1
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Keirs D. Apply publication-charge waivers across hybrid journals, too. Nature 2024; 625:241. [PMID: 38195872 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-024-00021-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
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2
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Elgar MA. Devise an ethical open-access publishing model. Nature 2023; 624:523. [PMID: 38114678 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-04056-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
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3
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Sanderson K. Who should pay for open-access publishing? APC alternatives emerge. Nature 2023; 623:472-473. [PMID: 37964063 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-03506-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
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Sanderson K. Editors quit top neuroscience journal to protest against open-access charges. Nature 2023; 616:641. [PMID: 37085706 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-01391-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2023]
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Puehringer S, Rath J, Griesebner T. The political economy of academic publishing: On the commodification of a public good. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253226. [PMID: 34138913 PMCID: PMC8211248 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper provides an institutional and empirical analysis of the highly concentrated market of academic publishing, characterized by over proportionally high profit margins for publishing companies. The availability of latest research findings is an important issue for researchers, universities and politicians alike. Open access (OA) publication provides a promising but also costly solution to overcome this problem. However, in this paper we argue that OA publication costs are an important, but by far not the only way for academic publishers to gain access to public funding. In contrast, our study provides a comprehensive overview of the channels through which public expenditure benefits big academic publishing companies. Furthermore, we offer the results of an explorative case study, where we estimate the annual financial flows of public expenditures in Austria for the field of social sciences. In all, these expenditures add up to about 66.55 to 103.2 million € a year, which amounts to a fourth of total public funding for this field. Against this background, we contribute to the debate whether and to what extent public subsidies are justified for economically successful companies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Puehringer
- Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Johanna Rath
- Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Teresa Griesebner
- Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria
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Serghiou S, Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG, Boyack KW, Riedel N, Wallach JD, Ioannidis JPA. Assessment of transparency indicators across the biomedical literature: How open is open? PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001107. [PMID: 33647013 PMCID: PMC7951980 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent concerns about the reproducibility of science have led to several calls for more open and transparent research practices and for the monitoring of potential improvements over time. However, with tens of thousands of new biomedical articles published per week, manually mapping and monitoring changes in transparency is unrealistic. We present an open-source, automated approach to identify 5 indicators of transparency (data sharing, code sharing, conflicts of interest disclosures, funding disclosures, and protocol registration) and apply it across the entire open access biomedical literature of 2.75 million articles on PubMed Central (PMC). Our results indicate remarkable improvements in some (e.g., conflict of interest [COI] disclosures and funding disclosures), but not other (e.g., protocol registration and code sharing) areas of transparency over time, and map transparency across fields of science, countries, journals, and publishers. This work has enabled the creation of a large, integrated, and openly available database to expedite further efforts to monitor, understand, and promote transparency and reproducibility in science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stylianos Serghiou
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Despina G. Contopoulos-Ioannidis
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Kevin W. Boyack
- SciTech Strategies, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Nico Riedel
- Berlin Institute of Health, QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joshua D. Wallach
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - John P. A. Ioannidis
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Department of Statistics, Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford, California, United States of America
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Manca
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
| | - Lucia Cugusi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
| | - Andrea Cortegiani
- Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Science, Section of Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Intensive Care and Emergency, Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, University of Palermo, Italy
| | - Giulia Ingoglia
- Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Science, Section of Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Intensive Care and Emergency, Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, University of Palermo, Italy
| | - David Moher
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Canada
| | - Franca Deriu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
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8
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Abstract
The essential role of journals as registries of scientific activity in all areas of knowledge justifies concern about their ownership and type of access. The purpose of this research is to analyze the main characteristics of publishers with journals that have received the DOAJ Seal. The specific objectives are a) to identify publishers and journals registered with the DOAJ Seal; b) to characterize those publishers; and c) to analyze their article processing fees. The research method involved the use of the DOAJ database, the Seal option and the following indicators: publisher, title, country, number of articles, knowledge area, article processing charges in USD, time for publication in weeks, and year of indexing in DOAJ. The results reveal a fast-rising oligopoly, dominated by Springer with 35% of the titles and PLOS with more than 20% of the articles. We've identified three models of expansion: a) a few titles with hundreds of articles; b) a high number of titles with a mix of big and small journals; and c) a high number of titles with medium-size journals. We identify a high number of titles without APCs (27%) in all areas while medicine was found to be the most expensive area. Commercial publishers clearly exercise control over the scope of journals and the creation of new titles, according to the interests of their companies, which are not necessarily the same as those of the scientific community or of society in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosângela Schwarz Rodrigues
- Graduate Programa of Library and Information Science, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Ernest Abadal
- Department of Librarianship, Information Science and Audiovisual Communication, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Research Center on Information, Communication and Culture, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Affiliation(s)
- Jernej Ule
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, NW1 1AT, UK.
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
- National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, SI-1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Abbasi H, Abu-Farsakh N, Abuazzam F, Halaseh R, Alaraj O, Hassan E, Al-Essa M, AlRyalat SA. The Impact of Funding Insulin Research on Open Access Publishing: A 20-Years Bibliometric Analysis. Curr Diabetes Rev 2020; 16:497-502. [PMID: 31538901 DOI: 10.2174/1573399815666190712201635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The recent report of The World Health Organization on diabetes has stressed on the burden of diabetes on low/middle income countries. Recent studies advocated the importance of funding more research on diabetes and insulin in these countries. Recently, the European Research Council advocated the importance of gold Open Access (OA) publishing, where the funded research should be immediately accessible. In this study, we aim to assess funding for insulin research, where we will compare the OA status between funded and unfunded research. METHODS We used Scopus database to assess insulin research published from January 1st, 1999 to December 31st, 2018. Our bibliometric analysis consisted of three main sections: analysis of all publications on insulin, analysis of funded insulin publications, and analysis of unfunded insulin publications. RESULTS We found a total of 388,202 publications, of which only 83,180 (21.4%) were funded. USA produced around 30.1% of the total publications, and the National Institute of Health (NIH) was the major funder with 18.6% of all publications. Of the funded publications, 29,143 (35%) were OA publications, compared to 97,347 (31.9%) of the unfunded publications. We didn't find a significant difference in OA status between funded and unfunded research. CONCLUSION In concordance with the European Research Council's decision to support gold OA publishing model, we found that only 35% of the funded and 31.9% of the unfunded insulin research were OA. Although the funded research is increasing in China, most of it is produced in high income countries. This highlights the importance of allocating more funds to low/middle income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiba Abbasi
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | - Noor Abu-Farsakh
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | - Farah Abuazzam
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | - Rasha Halaseh
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | - Othman Alaraj
- Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | - Eman Hassan
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
| | | | - Saif A AlRyalat
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Jordan Hospital, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
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Hutchins BI, Baker KL, Davis MT, Diwersy MA, Haque E, Harriman RM, Hoppe TA, Leicht SA, Meyer P, Santangelo GM. The NIH Open Citation Collection: A public access, broad coverage resource. PLoS Biol 2019; 17:e3000385. [PMID: 31600197 PMCID: PMC6786512 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Citation data have remained hidden behind proprietary, restrictive licensing agreements, which raises barriers to entry for analysts wishing to use the data, increases the expense of performing large-scale analyses, and reduces the robustness and reproducibility of the conclusions. For the past several years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Portfolio Analysis (OPA) has been aggregating and enhancing citation data that can be shared publicly. Here, we describe the NIH Open Citation Collection (NIH-OCC), a public access database for biomedical research that is made freely available to the community. This dataset, which has been carefully generated from unrestricted data sources such as MedLine, PubMed Central (PMC), and CrossRef, now underlies the citation statistics delivered in the NIH iCite analytic platform. We have also included data from a machine learning pipeline that identifies, extracts, resolves, and disambiguates references from full-text articles available on the internet. Open citation links are available to the public in a major update of iCite (https://icite.od.nih.gov).
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Affiliation(s)
- B. Ian Hutchins
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Kirk L. Baker
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Matthew T. Davis
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Ehsanul Haque
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Robert M. Harriman
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Travis A. Hoppe
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Payam Meyer
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - George M. Santangelo
- Office of Portfolio Analysis, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
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12
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Bonato F. AMHP's Open Access Option. Aerosp Med Hum Perform 2019; 90:831. [PMID: 31558189 DOI: 10.3357/amhp.9010editorial.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Ørstavik RE. Plan B. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2019; 139:19-0410. [PMID: 31238649 DOI: 10.4045/tidsskr.19.0410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
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15
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Kurien
- Academic Unit of Gastroenterology, Departments of Infection and Immunity and Cardiovascular Science, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK
- Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield
| | - David S Sanders
- Academic Unit of Gastroenterology, Departments of Infection and Immunity and Cardiovascular Science, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK
- Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield
| | - James J Ashton
- Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Southampton Children's Hospital, UK
- Department of Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, University of Southampton
| | - R Mark Beattie
- Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Southampton Children's Hospital, UK
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17
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Richtig G, Richtig M, Hoetzenecker W, Saxinger W, Lange-Asschenfeldt B, Steiner A, Strohal R, Posch C, Bauer JW, Müllegger RR, Deinlein T, Sepp N, Volc-Platzer B, Nguyen VA, Schmuth M, Hoeller C, Pregartner G, Richtig E. Knowledge and Influence of Predatory Journals in Dermatology: A Pan-Austrian Survey. Acta Derm Venereol 2019; 99:58-62. [PMID: 30206639 DOI: 10.2340/00015555-3037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and influence of predatory journals in the field of dermatology in Austria. A total of 286 physicians (50.5% men) completed a questionnaire. The vast majority of subjects read scientific articles (n = 281, 98.3%) and took them into consideration in their clinical decision-making (n = 271, 98.5% of participants that regularly read scientific literature). Open access was known by 161 (56.3%), predatory journals by 84 (29.4%), and the Beall's list by 19 physicians (6.7%). A total of 117 participants (40.9%) had been challenged by patients with results from the scientific literature, including 9 predatory papers. Participants who knew of predatory journals had a higher level of education as well as scientific experience, and were more familiar with the open-access system (p < 0.001). These results indicate that the majority of dermatologists are not familiar with predatory journals. This is particularly the case for physicians in training and in the early stages of their career.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Richtig
- Otto Loewi Research Center, Pharmacology Section, Medical University of Graz, AT-8010 Graz, Austria.
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Yuen J, Muquit S, Whitfield PC. Correlation Between Cost of Publication and Journal Impact. Comprehensive Cross-sectional Study of Exclusively Open-Access Surgical Journals. J Surg Educ 2019; 76:107-119. [PMID: 30100322 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2018.06.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2018] [Revised: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES As open-access journals have become increasingly common, it has provided more options for researchers to publish their work and improved access of information to the public. However, some open-access journals charge the authors processing fee on submission. In certain cases, this can be rather expensive. This study is the first study to specifically assess the cost of publishing in exclusively open-access, peer-reviewed surgical journals, and their correlation with journal impact, in the form of 6 bibliometrics. DESIGN AND SETTING This is a cross-sectional study. A list of journals is compiled using the SCImago Journal & Country Rank and Directory of Open Access Journals. 6 indices are measured - impact factor, SCOPUS h-index, SCImago journal rank indicator (SJR), Eigenfactor, Article Influence Score and Google h5 index. The cost of publication (in USD$) of a research article (maximum of 6 pages) is used as a baseline. RESULTS 89 research journals are included. The median cost of publication is USD$100 (range [0-2580]). 47% are free of charge. 13% can cost more than USD$2000 per article. SJR and Google h5 index appear to be the only indices that correlate linearly with the cost (p = 0.015 and 0.041, respectively), although the correlations are weak. 3 indices, namely impact factor, SJR and Article Influence Score appear to have very strong correlations with each other (Pearson coefficient > 0.90). CONCLUSIONS From this study, the cost of publishing in open-access journals bears little correlation to their impact; this poses a dilemma for researchers without significant funding. Therefore, authors and funders must consider cautiously when submitting to these journals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Yuen
- South West Neurosurgery Centre, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
| | - Samiul Muquit
- South West Neurosurgery Centre, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Peter C Whitfield
- South West Neurosurgery Centre, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, United Kingdom
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Hanscheid T, Hardisty DW, Henriques SO. The Crisis in Scientific Publishing: A Holistic Perspective About Background Issues Associated with Predatory Publishing. ACTA MEDICA PORT 2018; 31:524-526. [PMID: 30387419 DOI: 10.20344/amp.10762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hanscheid
- Instituto de Microbiologia. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa; Instituto de Microbiologia Molecular. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa. Portugal
| | - David W Hardisty
- Departamento de Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas. NOVA University of Lisbon. Lisboa. Portugal
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Abstract
Background: There is no standardized definition of what a predatory journal is, nor have the characteristics of these journals been delineated or agreed upon. In order to study the phenomenon precisely a definition of predatory journals is needed. The objective of this scoping review is to summarize the literature on predatory journals, describe its epidemiological characteristics, and to extract empirical descriptions of potential characteristics of predatory journals. Methods: We searched five bibliographic databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase Classic + Embase, ERIC, and PsycINFO, and Web of Science on January 2 nd, 2018. A related grey literature search was conducted March 27 th, 2018. Eligible studies were those published in English after 2012 that discuss predatory journals. Titles and abstracts of records obtained were screened. We extracted epidemiological characteristics from all search records discussing predatory journals. Subsequently, we extracted statements from the empirical studies describing empirically derived characteristics of predatory journals. These characteristics were then categorized and thematically grouped. Results: 920 records were obtained from the search. 344 of these records met our inclusion criteria. The majority of these records took the form of commentaries, viewpoints, letters, or editorials (78.44%), and just 38 records were empirical studies that reported empirically derived characteristics of predatory journals. We extracted 109 unique characteristics from these 38 studies, which we subsequently thematically grouped into six categories: journal operations, article, editorial and peer review, communication, article processing charges, and dissemination, indexing and archiving, and five descriptors. Conclusions: This work identified a corpus of potential characteristics of predatory journals. Limitations of the work include our restriction to English language articles, and the fact that the methodological quality of articles included in our extraction was not assessed. These results will be provided to attendees at a stakeholder meeting seeking to develop a standardized definition for what constitutes a predatory journal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly D. Cobey
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1G 5Z3, Canada
- Department of Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Manoj M Lalu
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa; Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Becky Skidmore
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Nadera Ahmadzai
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Agnes Grudniewicz
- Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - David Moher
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1G 5Z3, Canada
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21
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Abstract
Background: There is no standardized definition of what a predatory journal is, nor have the characteristics of these journals been delineated or agreed upon. In order to study the phenomenon precisely a definition of predatory journals is needed. The objective of this scoping review is to summarize the literature on predatory journals, describe its epidemiological characteristics, and to extract empirical descriptions of potential characteristics of predatory journals. Methods: We searched five bibliographic databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase Classic + Embase, ERIC, and PsycINFO, and Web of Science on January 2 nd, 2018. A related grey literature search was conducted March 27 th, 2018. Eligible studies were those published in English after 2012 that discuss predatory journals. Titles and abstracts of records obtained were screened. We extracted epidemiological characteristics from all search records discussing predatory journals. Subsequently, we extracted statements from the empirical studies describing empirically derived characteristics of predatory journals. These characteristics were then categorized and thematically grouped. Results: 920 records were obtained from the search. 344 of these records met our inclusion criteria. The majority of these records took the form of commentaries, viewpoints, letters, or editorials (78.44%), and just 38 records were empirical studies that reported empirically derived characteristics of predatory journals. We extracted 109 unique characteristics from these 38 studies, which we subsequently thematically grouped into six categories: journal operations, article, editorial and peer review, communication, article processing charges, and dissemination, indexing and archiving, and five descriptors. Conclusions: This work identified a corpus of potential characteristics of predatory journals. Limitations of the work include our restriction to English language articles, and the fact that the methodological quality of articles included in our extraction was not assessed. These results will be provided to attendees at a stakeholder meeting seeking to develop a standardized definition for what constitutes a predatory journal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly D. Cobey
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1G 5Z3, Canada
- Department of Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Manoj M Lalu
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa; Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Becky Skidmore
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Nadera Ahmadzai
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
| | - Agnes Grudniewicz
- Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - David Moher
- Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, K1H 8L6, Canada
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1G 5Z3, Canada
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Cress PE. Introducing a New ASJ Video Series: Open Access Publishing in Plastic Surgery. Aesthet Surg J 2018; 38:692-693. [PMID: 29718068 DOI: 10.1093/asj/sjx220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Schiermeier Q. EU copyright reforms draw fire from scientists. Nature 2018; 556:14-15. [PMID: 29620761 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-018-03837-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Pinborg A. [Not Available]. Ugeskr Laeger 2017; 179:V69634. [PMID: 29260696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
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Bruijns SR, Maesela M, Sinha S, Banner M. Poor Access for African Researchers to African Emergency Care Publications: A Cross-sectional Study. West J Emerg Med 2017; 18:1018-1024. [PMID: 29085532 PMCID: PMC5654869 DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2017.8.34930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Based on relative population size and burden of disease, emergency care publication outputs from low- and middle-income regions are disproportionately lower than those of high-income regions. Ironically, outputs from regions with higher publication rates are often less relevant in the African context. As a result, the dissemination of and access to local research is essential to local researchers, but the cost of this access (actual and cost-wise) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to describe access to African emergency care publications in terms of publisher-based access (open access or subscription) and alternate access (self-archived or author provided), as well as the cost of access. METHODS We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study using all emergency medicine publications included in Scopus between 2011 and 2015. A sequential search strategy described access to each article, and we calculated mean article charges against the purchasing power parity index (used to describe out-of-pocket expense). RESULTS We included 666 publications from 49 journals, of which 395 (59.3%) were open access. For subscription-based articles, 106 (39.1%) were self-archived, 60 (22.1%) were author-provided, and 105 (38.8%) were inaccessible. Mean article access cost was $36.44, and mean processing charge was $2,319.34. Using the purchasing power parity index it was calculated that equivalent out-of-pocket expenditure for South African, Ghanaian and Tanzanian authors would respectively be $15.77, $10.44 and $13.04 for access, and $1,004.02, $664.36 and $830.27 for processing. Based on this, the corrected cost of a single-unit article access or process charge for South African, Ghanaian and Tanzanian authors, respectively, was 2.3, 3.5 and 2.8 times higher than the standard rate. CONCLUSION One in six African emergency care publications are inaccessible outside institutional library subscriptions; additionally, the cost of access to publications in low- and middle-income countries appears prohibitive. Publishers should strongly consider revising pricing for more equitable access for researchers from low- and middle-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stevan R. Bruijns
- University of Cape Town, Division of Emergency Medicine, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Mmapeladi Maesela
- University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Suniti Sinha
- University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Megan Banner
- African Federation for Emergency Medicine, Cape Town, South Africa
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Smith E, Haustein S, Mongeon P, Shu F, Ridde V, Larivière V. Knowledge sharing in global health research - the impact, uptake and cost of open access to scholarly literature. Health Res Policy Syst 2017; 15:73. [PMID: 28851401 PMCID: PMC5576373 DOI: 10.1186/s12961-017-0235-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 1982, the Annals of Virology published a paper showing how Liberia has a highly endemic potential of Ebola warning health authorities of the risk for potential outbreaks; this journal is only available by subscription. Limiting the accessibility of such knowledge may have reduced information propagation toward public health actors who were indeed surprised by and unprepared for the 2014 epidemic. Open access (OA) publication can allow for increased access to global health research (GHR). Our study aims to assess the use, cost and impact of OA diffusion in the context of GHR. METHOD A total of 3366 research articles indexed under the Medical Heading Subject Heading "Global Health" published between 2010 and 2014 were retrieved using PubMed to (1) quantify the uptake of various types of OA, (2) estimate the article processing charges (APCs) of OA, and (3) analyse the relationship between different types of OA, their scholarly impact and gross national income per capita of citing countries. RESULTS Most GHR publications are not available directly on the journal's website (69%). Further, 60.8% of researchers do not self-archive their work even when it is free and in keeping with journal policy. The total amount paid for APCs was estimated at US$1.7 million for 627 papers, with authors paying on average US$2732 per publication; 94% of APCs were paid to journals owned by the ten most prominent publication houses from high-income countries. Researchers from low- and middle-income countries are generally citing less expensive types of OA, while researchers in high-income countries are citing the most expensive OA. CONCLUSIONS Although OA may help in building global research capacity in GHR, the majority of publications remain subscription only. It is logical and cost-efficient for institutions and researchers to promote OA by self-archiving publications of restricted access, as it not only allows research to be cited by a broader audience, it also augments citation rates. Although OA does not ensure full knowledge transfer from research to practice, limiting public access can negatively impact implementation and outcomes of health policy and reduce public understanding of health issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise Smith
- École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l’Information, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
- Sciences Humaines Appliquées (Option Bioéthique), Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Montreal, QC Canada
| | - Stefanie Haustein
- École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l’Information, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Philippe Mongeon
- École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l’Information, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Fei Shu
- School of Information Studies, McGill University, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Valéry Ridde
- École de Santé Publique, Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
- Université de Montréal Public Health Research Institute (Institut de Recherche en Santé Publique (IRSPUM)), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Vincent Larivière
- École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l’Information, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
- Observatoire des Sciences et des Technologies (OST - CIRST), Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC Canada
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Affiliation(s)
- Phaedra E Cress
- Ms Cress is the Executive Editor of Aesthetic Surgery Journal
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Weiss A, Lambert WC, Parish LC. Predatory Journals: Harmful to Patients, the Public, and the Integrity of Scientific Research. Skinmed 2017; 15:167-168. [PMID: 28705273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Amy Weiss
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
| | - W Clark Lambert
- Department of Dermatology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Lawrence Charles Parish
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ; and the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA;
- Jefferson Center for International Dermatology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
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Laine C, Winker M. Identifying Predatory or Pseudo-journals. Natl Med J India 2017; 30:1-6. [PMID: 28730998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Christine Laine
- Vice President, World Association of Medical Editors; Editor in Chief, Annals of Internal Medicine; Senior Vice President, American College of Physicians
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis A Olson
- Dr. Olson: Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
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Drummond M, Mullins CD. Open Access Publication in Value in Health. Value Health 2016; 19:297. [PMID: 27325319 DOI: 10.1016/j.jval.2016.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
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Affiliation(s)
- Henri H Versteeg
- Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden, Netherlands.
| | - Marc Rodger
- Ottawa Hospital, Box 201, 451 Smyth rd, Ottawa, Canada.
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Martinovich V. [The political dimension of open access: knowledge as a public good or as a commodity?]. Salud Colect 2015; 11:297-300. [PMID: 26418089 DOI: 10.1590/s1851-82652015000300001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023] Open
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Louryan S. [Predatory journals and editors: a menace for quality scientific information]. Rev Med Brux 2015; 36:403. [PMID: 26749628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
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Macdonald C. Embracing open access and offering greater choice for authors. Biochem Cell Biol 2015; 93:iii-vi. [PMID: 26009154 DOI: 10.1139/bcb-2015-0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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Affiliation(s)
- Cindy Peternelj-Taylor
- Author Affiliations: Journal of Forensic Nursing and College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan
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