Transcript Document
Open Access Publishing: Potential and Pitfalls or Caveat Scriptor*
Robert E. McKeown, PhD, FACE *with thanks for subtitle and many slides to Dr. Richard Rothenberg, Editor, Annals of Epidemiology, and Sean Lind, then Digital Librarian, Georgia State Univ.
Overview
• • • • • • • Set context: goals of scholarly publication Overview of strange new world of open access publishing (with some interesting examples) Discussion of the Bohannon Science article Cost issues Evaluating publishers and journals Other considerations: tenure & promotion, where to publish Discussion
Why Publish?
• • • • Ego boost and bragging rights Fame and Fortune viper (Doug Weed) To impress mom, actual or potential mates, colleagues, friends, old HS teachers Because you have to for tenure and promotion • • • • • • As part of mutual responsibility to community of scholars To share discovery To contribute to knowledge To advance profession To improve health and welfare of society Other reasons?
The Range of Open Access
One Example
Note the range of things they invite people to do – all of which make money for them.
SciencePG as the exemplar
52 new journal titles, none with content as of December 2012 Now over 130 journals (though web site still says “over 50”), at least some of which have content Address given as 548 Fashion Avenue, New York, NY (no one there)
The normal APCs . . . are 500USD. For manuscripts submitted before October 30, 2013, Science Publishing Group offers various discounts on APCs, which are outlined below: For authors from high-income , the amount of APC is 170USD.
For authors from upper-middle-income countries and lower-middle income countries , the amount of APC is 120USD.
For authors from low-income countries , the amount of APC is 70USD.
In one email message, they told Dr. Rothenberg that they expected a previous publication of his to be published in revised and extended format in one of their journals. (Emphasis added) “Scholarly Open Access” http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/05/three-new-questionable-open-access-publishers/
Another example: More than 200 OA journals, many print & OA Claims more than 5000 editorial board members and 32000 authors already published with SCIRP.
Registered corporation in Delaware Customer service and operations in China APC: $300 to $600 up to 10 pages, plus $50 for each additional page for those I checked
Some open access journals have stronger reputations and are indexed, but can be pricey.
We will return to this one.
Rothenberg’s favorite solicitation
He has been solicited for his expertise in a broad, diverse range of fields including space exploration and “anything”.
From Science Journal Publications:
HELP REVIEW MANUSCRIPT ENTITLED: INFLUENCE OF INTENSE VIOLIN PLAYING ON FACIAL SYMMETRY IN SERIOUS VIOLIN PLAYERS
This is Bella Hristova. She was wearing this same red dress and A violinist I heard last summer.
facial expression. But is it asymmetric?
Note: I’m an epidemiologist, not a biostatistician.
Click here to learn Article Processing Charge (APC) is $900
From Dana DeHart: Publication charges for OMICS Group journals range from $900 1800 for low income countries, $1300-2600 for middle income countries and $1800 3600 in USD for high income countries. A colleague is listed as editor of an OMICS Group journal that he has nothing to do with. He’s asked them to remove his name and picture without success. Last time I checked, picture was gone, but name was still there.
The 2013 Science article by John Bohannon
Lessons of the Bohannon Article
• • • • Summary of his hoax Links to publishers, papers, and corresponance at //scim.ag/OA-Sting • Of 304 submissions, 157 accepted, 98 rejected, 29 were non-responsive, 20 said paper was still under review ~60% of 255 had no indication of peer review Of 106 with some peer review, 70% accepted, only 36 commented on scientific problems, 16 of which were accepted anyway
How the papers break out
Interpreting the diagrams: Shades of blue are journals listed on DOAJ (Directory of OA Journals; cream / tan are journals on Beall’s List of Predatory Journals; orange are journals on both lists. Concentric circles from outside in reflect decreasing level of review. Note large number of the rejections were DOAJ journals with no review, meaning editors recognized paper wasn’t worth sending out. Acceptance without review is much worse than rejection without review.
• • • •
Note from Sage Journal
Journal had accepted the paper and asked for $3,100. Editor-in-chief wrote: “The publishers requested payment because the second phase, the technical editing, is detailed and expensive. …Papers can still be rejected at this stage if inconsistencies are not clarified to the satisfaction of the journal.” He also contended “that this sting has a broader, detrimental effect as well.” – “An element of trust must necessarily exist in research including that carried out in disadvantaged countries,” he writes. “Your activities here detract from that trust.”
Article stirred debate
• • • • Sean Lind’s blog: http://homer.gsu.edu/blogs/library/2013/10/04/fl awed-science-story-stings-open-access/ Concerns that print pubs not targeted and focus on OA rather than peer review Is OA a good thing?
More balanced piece in Ann Emerg Med: http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196 0644(13)00547-7/fulltext#copyright
Even highly regarded print / subscription journals often have publication charges. Page charges for American Journal of Epidemiology, print version
Many print / subscription journals now offer an OA option for authors who want the article to be freely available. Article appears in print but available for free online if author pays the OA fee of $3,000.
No Access (aka “Paywall”)
• •
Annual charges are based on number of users at an institution.
•
Typical: 2013 Annual subscription to Thompson/Reuters Web of Science: $107,000 2013 Annual cost share for Galileo (incl. EBSCO databases): $115,000 2013 Annual subscription to Elsevier's ScienceDirect: $1,100,000
Alternatives to the cost of OA
• • • NIH Public Access Policy: – Requires manuscripts based on NIH funded projects must now be deposited in PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication – Papers must be accessible to the public no later than 12 months after publication Institutional arrangements with publishers: pay fee for free or discounted publication with OAP Institutional arrangements for making pubs available, e.g. – TigerPrints at Clemson: http :// tigerprints .
clemson .
edu / – Scholar Commons at USC: http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/
Do we really need OA?
“All who need access to scholarly literature already have it” (Waller, Revelle, & Shrimplin, 2013).
True?
This is Jack Andraka, a high school kid who invented a potential quick, inexpensive blood test for pancreatic cancer, now in development / testing. He used electronic access to journals for much of his research because his parents had access.
Waller, J., Revelle, A., & Shrimplin, K. (2013).
Keep the change: Clusters of faculty opinion on open access . ACRL Conference Papers, 2013. Chicago: ALA.
Evaluating Open Access Publishers
Is the publisher a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association ( OASPA.org
)?
Is the publisher for-profit or not-for-profit?
How many titles does the publisher publish?
Is the publisher on Beall’s List? (http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/ ) Does the publisher adhere to one of the recognized OA statements of principles: http://digital-scholarship.org/cwb/oaw.htm#statements Is there a submission charge or publication charge?
What advertising and solicitation methods does the publisher use? Are they credible? Don’t be swayed by emails that are designed to feed your ego but are clearly SPAM.
Evaluating Open Access Journals
Is the journal listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals ( DOAJ.org
)? (No guarantee, as Bohannon discovered) Is the journal listed in Ulrich’s Global Serials Directory ? (Link through Clemson or USC Library) Is the journal indexed by major databases?
What is the journal’s subject coverage?
Does the journal have an impact factor?
What are the journal’s peer review guidelines?
Who is on the editorial board? (Verify) How many issues does the journal publish each year? In the last year?
Beware of ostensibly personal invitations to submit an already published article in a longer or slightly modified form.
Evaluating Open Access Articles
Are author affiliations listed?
Does the subject matter, length, or quality of articles vary greatly?
Are there multiple articles by the same author(s) in the same issue?
Are the articles being cited? (use Web of Science or Science Direct or other citation tools)
Thinking about OA Issues
● ● ● ● ● Is it more difficult today to be an author or a reader?
Are scholarly journals produced to serve publishers, editors, authors, or readers?
What’s the purpose of peer review? Validation? Evaluation of importance and/or relevance? Evaluation of scientific rigor, validity, or merit?
What is the goal of a medical journal or public health journal?
How will scholarly journals continue to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and the creation of new ideas?
*Inspired (in part) by: Anderson, K. (2013). Have we forgotten readers in our worries over access? The Scholarly Kitchen. Available at: http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/08/13/have-we-forgotten-readers-in-our-worries-over-access/
What about Tenure & Promotion?
• • • • • Legitimate concerns about the value placed on open access publications by tenure and promotion committees and administrators Online-only journals often unfairly disparaged or depreciated Some online-only journals have strong peer review and good impact factors – e.g. PLOS Medicine IF: 15.25; 5-yr IF: 16.43
If you have pubs in good OA journals, give data to your chair to substantiate status and impact (IF of journals, citations of articles, etc.) Ask chair and dean to inform those up the line about legitimate and reputable OA journals
• • • • • • • •
Choosing Where to Publish
Whoever will accept my article Has friends on editorial board Has good artwork Has (does not have) ads Has easiest submission and formatting Has most generous allowance for tables & figures Has fast turn around time Has highest impact factor • • • • • • • • Journal most relevant to my field Journal likely to be read by colleagues Journal with reputation for timely, helpful review Journal affiliated with professional society Journal that published similar topics Journal I cite in my paper Other factors?
Ask a librarian or respected researcher
• • • • • •
Other resources related to authorship and reviewing
Mulford Health Science Library at the Univ. of Toledo that has links to hundreds of journals’ instructions for authors pages.
– http://mulford.meduohio.edu/instr/ Perhaps best known: recommendations from the ICMJE: International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, but don’t deal with open access issues: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/ Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, including for authors, reviewers, editors, publishers (including how to handle authorship disputes) http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines Also of interest: European Association of Science Editors (EASE) guidelines: http://www.ease.org.uk/publications/author-guidelines , again more for other help than for open access issues Note that the Mulford site has links to all of these Finally, I couldn’t find anything from the European Acronym Society Yearbook, though you would think it would be, well, you know . . .