Publishers Tarnishing OA
Aug 7, 2008 Discussion
As all of you know, I have lavished extensive praise upon the entire Open Access movement. However, some recent reports have greatly worried me. The entire movement is only as strong as its weakest link, at it appears that some of these weaker links have been engaging in less-than-honorable practices.
A recent report by Richard Poynder examined Bentham Science Publishers, which had recently begun publishing several open access journals. While on its face this development seems quite positive, the methods through which Bentham recruited authors and editors seem rather questionable. According to Poynder, several researchers were receiving bulk mail invitations to submit research to, or even edit for, journals entirely outside of their fields of expertise.
Unfortunately, the list of questionable OA publishers is quite longer than Bentham alone. Poynder has now focused his efforts on Scientific Journals International, another OA publisher apparently engaging in unsolicited bulk mail and other offenses. If any of you have more information on Scientific Journals International, please contact Richard Poynder.
The truth is that OA publishers engaging in questionable activities are harming the entire Open Access movement, as they provide OA opponents with greater ammunition to criticize the movement. It is quite possible that unethical OA publishers are greater enemies of the movement than closed access publishers themselves.
Nathan
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