An Acknowledgement to the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine's Reviewers and Editors for the First Half of 2023

Description The HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine would like to thank those behind the scenes who make this publication possible. Our journal would not be possible without the assistance of our peer reviewers, authors, and board members. We also announce our inclusion in PubMed Central.

An Acknowledgement to the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine's Reviewers and Editors for the 2nd Half of 2022

Description The HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine would like to thank those behind the scenes who make this publication possible. Our journal would not be possible without the assistance of our peer reviewers, authors, and board members.

Can I afford to publish? A dilemma for African scholars

With open-access publishing authors often pay an article processing charge and subsequently their article is freely available online. These charges are beyond the reach of most African academics. Thus, the trend towards open-access publishing will shift the business model from a pay-wall model, where access to literature is limited, to a pay-to-publish one, where African scholars cannot afford to publish. We explore the costs of publishing and the ability of African scholars to afford to publish via open access in top journals. Three-quarters of the 40 top ecology journals required payment for open-access publishing (average cost $3150). Paying such fees is a hardship for African scholars as grant funding is not available and it is not feasible to pay the fees themselves as salaries are low. We encourage funders and publishers to facilitate an equitable publishing model that allows African scholars to make their research available through open-access publishing.

Academic E-Mail Overload and the Burden of "Academic Spam"

This article presents an editorial perspective on the challenges associated with e-mail management for academic physicians. We include 2-week analysis of our own e-mails as illustrations of the e-mail volume and content. We discuss the contributors to high e-mail volumes, focusing especially on unsolicited e-mails from medical/scientific conferences and open-access journals (sometimes termed “academic spam emails”), as these e-mails comprise a significant volume and are targeted to physicians and scientists. Our 2-person sample is consistent with studies showing that journals that use mass e-mail advertising have low rates of inclusion in recognized journal databases/resources. Strategies for managing e-mail are discussed and include unsubscribing, blocking senders or domains, filtering e-mails, managing one’s inbox, limiting e-mail access, and e-mail etiquette. Academic institutions should focus on decreasing the volume of unsolicited e-mails, fostering tools to manage e-mail overload, and educating physicians including trainees about e-mail practices, predatory journals, and scholarly database/resources.

Publish or the Population Perishes: The Challenges of Regional Publishing in Public Health

The publication of information is essential for expanding the benefits of public health throughout the Asia-Pacific region. All academics are familiar with the adage "Publish or perish," but for public health, this should be rewritten as "Publish or the population perishes." Publication and communication in public health continues to undergo rapid change. There are many challenges that a regional journal faces. The number of printed journals is beginning to decline. Digital publishing and extensive databases and search engines have become the only practical way to access data. But the advent of digital publishing has seen the arrival of profit-making entrepreneurs. Whether a Journal is in the printed form or digital, it remains the key communication in public health and ultimately improve the health of the people. The Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health (APJPH), which is owned by Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) and published by Sage ensures that your data gets maximum digital exposure in the region where it can make a difference. Over the years, APJPH has increased its impact factor and gained in prestige. Although impact factor of a journal is important in documenting the recognition of work by academics, it does not necessarily reflect importance to our region. There needs to be a re-evaluation of publication and communication strategies so that all citizens of the Asia-Pacific region benefit.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork

From an informal conversation to a peer reviewed, open-access, indexed journal, we are now celebrating the 10th anniversary of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork: Research, Education, and Practice. We celebrate the uniqueness of the Journal as the only fully open-access journal that addresses massage therapy and bodywork. Scholarly open-access journals have changed the face of scientific publishing in recent years: providing wider dissemination, allowing findings from taxpayer supported research to be available for free, and providing an avenue for researchers in the developing world to connect with researchers in developed countries. The editors of the Journal are regularly looking and soliciting articles from massage therapy researchers. This editorial describes the progress of the last ten years- from an article and readership standpoint-including changes in partnerships and increased visibility through social media.

Junk science for sale Sham journals proliferating online

A new danger threatens the integrity of scholarly publishing: predatory journals. Internet-only, "open-access" publishing is a valid way for researchers to reach the public without a paywall separating them. But, of thousands of open-access scientific journals today, as many as twenty-five percent are believed to be fake, existing only to make money by charging authors high processing fees. In sham journals, peer review is cursory or absent: as many as eighty to ninety percent of submitted manuscripts are accepted, many within days, without any editorial comment. Predatory journalism can be remarkably good at mimicking reputable publishers. Sham journals use names and logos that closely resemble those of legitimate journals, intentionally confusing site visitors. Untrustworthy publications have not received the widespread, damning publicity they deserve. If junk science is not confronted and eliminated, it will continue to tarnish and undermine ethical, open-access scholarly publishing. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-07.asp].