More on PalArch: it’s dead | Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week

"Last time we talked about the evident hijacking of the PalArch Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. No-one seemed to know what had happened or how. I managed to track down Andre J. Veldmeijer, who was involved with the PalArch journals a while back. Based on my Facebook Messenger discussions with him, here’s what we now know:

Andre is not involved any more with these journals. He advises to stay away from the journals. The old publications that were published when the journal was still managed by the PalArch Foundation can apparently be found elsewhere on the web (though I don’t know where).

So how did we get here? It seems another publisher took them over, probably by a legitimate buy-out, with the idea to expend their fields of publishing. At that time, the PalArch Foundation saw no signs they were predatory. But now they’re making their money with bad papers that appear to be peer-reviewed but which are not in any meaningful sense.

Apparently the hijacking was announced several times on various websites and email lists, but somehow I missed them all and I think most of us did.

Anyway, this is an ignominious end to a journal that I liked and that was one of only a few in the important Diamond OA niche. Rest In Peace, PalArch...."