Targeting you, and your colleagues.
Introducing one of the newest open-access publishers: Science Target. According to the publisher’s website, they are based in Ottawa, Ontario. Here is a screen grab from their “contact us” page:
Looks pretty realistic …
However, I did a little research. I searched that address on Google Maps and found a drug store at that address:
Their corporate office.
Because the telephone number is listed on the sign, I decided to call the store and ask if they rented mailboxes. A guy named Steven answered and confirmed that they indeed rent them. So, I am concluding that this publisher of twelve journals is using a rented mailbox in an Ottawa drug store as its business address. The “24″ at the beginning of their address is probably their mailbox number. Because this is a new operation, only a couple of their journals have any content, and I was easily able to find plagiarism in one of them. Verdict: Not Recommended.
Having a mailbox shouldn’t be a reason for a publisher being on your list, and I notice that http://www.sciencetarget.com/site/index.php/article-processing-fees-ijes-2 has no charge for publication, but plagiarism is a reason for not recommending a publisher. Can you elaborate?
I think these publishers should call their stuffs as ‘open access magazines’. Right now, to begin a open access journal, it is enough if one knows how to build a website. Instead, let us say, i) if there is a guideline that they should constitute a corpus of $100,000 initially and keep building it to counter plagiarism related issues, ii) and there would be a Governing Council at the International level with national level bodies….. Well, well, well… Am I speaking sense!!!
Mr R V Krishnkumar makes some interesting points, however, i) plagiarism simply needs awareness and honesty in the authors; as for the publishers to check for plagiarism doesn’t really need a corpus of $ 100,0000. Google search engine provides quite adequate options to check for plagiarism and it is free to use; and the paid services require a subscription of few hundred dollors per year. ii) scholarly publishing is an ethics and moral based activity doesn’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars. iii) a governing council at an international level may be a good idea to make policies about open access; since the movement is ongoing lets wait and watch.
Maybe an easyer way to find out the (il-)legitimacy of these type of journals & publishing enterprises is to write an email to the listed editors or editorial board members with a “western” name and ask them if the journal not just put their name on the editorial board without their knowledge or consent.
Mr. Toth, using CIA-style entrapment policies will not do any justice for the scientific community or the publishing arena. Although your “dirty” tactics are tempting, they should be avoided. Remember, what goes around, comes around…
I am not sure whether anykind of concrete action towards regulating open access publishing is going on anywhere around the world. I think Dr.Beall’s efforts are the first of its kind in identifying such publishing, which is a significant first step. What next?
Avoid unscholarly remarks! If this were dirty work, why are you in?