In this paper, we analyzed which types of professors published papers in MDPI journals, and how much these MDPI journal papers contributed to professors’ promotion, using the data of the number of papers published by Korean university professors between 2018 and 2020. As a result of the analysis, the propensity to publish papers in MDPI journals was stronger when there was pressure for promotion, such as associate professors and assistant professors compared to full professors, and whaaren there was a strong demand for research performance due to participation in government’s financial support programs for universities such as the BK project. On the other hand, the tendency to publish papers in MDPI journals tended to decrease in universities whose research capabilities exceeded a certain level. In particular, in the case of the Institute of Science and Technology, the propensity of professors to rely on MDPI journals was significantly lower. When analyzing the effect on the probability of promotion to professorship, the effect of the number of papers in MDPI journals on promotion was slightly smaller in absolute value than that of SCI-level papers, but showed a positive effect similar to that of KCI-level papers. Contrary to the overall trend, however, the number of papers in MDPI journals on promotion was not significant in the Institute of Science and Technology. The results of the paper’s analysis suggest that economic incentives can influence professors’ choice of which journal to publish their papers, but that the culture or climate of the affiliated university can also affect this selection process.