Steering clear of predatory open access journals: beyond Beall’s List | University Affairs

lterrat's bookmarks 2017-01-26

Summary:

"There is, however, another approach, the opposite of Beall’s: journal 'whitelists.' Alex Gillis advises against them on the grounds that they include 'many predatory journals.' However, one of the main lists of that type, the Directory of Open Access Journals, embarked on a review process over two years ago under which the 10,000 journals listed at the time had to file an application for readmission. This process, still under way, is based on more rigorous criteria and validation, as I was able to observe as an associate editor of one of the open access journals that had to reapply. In addition, the process is applied to individual journals rather than to publishers.

The review has had a major impact: thousands of journals have been removed, while only a third of new applications have been accepted. As one might expect, journals that were on Beall’s List are now much less visible on the DOAJ. Based on a compilation I made at the time and which I have just repeated, they have fallen from 10 to four percent of the total, a figure that is likely to fall even further by the time the review process ends.

In my view, the simple inclusion (or absence) of a review on a list, whether black or white, should not be taken as an absolute criterion of acceptability or unacceptability, but as a simple indicator whose importance depends on the reliability of the list. Without presuming anything about any future reincarnation of Beall’s List, I have a distinct preference for the DOAJ list, as does the thinkchecksubmit.org site recommended by Mr. Gillis.

At the same time, I remain convinced that there must be some scrutiny – cursory though it may be – of a journal and the articles it has published. The opinions of colleagues who have recently published in the field concerned can also be taken into consideration, keeping in mind the still widespread biases against open access. These preconceptions, sometimes fuelled by alarmist or simplistic contentions such as those of Mr. Beall, are most often the result of unfamiliarity with this method of publication."

Link:

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/steering-clear-predatory-open-access-journals-beyond-bealls-list/

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » lterrat's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.journals

Date tagged:

01/26/2017, 14:14

Date published:

01/26/2017, 09:14