While "Emerald publishes many titles in the field of Library and Information 
Science/Studies (LIS)", its Wikipedia entry suggests that there may be some 
underlying problems:

"In 2004, Philip Davis of Cornell University found extensive covert duplication 
of articles in Emerald/MCB University Press journals, including at least 409 
examples of articles from sixty-seven journals that were republished without 
notification that they were previously published. He found examples of 
triplicate publishing, as well as journals that contained no original content, 
but were filled with articles submitted to other 
journals.[4]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_note-4> 
He published a follow-up article reporting that the owners of Emerald were 
simultaneously acting as authors, editors, and managers of these journals, 
duplicating not only the work of others but their own as 
well.[5]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_note-5> 
Emerald undertook its own study and identified 560 republished papers from 1989 
to 2004, 1.1 percent of its total database. Davis argued that "whatever the 
number, no amount of premeditated covert article duplication is 
acceptable".[6]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_note-6>

*  ^<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_ref-4> Davis, 
Philip. "The Ethics of Republishing: A Case Study of Emerald/MCB University 
Press Journals"<http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/2572>. Library 
Resources & Technical Services (ALA) 49 (2): 72-78. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
*  ^<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_ref-5> Davis, 
Philip. "Article duplication in Emerald/MCB journals is more extensive than 
first reported: Possible conflicts of financial and functional interests are 
uncovered". Library Resources & Technical Services (ALA) 49 (3): 148-150. 
hdl<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handle_System>:1813/2574<http://hdl.handle.net/1813%2F2574>..
*  ^<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Group_Publishing#cite_ref-6> "Online 
Databases: Duplication Is 
Ubiquitous"<http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA512212.html>. Retrieved 
2008-08-02.

If memory serves, there were also some significant price hikes for some of the 
'library studies' journals that were acquired by Emerald.  They also have a 
publishing partnership with IFLA but only ~40% of their titles on this subject 
are indexed by ISI.

Dana L. Roth
Caltech 1-32
1200 E. California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125
626-395-6423  fax 626-792-7540
dzr...@library.caltech.edu<mailto:dzr...@library.caltech.edu>
http://library.caltech.edu/collections/chemistry.htm

From: goal-boun...@eprints.org [mailto:goal-boun...@eprints.org] On Behalf Of 
DeDe Dawson
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2013 10:38 AM
To: Global Open Access List (Successor of AmSci)
Cc: scholc...@ala.org
Subject: [GOAL] Re: Whose business is it anyhow?

Stevan,

Please don't forget that librarians are often also researchers and authors in 
their own right. And Emerald publishes many titles in the field of Library and 
Information Science/Studies (LIS). So Emerald, in addressing librarians, is in 
fact addressing the researchers/authors that are submitting to their 
publications.

I suspect the Emerald communication might have been in response to Heather's 
message to the scholcomm list from several days ago that I copied and pasted 
below.
-DeDe
University of Saskatchewan
University Library

Heather Morrison's email:

LIS publisher Emerald has introduced a 24-month embargo on authors whose 
institutions have open access mandates, according to Richard Poynder on Open 
and Shut:
http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/open-access-emeralds-green-starts-to.html

This is a significant backtrack from what was a really good open access 
archiving policy.

As of today, there are 146 titles listed under Library and Information Studies 
in the Directory of Open Access Journals, and most say Publication Fee - No:
http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=subject&cpId=129&uiLanguage=en

Librarians, Emerald current and potential editors, authors, and reviewers, 
perhaps it is time to ditch this "it's about the profit" publisher in favour of 
journals that prioritize sharing of our knowledge? If none of the current DOAJ 
titles fit your scholarly niche - why not start your own?

best,

Heather G. Morrison
The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com

On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Stevan Harnad 
<amscifo...@gmail.com<mailto:amscifo...@gmail.com>> wrote:
On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 8:57 AM, Wagner, A. Ben 
<abwag...@buffalo.edu<mailto:abwag...@buffalo.edu>> wrote:

I have not followed the Emerald issue since it is not a publisher I deal with 
as a librarian or a scholar, so I will not comment directly on that issue.  
However, at least from a U.S. perspective and speaking much more generally, I'm 
not sure complaints from U.S. academics about businesses being business-focused 
will carry much weight. From where I sit, academia is getting more and more 
like big business every day with enterprise/start up zones, ROI on research, 
running leaner and meaner, pursue of grants and industry partnerships while 
teaching sometimes suffer (though that is always denied), looking for every 
opportunity to license/commercialize research, and I could go on.  This isn't 
necessarily all bad.  Just pointing out that academia, again at least in the 
U.S., is a business as much as any corporation, imho.  So I ask the question.  
In academia, is business trumping scholarship? So which is the pot and which is 
the kettle?

Yes, publishing is a business.

Yes, universities are (alas) becoming more and more like businesses.

But research is research.

And researchers are researchers.

And research is funded by tax-payers.

And the uptake, usage, applications, productivity and progress of scientific 
and scholarly research are obstructed by access barriers.

So let's not obscure the real contingencies by saying "it's all just business."

What's not evident to me is why Emerald is addressing its attempt at 
self-justification to libraries, when it is their authors' research that is at 
issue:

Libraries are the clients for Emerald's product.

But authors are Emerald's suppliers. And they supply free of charge. And so do 
the peers who do the peer review for Emerald journals.

So please, Emerald, address researchers and tax-payers, not your business 
clientele: Librarians have absolutely nothing to do with Emerald policy on 
author self-archiving.

 Stevan Harnad

Views expressed herein are my personal reviews and not reflective of my 
institution, administration, management, or faculties.

--A. Ben Wagner, Sciences Librarian
University at Buffalo
abwag...@buffalo.edu<mailto:abwag...@buffalo.edu>


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