Obtaining Distinguishment

If you are going to be a publisher, it might be good to first ensure command of the English language.  Herald Scholarly Open Access graces the Beall's list, and today dumped another solicitation on me, so I decided to check out their site.

This is "a leading, internationally publishing house in the fields of Science.... and we strive for  your research improvement and distinguishment throughout the world."  International publishing houses usually have grammar and spellcheckers. 

But maybe we can give them a pass because they are not as much a publishing house, but a publishing apartment near Dulles Airport.  They do have a publishing pool. 

On their "strengths" page they list the reasons to publish your work.  I like that my work can be quickly found in a quickened manner. 

Dr. Biosketch serves on their editorial board, and is quite well known, prominently featured on many grant proposals.  

So again I scratch my head.  As more players gravitate to the for-profit publishing game, you'd think they'd take the time to at least get a proofreader for their journal websites.  Sadly, they will publish work that might never be published after rigorous review, further confusing readers, especially those in the lay public. 

A RAFT in a Sea of Predators

Today I was invited to publish in the International Journal of Plant Sciences and Horticulture.  I never heard of this one but it sounds right up my alley. 

However, the only alley is the alley between the publisher's Phoenix apartment and the Deer Valley Mall.  The publisher is RAFT Publishing, which stands for Reciprocal Approach for Transformation which sounds more like a gender-bending parts swap than a place to publish scholarly work. 

 The distinguished editorial staff is only a short walk to Panda Express and Chipotle. 

Plant Science and Horticulture?  That's like saying the band plays both kinds of music, Country and Western.  I was curious what the scope of the journal was, so I followed the links.

The International Journal of Plant Science and Horticulture is keen to publish your work on Fisheries or Rural Development. Or is it the Clinical Journal of Nephrology? 

I was curious about the editorial team, so I checked their associated website.  Turns out it is a little vacant, and also maybe the Clinical Journal of Nephrology.  Maybe they work on kidney beans? 

Like grandpa used to say, if you are going to be a predator at least be a good predator, and don't ever be a lazy predator.  He didn't really say that. 

But the point is a good one.  How can I trust a journal that comes from some guy's living room, has a screwed up website, and no editorial board? 

Sadly, they will publish papers, and those papers will be used to advance careers and inform others about science.  This is why the public is unsure of what to believe and what sources can really be trusted.  

Open Air Publisher Offices

Today I was invited to contribute my research or review paper to the Journal of Genomics and Data Mining.  They gave me a deadline of August 10, 2018.  That is seven days away, so there's time.

The journal is published by Gavin Publishers. The owners of their numerous domains are not able to be seen, as they paid the extra scratch to keep that anonymous at GoDaddy. 

Their contact phone number started with (630). Wait, that's where I grew up.  

A quick visit to Google Earth (2018 image) reveals that this journal's international headquarters is on a dirt lot in what might someday be a Chicago suburban subdivision.  

5911 Oak Ridge Way is a dirt lot as of April 2018. 

Maybe the publisher owns the lot and if they get enough publication fees they can buy the skyscraper.  Check with zoning first, because that looks like a place for single-family residences.

As always, it looks like they are another pay-to-publish journal without the highest standards.  Maybe there is sufficient rigor.  

But authors should be soliciting journals for opportunities. If they are begging me for submissions in a week, it probably is not a place I would want to publish.  

Publish My Researches!

Today I received a note that the Clinical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology wants to publish my researches. Yes, my researches.  

This is surprising to me because I've never performed any researches in obstetrics or gynecology.   I resided in a uterus for about nine dark months once, but other than that my clinical experience in the subject has been far less than open access. 

Upon investigation it turns out that this fine journal's publisher is in an apartment complex in Irving, TX.  It is located on Love Dr. which is short for "Love Doctor", so irony abounds.  They do have a bitchin' swimming hole for the editorial team to take a much needed dip after a long day of scholarly publishing on gynaecology.

Once again, maybe this is legit and they are a great journal.  

But when asking for my scholarly work in an area that I don't work in, I get a bit skeptical when  they offer to publish my "researches".

Case 1 - Journal of Plant Biotechnology and Microbiology

I clicked on this one just because it seemed related to my research interests.  What a fun time I had following the links! 

Why do so many start with "Greetings of the Day!"  ???

If you click on the first link it takes you here.   Hmm.  Online shopping? 

The second link takes you to an editorial manager site, one that looks a lot like the one used by legitimate journals. 

Here's a legit journal's editorial manager:

Here's the one in my mailbox:

So where are they located?   Impressive!  A global community! 

Let's Google Earth that address! 

Their "London Office" is a post office box and a website called "London Office", which seems a little deceptive. 

For your website you can use their physical address:

As this scientific publisher does! 

And it is located somewhere here, between the acupuncture place and the pharmacy:

To be fair, I looked at the journals and papers and they appear to be of low impact but probably okay.  Nonetheless, it is strange that there is no transparency, the use of a web-based false address, and knock offs of a legitimate editorial manager.  It just doesn't seem like the best way to publish scientific work. 

Why Predatory Pushback?

I get a lot of email.  

Probably 200 a day on weekdays.

At least ten are invitations to some conference that has nothing to do with my research area or interest. 

At least ten are from alleged journals, soliciting contributions. 

I started to look into this a bit more.  Who are they?  Where are they?  Are these legit? 

The answer is typically that these are small businesses that realize they can make money by charging to build a website and invite contributors to put their scientific reports there.   In the days of predatory publishing, tough peer review, and publication requirements for academic tenure and/or promotion, these sites are obviously getting some business.  

The problem is that it subverts the concept of peer review and journal publication.  

1.  Poor quality research is published in a technically peer-reviewed journal that does not likely have editorial or reviewer rigor of legacy journals.  The work should never be granted that gold standard. 

2. Poor-quality work is difficult to differentiate from good quality work from a public perspective, leading to confusion.  The standard of publication used to mean some stringent standards were in place before articles were presented. 

3.  The media, always looking for a sensational story, may report bad work as credible based on its claim of published and peer-reviewed. 

Are any of these journals legitimate?  Beats me. Skimming through them the work usually looks okay but consistent with low-caliber work with inadequate statistical power and overstatement of conclusions from data presented. 

I also feel that if a journal is good, I should be begging them to accept my solicitations, not the other way around. 

In the following posts I'll provide information about some publishers that have solicited my submissions-- their physical location, what is their infrastructure, are they on predatory lists? 

Should be fun.