Predatory Journal Articles not to be Used for Academic Promotions
March 9, 2019
The Interuniversity Council (UAK) decided not to take the scientific articles published in predatory journals into consideration for academic promotions, with the proposal of CoHE President Prof. Dr. Yekta Saraç.
Turkey became one of the first countries that stopped the rot that was caused by the increasing use of articles that were published in journals in exchange of money for academic promotions.
Saraç answered the questions of the reporter of Anadolu Agency. He said that there are no problems regarding the number of academic publications in Turkey but that the quality of the publications is the main problem as it is in other countries.
“The reason for the low quality of the articles or papers found in some journals could be shown as the increase of predatory journals. In fact, this is not a problem only in our country. It is a problem all around the world. The European University Association is also working on it, but they have not made any decisions yet. We have made a decision for the first time, and we will not allow the publications in these predatory journals to be used for academic promotions. The Interuniversity Council made this decision with the proposal of CoHE. I would like to clearly state that those who have such publications will not be able to use them for academic promotions. However, we will carry out the fight against predatory publishing without harming the open access/open science studies that CoHE has recently given importance," he said.
- Conferences will also be examined closer
Saraç stated that they also started to examine predatory conferences and symposiums closer and added, “More than 1.000 papers in various fields of study are presented in some conferences in exchange of money and they are gathered in one place. You can either attend these international meetings and conferences from your house online or send an abstract of your paper even if you cannot make it there. Of course, you can do all of these in exchange of money. We will also stop this practice. These papers will not be used for appointments and promotions either. We are also working on an arrangement about it. Paid meetings are organized and journals are published in order to receive academic incentives. This leaves a black mark on the academia."
- Five rectors presented reports
The decision was made with the recommendation of the President of the Council of Higher Education and in accordance with the report prepared by a commission of five university rectors appointed by UAK.
In the report, it was emphasized that open access journals, which do not expect articles to be genuine or to have the potential to have a high impact on the relevant field of study and want money for the publication of articles, are called “predatory journals" in the academic community. It was pointed out in the report that the main purpose of these journals was to make money by publishing as many articles as possible.
- The features of predatory journals were determined
The features of predatory journals were also listed in the report. According to this, predatory journals have the following features: An article processing charge has to be paid for publication. The publisher promises that articles would be published as soon as possible. The publisher provides places for articles that are not related to the announced field or are in many fields that are not related to each other. The explanation of publication principles is lacking. It is clearly stated in the publication principles that originality, importance, and impact are not expected from the articles. There are no policies for the preservation and protection of copyright of the published studies. The process of referees is not carried out in a realistic manner and the opinions and suggestions of referees are not shared with the author.
The articles that authors paid money for publication but are worthy and academic will be evaluated separately. Academics have to present a written statement stating that their articles were not published in predatory journals during their academic promotions.
Source: Anadolu Agency