Remote Sensing APC and Open Access: MDPI Pricing, Discounts, and How It Stacks Up
Remote Sensing APC is CHF 2,700 in 2026. See the MDPI gold-OA fee, discounts, speed, and how it compares with stronger hybrid alternatives.
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Remote Sensing publishing costs and open access options
APC is one cost. Funder mandates, institutional agreements, and access route timing all shape what you actually pay.
What shapes what you pay
- Gold OA at Remote Sensing costs ~$1,900-2,200. Check whether your institution has a read-and-publish agreement that waives this.
- Funder mandates (NIH, Wellcome, UKRI) may require immediate OA — verify compliance before choosing a subscription route.
- Accepted authors typically have 48-72 hours to choose their access route before proofs begin.
When OA is worth the cost
- When your funder or institution requires it — non-compliance can affect future funding.
- When your topic benefits from broad immediate access beyond institutional subscribers.
- Remote Sensing's IF 4.1 means OA papers here have real citation upside.
Quick answer: Remote Sensing currently charges CHF 2,700 for accepted papers. The journal is fully gold open access, so there is no free subscription route. Every accepted paper pays the APC unless a waiver or discount applies. The practical decision is whether a fast, broad, MDPI remote-sensing venue is worth CHF 2,700 for this manuscript. For the hub, see the Remote Sensing journal page.
Remote Sensing APC at a glance
Item | Current position |
|---|---|
Journal model | Gold open access |
Current APC | CHF 2,700 |
Free subscription route | No |
Invoiced when | After acceptance |
Local VAT or sales tax | Added if applicable |
IOAP / affiliated-society discounts | Yes |
Lower-income-country support | Yes |
2024 impact factor | 4.1 |
5-year JIF | 4.8 |
CiteScore | 8.6 |
SJR | 1.019 |
Official first decision signal | About 24.3 days |
Historical official acceptance benchmark | About 47% in 2013, not a live current rate |
If the real question is whether the paper is strong enough before you commit to the fee, use a Remote Sensing submission readiness check. If the bigger risk is weak benchmarking or thin transfer logic, use a Remote Sensing fit check.
What MDPI currently says
The current MDPI APC page and journal-facing material make the cost structure clear:
- all Remote Sensing papers publish in full open access
- the APC is CHF 2,700
- the invoice is issued after acceptance
- MDPI accepts multiple payment currencies
- local VAT or sales tax may apply
- IOAP and affiliated-society discounts are available
That is enough to answer the fee question cleanly. The journal is not ambiguous about the APC.
What authors actually choose between
Route | What authors should assume |
|---|---|
Standard accepted paper | CHF 2,700 |
Paper with IOAP discount | Lower author bill |
Paper with lower-income-country support | Discounted or waived |
Free paywalled publication | Not available |
Immediate OA in a broad remote-sensing journal | Yes, by default |
This is why Remote Sensing has a different cost logic from Remote Sensing of Environment or IEEE TGRS. You are not deciding whether to add OA. You are deciding whether this fully OA venue is worth paying for at all.
Metrics context behind the APC
Metric | Current figure | Why it matters with the APC |
|---|---|---|
Impact Factor | 4.1 | Q1 standing is real, but this is not a scarcity journal |
5-year JIF | 4.8 | Better papers keep accumulating citations after the short window |
CiteScore | 8.6 | Scopus-side discoverability is solid |
SJR | 1.019 | Prestige-weighted influence is respectable, not elite |
Official first decision signal | About 24.3 days | Speed is a meaningful part of the journal's product |
Historical official acceptance benchmark | About 47% in 2013 | Useful context for scale, not a live current selectivity number |
That is the tradeoff in one line: you pay for fast, broad, immediate OA in a visible remote-sensing journal, but not for a top-prestige bottleneck.
Long-run impact factor trend
Year | Scopus impact score |
|---|---|
2014 | 3.54 |
2015 | 3.87 |
2016 | 3.76 |
2017 | 4.06 |
2018 | 4.66 |
2019 | 5.25 |
2020 | 5.32 |
2021 | 5.51 |
2022 | 5.39 |
2023 | 4.55 |
2024 | 4.67 |
Directionally, the open citation proxy is up from 4.55 in 2023 to 4.67 in 2024. That is improvement, but it still sits below the earlier 2019 to 2022 peak. The fee should therefore be read as payment for reach and speed, not a rising-prestige signal.
Readiness check
Run the scan while the topic is in front of you.
See score, top issues, and journal-fit signals before you submit.
How Remote Sensing compares with nearby field options
Journal | APC structure | Metric profile | Practical fit |
|---|---|---|---|
Remote Sensing | CHF 2,700, fully OA | IF 4.1, CiteScore 8.6 | Broad remote-sensing work where speed matters |
Remote Sensing of Environment | Higher hybrid APC but free standard route | Much stronger prestige tier | Better when top-field signal matters more than speed |
IEEE TGRS | Hybrid with free standard route | Stronger selective signal | Better for stronger engineering or remote-sensing methodology lanes |
ISPRS JPRS | Higher hybrid APC and free standard route | Higher prestige photogrammetry / remote-sensing lane | Better when the paper is strong enough for a tighter flagship lane |
GIScience & Remote Sensing | Fully OA peer | Similar broad-field logic | Better when the topic leans more GIScience than remote sensing systems |
The cost question here is often: pay CHF 2,700 for speed and breadth now, or target a higher-prestige hybrid journal and publish free on the standard route if accepted.
What we see in pre-submission review work with Remote Sensing manuscripts
In our pre-submission review work, the APC is usually not the main source of regret.
Weak transfer logic is the real problem. A manuscript that only proves a local application or weak benchmark still fails in a broad remote-sensing journal even if the APC is affordable.
The fee only makes sense when the contribution is genuinely remote sensing. Papers that merely use remote-sensing data but are really local ecology, agriculture, or machine-learning application papers often look worse here than authors expect.
The right decision sequence is fit, then fee. If the benchmarking, reproducibility, and transfer value are already strong, CHF 2,700 can be reasonable. If not, the cost question is premature.
Submit if / Think twice if
Submit and accept the APC if:
- the paper is genuinely about remote sensing, not just a data application
- fast handling and immediate OA matter materially
- the manuscript has credible benchmarking and transfer value
- the budget can absorb CHF 2,700 or a discount reduces the bill
Think twice if:
- the best home is Remote Sensing of Environment, IEEE TGRS, or ISPRS JPRS
- the paper is mostly a local case study with weak portability
- the methods comparison is thin
- you are paying out of pocket for a paper that is not especially time-sensitive
Practical verdict
The Remote Sensing APC answer is clean:
- CHF 2,700
- fully OA
- no free route
- worth it mainly when speed, breadth, and immediate access are the real priorities
If the paper is strong enough for a tighter flagship journal and you do not need immediate OA, the fee can be hard to justify. If the paper needs a broad, quick, credible remote-sensing venue, the APC is easier to defend.
Frequently asked questions
Remote Sensing currently charges CHF 2,700 for papers accepted after peer review. It is a fully open-access MDPI journal, so every accepted paper requires the APC unless a waiver or discount applies.
No. Remote Sensing is fully gold open access, so there is no free subscription route.
Yes. MDPI says discounts are available through the Institutional Open Access Program and affiliated-society arrangements, and waiver or discount support is available for eligible lower-income-country authors.
Current MDPI-facing material places the journal at roughly 24.3 days to first decision, which means speed is a meaningful part of the value proposition.
It is easiest to justify when you want broad remote-sensing reach, fast handling, and immediate OA, and when the paper is genuinely about remote sensing rather than just using remote-sensing data.
Sources
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Same journal, next question
- IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Submission Guide
- Is Remote Sensing a Good Journal? JIF, Scope & Fit Guide
- Remote Sensing Impact Factor 2026: 4.1, Q1, Rank 47/258
- Remote Sensing Acceptance Rate: What Authors Can Use
- Pre-Submission Review for Remote Sensing Papers
- Remote Sensing Review Time: What Authors Can Actually Expect
Supporting reads
Want the full picture on Remote Sensing?
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