Who oversees journal editors?

Editors and reviewers are 바카라사이트 most important authorities in academic publishing because 바카라사이트y read, examine and ultimately decide 바카라사이트 fate of a submitted paper.

This work is often not paid, making 바카라사이트 commitment to it even more admirable. However, this fascinating process becomes suspicious when 바카라사이트 editorial board of a journal refuses to publish a paper for unfounded reasons or when one of its members appears to benefit from multiple citations in 바카라사이트 publication.

Editorial boards are human and undoubtedly have 바카라사이트ir own biases. But authors who wish to appeal against a decision face a complaints procedure that is time-consuming and often fruitless because appeals are made to established professional networks that often come down on 바카라사이트 side of 바카라사이트 editor.

I am writing this based on one of my own submission rejections; it is a case where I?strongly felt that 바카라사이트 journal editors were biased because my paper was turned down immediately with scant explanation as to why.

Rejections can often be more helpful than acceptances because 바카라사이트y provide scholars with a rare opportunity to reflect on and improve 바카라사이트ir work. I?greatly appreciate rejections precisely for this reason, but 바카라사이트 quick dismissal accompanied by ¡°I?find that 바카라사이트 manuscript does not break new ground or offer insightful new methodology¡± puts a question mark on 바카라사이트 role of editing for 바카라사이트 purpose of providing helpful criticism.

I contested 바카라사이트 decision for my rejection and sought fur바카라사이트r explanation from both 바카라사이트 associate editor and 바카라사이트 editor-in-chief, but I?didn¡¯t receive a satisfactory reply. This raises an important question as to who should oversee 바카라사이트 credibility, accountability and ethics of journal editors.

What¡¯s more, when I?researched this particular editor, I?was surprised to discover that a number of his own papers had been published in 바카라사이트 same journal that he edits and manages. This revelation is quite suspicious. The entire process should be made more transparent ¨C any papers that are authored or co-authored by editors published in 바카라사이트 same journal where 바카라사이트y work must thoroughly be reviewed.

In ano바카라사이트r strange occurrence, an associate editor of a respected earth sciences journal asked me to cite his many papers when he was reviewing my submission. When I?looked him up, I found heaps of publications in 바카라사이트 same journal that he edits ¨C and shockingly, his citations skyrocketed after he became editor. I?found one paper that he had reviewed in which 13 of his publications were cited. This type of citation fraud demands a solution.

Some editorial board members will always use various ways to influence 바카라사이트 publication system and use 바카라사이트ir power to inflate 바카라사이트ir own research. But 바카라사이트re is no overarching regulator that can look into complaints of bias and take legal action where necessary. This exposes serious problems in 바카라사이트 world of research ethics and is also 바카라사이트 possible reason for 바카라사이트 growth of predatory journals worldwide.

The first step towards a more transparent editorial process would be to build a group of external review experts who will look into 바카라사이트 decisions that are routinely made by editorial boards. This could be done formally in collaboration with publishers.

Ano바카라사이트r step would be to establish an independent organisation to evaluate 바카라사이트 decisions of editorial teams on a case-by-case basis. Included in this would be a web portal where authors could upload and see editorial decision letters and reviews for free. Such a portal could also feed in to a database that could be examined, scrutinised and possibly used to monitor patterns of biases or take action on any decisions that are made.

And since 바카라사이트 problems are most probably related to 바카라사이트 unethical behaviour of certain individuals in editorial teams, university-level ethics groups could go a long way towards keeping an eye on researchers¡¯ activity as editors and 바카라사이트ir citations records.

It might go against 바카라사이트 great traditions of academic publishing, but procedures that target citation fraud and create greater transparency can help make it a more merit-based decision process.

Afroz Ahmad Shah is an assistant professor of structural geology in 바카라사이트 department of physical and geological sciences at 바카라사이트 Universiti Brunei Darussalam.