I was a big fan of open access publishing when the idea was first floated more than a decade ago (indeed, I argued then that academics should dump commercial publishers entirely and opt for having their scholarly associations vet and publish articles and other documents online for a fraction of the typical cost). Since then, however, a lot of the open access movement has been co-opted and corrupted by two groups: (1) Commercial publishers, who have shifted the cost burden from the reader (through subscriptions) to the author (through submission fees, often of well over a thousand dollars). Considering that the author is already providing the intellectual content for free, this strikes me as unconscionable. It also essentially blocks non-funded researchers from the possibility of publishing. (2) There has also sprung up, of late, an entire industry of what are essentially ersatz journals that do only the most cursory "peer review," take the exorbitant fees, and post online as "articles" virtually every submission they receive. There have been several well-publicized Sokal-like tests of this scam and, in my opinion, it threatens to undermine scholarly publishing altogether as it gradually become more and more difficult (especially for non-experts) to distinguish between the two (without carefully examining the actual quality of the articles published).
Chris ....... Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo > On Mar 13, 2014, at 11:14 AM, John Kulig <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Hi all > > First, a disclaimer: In a few weeks I am helping with a seminar on publishing > outlets and publishing options for new faculty. So I am asking the TIPSs > community to help with my homework. I will present some objective information > on open access and on line publishing, but would like to also include > reactions from people regarding their (1) experiences and/or (2) perceptions > of these new publishing outlets. Any information will be helpful, even > perceptions based on limited exposure. > > I am also going to discuss impact factor of journals but will probably stick > to some objective info: their origins, how they are calculated etc ... > > Many thanks in advance > > John K > > ========================== > John W. Kulig, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > Coordinator, Psychology Honors > Plymouth State University > Plymouth NH 03264 > ========================== > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=35276 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-35276-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=35280 or send a blank email to leave-35280-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
