Sarajevo Declaration on Integrity and Visibility of Scholarly Publications

Predatory Publishing Is a Threat to Non-Mainstream Science

“…One option is to increase awareness of the problem among stakeholders of science communication in vulnerable regions. A recent ethics declaration drafted and endorsed by editors from South Eastern European Countries is an attempt to update authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers about acceptable publishing activities and preferable access options (31). It is primarily aimed at ensuring transparency of all editing and publishing activities, including those facilitated by commercial agencies, and enforcing statements of the global editorial associations, such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).…”

It may be easier to publish than correct or retract faulty biomedical literature

“…The publisher also invests time, but invested resources are minimal, at least during the selection process since peer reviewers and editors generally work freely for academia (1). Thus, peer review serves merely as a conduit for manuscript evaluation and processing, but one that implies a task-intensive process that relies on the coordinated effort of authors, peers, and editors (2). Even so, an increasing number of high-profile cases of abused peer review indicate that even mainstream publishers are vulnerable to attack by an unscrupulous element of a dark academic underbelly (3,4).…”

Steps to Improve Journal Quality - Example of “Medical Archives”

“…The goal of the Editorial Board members is journal indexation in the Web of Science (WoS), with the continuous increasing the quality of the journal articles through education of potential authors, reviewers and Editorial Board members, quality selection of reviewers, supportive editing of articles, and clearly defining instructions and ethical standards of the journal (1, 2). …”

“…Instructions for authors must be regularly revised. Special attention must be paid to the ethical principles of the journal, which must be clearly presented and transparent (1). Transparency is one of the features for efficient work of the journal, as well as a condition for improved visibility of the journal and indexation.…”

“…Journals’ applications to global indexing abstract and citation databases are often declined due to the lack of transparent and ethical editorial strategies, inappropriate scope of interest, low level of evidence, and low citation rates (1). Education of scientific community in research and publication ethics and integrity is essential for creating ethical environment and tradition to prevent scientific and publishing dishonesty, fraud and plagiarism (2).…”