Addressing Faculty Publishing Concerns with Open Access Journal Quality Indicators

Beaubien, Sarah; Eckard, Max

doi:10.7710/2162-3309.1133

Cited by 42 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Although unethical practices have always been present, even in the print era of scholarly publishing, they have been intensified by technological advances, as the ease of starting an online journal, combined with the APC business model, allows some publishers or organizations to take advantage of researchers who are eager to publish ( 15 ). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does small equal predatory? Analysis of publication charges and transparency of editorial policies in Croatian open access journals

Stojanovski

Marušić

2017

Biochemia Medica

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IntroductionWe approach the problem of "predatory" journals and publishers from the perspective of small scientific communities and small journals that may sometimes be perceived as "predatory". Among other characteristics of "predatory" journals two most relevant are their business model and the quality of the editorial work.Materials and methodsWe analysed 444 Croatian open access (OA) journals in the Hrčak (portal of Croatian scientific journals) digital journal repository for the presence of article processing charges as a business model and the transparency of editorial policies.ResultsThe majority of journals do not charge authors or require submission or article processing charges, which clearly distinguishes them from “predatory” journals. Almost all Hrčak OA journals have publicly available information on editorial boards, including full names and affiliations, and detailed contact information for the editorial office at the Hrčak website. The journal names are unique and cannot be easily confused with another journal or intend to mislead about the journal’s origin. While most journals provide information on peer review process, many do not provide guidelines for reviewers or other editorial and publication ethics standards.ConclusionIn order to clearly differentiate themselves from predatory journals, it is not enough for journals from small research communities to operate on non-commercial bases, but also to have transparent editorial policies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does small equal predatory? Analysis of publication charges and transparency of editorial policies in Croatian open access journals

Stojanovski

Marušić

2017

Biochemia Medica

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“…However, it is important to recognize that assessing a single attribute (as highlighted here or in other studies) is insufficient for determining whether or not an OA aquaculture journal is predatory (as not all non-indexed OA journals are predatory; Beaubien and Eckard, 2014); particularly given that the random factor of journal had a significant effect on most of our article-level metrics. Thus, researchers need to carefully examine multiple journal attributes in order to conclusively and assuredly determine whether or not a given OA journal is likely predatory.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Present Studymentioning

confidence: 95%

“…These suggestions could be aided by peer-to-peer and institutional education and outreach, and diligent assessments of researcher publication records by institutions and funding agencies; institutional support and education can also aid graduate students and naïve researchers who wish to ethically publish OA (Beaubien and Eckard, 2014). Institutions and funding agencies could also explore mandatory archiving in institutional repositories, coupled with critical assessments of articles submitted to those repositories to monitor and discourage researchers from publishing in predatory OA journals (Yessirkepov et al, 2015;Seethapathy et al, 2016).…”

Section: Minimizing the Impact Of Potential Predatory Oa Publishing Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator in the Pool? A Quantitative Evaluation of Non-indexed Open Access Journals in Aquaculture Research

2018

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Predatory open access (OA) journals can be defined as non-indexed journals that exploit the gold OA model for profit, often spamming academics with questionable e-mails promising rapid OA publication for a fee. In aquaculture-a rapidly growing and highly scrutinized field-the issue of such journals remains undocumented. We employed a quantitative approach to determine whether attributes of scientific quality and rigor differed between OA aquaculture journals not indexed in reputable databases and well-established, indexed journals. Using a Google search, we identified several non-indexed OA journals, gathered data on attributes of these journals and articles therein, and compared these data to well-established aquaculture journals indexed in quality-controlled bibliometric databases. We then used these data to determine if non-indexed journals were likely predatory OA journals and if they pose a potential threat to aquaculture research. On average, non-indexed OA journals published significantly fewer papers per year, had cheaper fees, and were more recently established than indexed journals. Articles in non-indexed journals were, on average, shorter, had fewer authors and references, and spent significantly less time in peer review than their indexed counterparts; the proportion of articles employing rigorous statistical analyses was also lower for non-indexed journals. Additionally, articles in non-indexed journals were more likely to be published by scientists from developing nations. Worryingly, non-indexed journals were more likely to be found using a Google search, and their articles superficially resembled those in indexed journals. These results suggest that the non-indexed aquaculture journals identified herein are likely predatory OA journals and pose a threat to aquaculture research and the public education and perception of aquaculture. Several points of reference from this study, in combination, may help scientists and the public more easily identify these possibly predatory journals, as these journals were typically established after 2010, publishing <20 papers per year, had fees <$1,000, and published articles <80 days after submission. Subsequently checking reputable and quality-controlled databases such as the Directory of Open Access Journals, Web of Science, Scopus, and Thompson Reuters can aid in confirming the legitimacy of non-indexed OA journals and can facilitate avoidance of predatory OA aquaculture journals.

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“…Many OA journals are as highly regarded as traditional journals (Beaubien and Eckard 2014). OA journals such as PLOS One have excellent reputations, and vetted research groups such as the National Science Foundation are supporters of OA.…”

Section: Educating Scholars About Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach assumes the researcher knows his or her discipline best, and helps the researcher navigate different publishing options and make an informed judgment call. They developed a list of positive and negative indicators (Beaubien and Eckard 2014 Some research librarians have proposed the concept of scholarly publishing literacy, similar to information literacy. The idea of scholarly publishing literacy is that librarians in research settings need to educate faculty and researchers on the scholarly publishing ecosystem, how OA functions, and the new possibilities in digital publishing-helping scholars to evaluate how best to conduct research and make it available.…”

Section: Educating Scholars About Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open Access in Scholarly Publishing: Embracing Principles and Avoiding Pitfalls

Quinn

2015

The Serials Librarian

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Open Access (OA) in scholarly publishing has gained momentum over the past decade, expanding in advocacy and application. While there is consensus around the intent and goals of the open access movement, the various stakeholders, such as scholars, researchers, publishers, academic institutions, scholarly societies, and librarians, all offer different approaches to that end. This article traces some of the literature assessing different models of OA publishing; considers how the current status of OA compares to the initial goals set forth in the Budapest Open Access Initiative; and explores ways academic libraries can move beyond reiterating the ideals of OA to educating researchers and helping them navigate the realities of OA publishing.

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Addressing Faculty Publishing Concerns with Open Access Journal Quality Indicators

Cited by 42 publications

References 9 publications

Does small equal predatory? Analysis of publication charges and transparency of editorial policies in Croatian open access journals

Does small equal predatory? Analysis of publication charges and transparency of editorial policies in Croatian open access journals

Predator in the Pool? A Quantitative Evaluation of Non-indexed Open Access Journals in Aquaculture Research

Open Access in Scholarly Publishing: Embracing Principles and Avoiding Pitfalls

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