MDPI successfully held an author training session at Kasetsart University, Thailand's leading agricultural institution. This event took place against the backdrop of Kasetsart University's participation in MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). The session, which was conducted on 5 November 2024, aimed to equip students with the essential knowledge and skills for maneuvering through the paper publication process, enhancing their English writing proficiency, understanding data visualization in academic papers, and exploring the applications of artificial intelligence in the publishing field.

Ms. Watinee Khemakarothai, the Deputy Director of Kasetsart University Library, shared her thoughts on the valuable collaboration between Kasetsart University (KU) and MDPI, emphasizing the significance of joint efforts that support and empower the academic community. She expressed her gratitude to MDPI Thailand for organizing this event, which was customized to meet the requirements of the university’s authors.

In the first presentation, Dr. Janenipa Saupsor, the Deputy Office Manager of MDPI Thailand, provided insights into MDPI’s development from its establishment in 1996 to its current status as a prominent open access academic publisher. She emphasized MDPI’s dedication to making scientific research freely accessible through its extensive collection of over 400 journals and its global presence. Dr. Saupsor also introduced a selection of key journals, such as Polymers, Sustainability, Foods, Animals and Molecules, which serve as valuable options for researchers seeking the ideal journal for their work. Additionally, she highlighted the successful collaboration between MDPI and Kasetsart University on the Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), reinforcing support for open access publishing.

The second session, presented by Ms. Ploy Assavajamroon, MDPI’s regional journal relations specialist in Asia-Pacific, was titled “How to Write Scientific Papers in English”. The session began with the literature search and introduction to the analysis program to investigate the research topic to ensure novelty. Next, she illustrated the front matter, main text, and back matter, the three fundamental manuscript structures, before sharing useful examples to help the audience better understand how to write each section. Last but not least, she introduced the English Language Editing and Figure Editing services provided by MDPI Author Services, all of which support authors in manuscript preparation.

The third session, “Data Visualization for Scientific Papers”, was shared by Mr. Suvicha Sasivimolkul, MDPI’s Training Group Leader for Asian offices. He initiated the session by pointing out why data are so crucial due to the increasing amounts of data every minute. Data visualization is an approach through which we can maintain our perceptual and cognitive abilities to understand trends and patterns of the data by presenting data graphically in figures, graphs, or tables. He then explained and emphasized MDPI Figure and Table formatting, the points that the author should pay more attention to and the points that the author should avoid.

The author training program concluded with the topic “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Scientific Publishing”, presented by Dr. Kamolchanok Deesrisak, Scientific Advisor of MDPI journal Healthcare. After providing an overview of AI technology in daily life, its capabilities and impacts on scientific publishing were elaborated, with a focus on the current advancements and challenges. In line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) position statement, the guidelines on AI, authorship, and the peer-review process were thoroughly explained. Before ending the session, the AI tools developed by MDPI's AI team were introduced. These will assist both internal and external users in improving processes and services.

After each presentation, students, faculty members, and MDPI speakers engaged in a vigorous exchange of ideas. Even after the training, many attendees remained and continued to communicate with us, praising the event for its well-structured curriculum and the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals.

In conclusion, the author training session at Kasetsart University marked a crucial step in promoting academic publishing and research dissemination for MDPI. Meanwhile, it emphasized the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the constantly evolving landscape of higher education and the publishing industry. This initiative represented a reinforcement.

Please do not hesitate to start a conversation with us at [email protected] if you would like to hold an author training session with MDPI in Thailand.