predatory publishing
TRANSCRIPT
Predatory Publishing
Presented by the NSU HPD Liaison Librarians:Majid Anwar
Melinda JohnsonKristin KrogerJohn Reynolds
Julie Sarpy
Faculty Development Program - February 22, 2017
What is predatory publishing?
Beall, J. (2012) “Predatory publishers are corrupting open access”, Nature 489, 7415 (13 September 2012) doi:10.1038/489179a. http://www.nature.com/news/predatory-publishers-are-corrupting-open-access-1.11385
"predatory publishers…publish counterfeit journals to exploit the open-access model in which the author pays. These
predatory publishers are dishonest and lack transparency.
They aim to dupe researchers, especially those inexperienced in scholarly communication.”
History/BackgroundJeffrey Beall – a librarian at the University of Colorado
• 2009 – noticed an influx of spam email solicitations
• He noticed similarities in the solicitations
• He started keeping track.
Librarian Jeffrey Beall flic.kr (CC BY 2.0)Beall, J. (2013). Medical publishing triage - chronicling predatory open access publishers. Annals Of Medicine And Surgery
(2012), 2(2), 47-49. doi:10.1016/S2049-0801(13)70035-9
He noticed:
• The emails were usually not well written.• They contained a lot of misspelled words.• The publisher websites were empty or not well designed .• They claim a stringent peer-review where none really exists.
Beall, J. (2010). “Predatory” Open-Access Scholarly Publishers. The Charleston Advisor (2010), 11(4), 10-17.
• In 2010 he coined the term “predatory publisher”
• He published his first list of “potential, possible or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers and journals” on his personal blog.
• The list grew.
• In 2011 he published his 2nd list and it got a lot of attention.
• In early 2012 it was moved to a Wordpress site
• The name was changed to Scholarly Open Access.
The Chronicle of Higher Education Blog: http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/on-predatory-publishers-a-qa-with-jeffrey-beall/47667
• Beall was ANTI-Open Access.
• Beall’s “blacklist” at times lumps the questionable publishers along with bona fide start-ups who may have amateurish websites and/or operations• Beall’s list is….Beall’s List. It was 1 mans opinion. He created
and maintained the list.
Beall received a lot of criticism
•On January 16, 2017 everything changed.
•The site was wiped of all content.
Where does that leave us?
“When e-mail first became available, it was a great innovation that made communication fast and cheap.
Then came spam — and suddenly, the innovation wasn’t so great. It meant having to filter out irrelevant, deceptive and
sometimes offensive messages. It still does.
The same corruption of a great idea is now occurring with scholarly open-access publishing.”
Beall, J. (2012) “Predatory publishers are corrupting open access”, Nature 489, 7415 (13 September 2012) doi:10.1038/489179a. http://www.nature.com/news/predatory-publishers-are-corrupting-open-access-1.11385
Examples
Some known predatory journals
There is a Dr Ecatarina Patrascu, but she doesn’t list being Editor in Chief
on her CV
Mrs. Pindipol ?!
I doubt Dr Jagtap knows about this
Capt. Sonaje …
or Mrs. Pindipol?!
Hijacked journals
• Print only• Botany• In German• A publication of the State
Museum of Carinthia, Austria
• A victim of highjacking
Warning!The websiteswww.wulfeniajournal.atwww.wulfeniajournal.comwww.multidisciplinarywulfenia.orgare not the official websites of the journal “Wulfenia: Mitteilungen des Kärntner Botanikzentrums” published by the Regional Museum of Carinthia. These websites criminally usurp the identity of the official journal. They fraudulently use false informations, a false editorial board and false publication requirements to encourage authors to submit articles and to transfer page fees to a bank account in Yerevan (Armenia).
• Online• “open access”• Multidisciplinary• Sends a lot of spam email
soliciting articles• Run by a cybercriminal in
Armenia
Bogus journal metrics or “Impact Factors”
Bogus journal metrics or “Impact Factors”
Examples of so-called Peer Review
NSFW (not suitable for work) . . .
. . .but suitable for the International Journal of Advanced Computer Technologywho rated it “excellent” and asked for a publication fee.
Written entirely with the autosuggest of the author’s iPhone …
. . . and accepted in three hours with a request for a fee of $1099
“The atoms of a better universe will have the right for the same as you are the way we shall have to be a great place for a great time to enjoy the day you are a wonderful person to your great time to take the fun and take a great time and enjoy the great day you will be a wonderful time for your parents and kids.” “Iris Pear,” PhD, Umbria Polytech University, Infinity Loop 11 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA
https://predatorypublishing.wordpress.com/about
Think, Check, Submit
Majid Anwar
What is Think, Check, Submit?• Campaign to help
researchers• Identify trusted journals• Provide simple checklist
Think!Are you submitting your research to a trusted journal?Is it the right journal for your work?
• More research is being published worldwide• New journals are launched each week• Stories of publishers malpractice and deception are also on rise• It can be challenging to find up-to-date guidance when choosing
where to publish
How can you be sure the journal you are considering is the right journal for your research?
Check!• Do you or your colleague know the journal? Have you read any articles in the journal before? Is it easy to discover the latest papers in the journal?
• Can you easily identify and contact the publisher? Is the publisher name clearly displayed on the journal website? Can you contact the publisher by telephone, email, and post?
Check!• Is the journal clear about the type of peer review it uses?
• Are articles indexed in services that you use?
• Is it clear what fees will be charged? Does the journal site explain what these fees are for and when
they will be charged?
Check!• Do you recognize the editorial board?
Have you heard of the editorial board members?Do the editorial board mention the journal on their own
websites?
Check!• Is the publisher a member of a recognized industry initiative? Do they belong to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)? If the journal is open access, is it listed in the
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)? If the journal is open access, does the publisher belong to the
Open Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA)? Is the publisher a member of another trade association?
Submit!If you can answer “YES’ to most or all of the questions on the list.Submit your article.
• Publishing in the right journal for your research will raise your professional profile, and help you progress in your career.• Are you confident your chosen journal will have a suitable profile
among your peers to enhance your reputation• You paper should be indexed or archives and be easily discoverable• You should expect a professional publishing experience where your
work in reviewed and edited.• Only then should you submit your article
Think Check Submit• Do they belong to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)?• If the journal is open access, is it listed in the Directory of Open
Access Journals (DOAJ)?• If the journal is open access, does the publisher belong to the Open
Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)?• Is the publisher a member of another trade association?
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)• World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
(OASPA)• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
http://publicationethics.org/files/Principles_of_Transparency_and_Best_Practice_in_Scholarly_Publishingv2.pdf
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
“In the event that a member organization is found to have violated these best practices, or other specific requirements of the organisation, OASPA/DOAJ/COPE/WAME shall in the first instance try to work with them in order to address any concerns that have been raised. In the event that the member organization is unable or unwilling to address these concerns, their membership in the organization may be suspended or terminated. All of the member organizations have procedures for dealing with concerns raised about member journals.”
http://publicationethics.org/files/Principles_of_Transparency_and_Best_Practice_in_Scholarly_Publishingv2.pdf
Committee on Publication Ethicshttp://publicationethics.org/
• Established in 1997• Provides advice to editors and publishers on publication ethics and
misconduct (Advice cases posted on the website’s forum)• Over 10,000 members worldwide, all academic fields • Membership open to editors and publishers of peer-reviewed
academic journals• All members must adhere to the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal
Editors and to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
• Established in 2008• Represents interests of Open Access (OA) publishers• Members include publishers, organizations and some individual publications• Accepts fewer than 25% of applicants• Members must adhere to the OASPA’s Code of Conduct• Co-authored Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
http://oaspa.org/
World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
• Established 1995• Nonprofit voluntary association of editors of peer-reviewed journals• Develops recommendations of best practices for medical journal
editors• List of journals whose editors belong to WAME• Co-authored Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly
Publishing
http://www.wame.org/
• Established 2003• Directory of 9457 peer reviewed Open Access research journals • All disciplines, all languages• 4 level evaluation process of applicants• Publishes list of journals removed from DOAJ
https://doaj.org/
Reapplication Process• Created stricter application guidelines in 2014• Required all journals to reapply• 2851 journals removed May 2016 because they failed to reapply• Journals that have been reevaluated have the green checkmark
Basic Requirements
•All content must be available for free without an embargo period•User registration to view article not acceptable
(August, 2016)
DOAJ More Basic Requirements
• One URL dedicated to the journal homepage(not for the publisher’s)• One unique URL per article• Journal must have at least one ISSN• Following information must be included on website:
Editor & editorial board Peer review processInstructions for authorsArticle processing charges Copyright
DOAJ Seal of Approval (717 Journals)
To receive the Seal, the journal must comply with the following 7 conditions:
• Use DOIs as permanent identifiers• Provides DOAJ with article metadata• Deposits content with a long term digital preservation or archiving program• Embeds machine-readable CC licensing information in articles• Allows generous reuse and mixing of content, in accordance with a CC BY, CC
BY-SA or CC BY-NC license• Deposit policy registered with a deposit policy registry• Allows the author to hold the copyright without restrictions.
HOW TO PERFORM DUE DILIGENCE
BEFORE SUBMITTING TO A
JOURNAL OR PUBLISHER
BUYER BEWARE
CHECK BEFORE SUBMIT TING MANUSCRIPT
Check that the publisher provides full, verifiable contact information, including address, on the journal site
Unprofessional website appearance: typos, ads
Check for misleading geographic Information in the title
Insufficient contact information
Google Map It!
WARNING SIGNS:
Lack of Editors or Editorial Board
Editors with No or Fake academic credentials
Emailed invitations to submit to journals or to become editorial board members
Unclear Author Fee Structures
RED FLAGS:
Publishers without any address displaying on the website and only uses web forms
Do evaluate journal's published articles and assess their quality
Do contact past authors and ask about their experiences
Be wary of promises of a speedy peer review process
Bogus Impact Factors
Hidden Fees
NSU WORKSN S U W O R K S . N O VA . E D U
/
Institutional Repository- 24/7 access to NSU intellectual capital
Fulfills the requirement that researchers provide open access archiving for sponsored research
Avoid fees and get published
Contact:
Gena Meroth
Archives and Digital LibrarianNova Southeastern University, [email protected]
USE COMMON SENSE
If things just don't seem to be right, trust your instincts and stay away
Find out whether the journal is a member of an industry association that vets its members Directory of Open Access Journals (www.doaj.org) or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (www.oaspa.org)
More information at faculty resources http://nova.campusguides.com/c.php?g=112249&p=2625912
M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N O N P R E D AT O RY
P U B L I S H I N G L I B G U I D E
Don’t give them money or agree to anything until you know they’re legitimate!