Counterpoints about predatory open access and knowledge publishing in Africa

Scholarly databases under scrutiny

“…Simón (2016) argued that the highest number of researchers publishing in PFJs were from Nigeria which was followed by Turkey, Botswana, Jordan. The common point in the literature is that it is mostly researchers from developing countries who publish in PFJs (Demir, 2018a; Kurt, 2018; Lukić et al, 2014; Nwagwu, 2015, Nwagwu and Ojemeni, 2015; Omobowale et al, 2014; Raghavan et al, 2014; Simón, 2016; Truth, 2012).…”

Revisiting the Term Predatory Open Access Publishing

“…Evidence suggests that predatory practices can also be seen in established journals 4. For instance, Bohannon's sting showed that even journals from mega-publishers such as Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, and SAGE could accept a bogus paper 11. Similarly, Elsevier has been criticized for high subscription costs, publishing several journals that basically serve as adverts for unnamed drug companies, and charging readers for open-access articles 12…”

“…Some authors argue that we should educate researchers in “scholarly publishing literacy” or “science literacy” in order to improve their understanding of open-access publishing practices 1119. Moreover, creating a research environment that promotes critical thinking among researchers can be an effective way to foster an understanding of the difference between legitimate and deceptive publishing practices 11. Institutions and mentors should try to educate researchers in how to determine the legitimacy of a journal.…”

“…Therefore, such journals should not be considered deceptive. Since indexing in databases is becoming more and more difficult, and given that databases are skewed in favor of developed countries, the existence of local or regional databases such as the Croatian “Hrcak”, “SciELO” in Latin America, the Korean “Science Central”, and the “African Science Citation” Index can serve a good purpose 21123. In order to avoid wasteful publishing practices and promote research integrity in non-mainstream science countries, the Sarajevo Declaration of the Balkan and Mediterranean countries is a good step, and further such steps would help to improve publishing standards and the scientific prestige of developing countries 24.…”

The Rising Menace Of Predatory Publishing: Terms, Concepts, And Suggestions For Pakistani Researchers

“…The term "predatory" erroneously includes these journals, which although do not meet the standards of high-quality publishers, are not necessarily predatory. [8][9][10] Moreover, given that the reports of unethical practices by established journals from megapublishers such as Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, and Sage also exist, 11,12 the term 'predatory' might be inappropriate keeping in view the low-quality, small-scale, openaccess legitimate journals from the developing world. In order to address this problem, recently researchers have suggested revisions in the existing terminology and recommended categorizing journals as low-quality legitimate journals and fraudulent or deceptive journals.…”