Another publisher accuses a librarian of libel | Inside Higher Ed

With the proliferation of scholarly journals – particularly open-access Internet journals that charge author fees – some librarians consider themselves on the front lines of the fight to preserve quality publishing. The weapon of choice for some, including Jeffrey Beall, associate professor and scholarly initiatives librarian at the University of Colorado Denver? The blog. But some publishers have taken up their own arms – including threats of lawsuits – in defense, raising questions about academic freedom and librarians in the Internet age. Via its lawyer earlier this month, the Canadian Center for Science and Education, publisher of numerous open-access journals charging several-hundred dollar author fees, sent a letter to Beall informing him that his inclusion of the company and several of its products on a list of a possible-to-probable 'predatory' journals on his blog amounted to defamation and libel. The letter requests that Beall remove the publisher’s name and those of its journals – Sciedu Press, Macrothink Institute and RedFame Publishing – from the blog immediately, due to their inclusion’s 'natural tendency to injure our client’s reputation.' If Beall doesn't comply in writing with such demands (including payment of $10,000 in lawyer fees and damages) by Monday, the publisher will subject him to 'civil action' in a California court. (Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version.) The letter cites 'Beall's List of Predatory Publishers 2013,' as 'actionable libel,' particularly its recommendation that 'researchers, scientists and academics avoid doing business with these publishers and journals. Scholars should avoid sending article submissions to them, serving on their editorial boards or reviewing papers from them, or advertising in them. Also, tenure and promotion committees should give extra scrutiny to articles published in these journals, for many of them include instances of author misconduct.' Beall, who’s been running the blog devoted to critical analysis of scholarly open-access publishing for about a year, declined to answer questions specifically related to the letter or the Canadian Center for Science and Education. But he said predatory open-access journals are those that unprofessionally exploit the author-pays, open-access model for their own profit..."