring committees discount MDPI lines on a CV.⁷ | Access often runs through library authentication . no institutional access means per-article payments |
Pick MDPI when
- Researchers needing fast open-access publication
- Authors with grant or institutional APC funding
- Interdisciplinary work without an obvious journal home
- Authors whose institutions already accept MDPI titles
When MDPI is not a fit
- Tenure-track researchers building prestige CVs
- Anyone whose institution discounts or flags MDPI journals
- Authors who cannot pay an APC out of pocket
- Fields where MDPI outlets carry stigma with peers and hiring committees
Pick Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online) when
- University libraries
- Researchers with institutional access
- Authors targeting a specific T&F journal
- Consortia with Read-and-Publish deals
When Tandfonline (Taylor & Francis Online) is not a fit
- Individuals without library access . per-article paywalls sting
- Authors needing fast decisions . reviews reportedly stall for weeks
- Budget-conscious small institutions . pricing is quote-only, not public
- Anyone treating this as software . it is a journal platform, not a team tool
Sources
- MDPI APC Information and FAQmdpi.comofficial
- MDPI Editorial Processmdpi.comofficial
security
- Have I Been Pwned: MDPI Data Breachhaveibeenpwned.comsecurity
- Trustpilot reviews of mdpi.comtrustpilot.comreview
- MDPI AG Reviews . Glassdoorglassdoor.comreview
review
- Reviewing papers for MDPI . Academia StackExchangeacademia.stackexchange.comreview
- Is MDPI a predatory publisher? . Paolo Crosettopaolocrosetto.wordpress.comreview
review
- Risk of publishing with MDPI . Redditreddit.comreview
- MDPI . Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Taylor & Francis Online homepagetandfonline.comofficial
- CyStack security report: 92.6/100cystack.netsecurity
- HTTP Security Headers . tandfonline.combeavercheck.comsecurity
