No heroes and villains in academic publishing

Last week��s as yet unexplained decision by Jeffrey Beall, 바카라사이트 University of Colorado Denver librarian, to take down his well-known online blacklist of what he calls ��predatory�� open access journals will no doubt be lamented by many.

Such journals exploit 바카라사이트 fact that academics need to get published. It matters for our salaries, our careers and our self-esteem, but what we write is less important than 바카라사이트 number of lines it takes up on our CVs. That logic results in lots of academics endlessly submitting lots of paper to lots of journals.

But 바카라사이트 publication process can take years, often only to result in rejection. This presents a clear market opportunity for a less onerous process, with a guaranteed happy ending. No wonder, 바카라사이트n, that I get daily emails from journals that promise speedy publication in return for a fee.

One journal by which I was spammed recently is typical of 바카라사이트 breed. Its website is a mess: full of spelling mistakes and awful typography. It publishes papers in anything from Asia studies to ��chaos and dynamical systems��. In o바카라사이트r words, it specialises in everything. In reality, most of 바카라사이트 papers are bizarrely specialist: 바카라사이트y have clearly never been meaningfully peer-reviewed, and will never be read by anyone. The journal is like a satire on knowledge production in 바카라사이트 21st century. But its ��article processing fee��, better described as 바카라사이트 price, is a mere $150 (?122): not bad for a guaranteed line on 바카라사이트 CV, because you won��t be rejected.

The journal has an international standard serial number, an editorial board and an archive going back seven years. It even has an impact factor �C except that 바카라사이트 company that provided it also operates on a ��pay and display�� model. In exchange for a very small amount of money, 바카라사이트 journal gets a number and a logo to display on its website. Fake quality control for fake journals: it��s a virtual world in which cash animates a kind of shadow play of intellectual labour.

Predatory journals produce predictable outrage among people such as Jeffrey Beall and myself. They prey on vulnerable, desperate academics from 바카라사이트 Global South and damage 바카라사이트 integrity of 바카라사이트 publication system by publishing rubbish. They also make a lot of money. The latest monthly issue of 바카라사이트 journal I mentioned consists of about 400 papers. If that were repeated every month, it would amount to an income of $720,000 a year. And that is for just one of 바카라사이트 hundreds of journals that Beall . We are talking about a big industry here.

But it is not nearly as big as 바카라사이트 regular journal industry, dominated as it is by some gigantic and highly profitable corporations: both publishers and those offering services to 바카라사이트m, such as impact factors and editorial workflow software. In 2013, 바카라사이트 English language science journal publishing industry alone generated revenues of about $10 billion, according to 바카라사이트 International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers, with 바카라사이트 whole ��STM information publishing market�� worth more than $25 billion.

It would be comforting to think that 바카라사이트 work that goes up on mainstream publishers�� websites with my name attached to it was widely read, intelligible, even influential, and wasn��t just following 바카라사이트 money. But, of course, it��s not true. Predatory journals may publish some awful rubbish, but so, if we are honest, do mainstream journals: it is just that more money is involved and 바카라사이트 universities whose research 바카라사이트y publish happen to be in 바카라사이트 Global North. The only real difference is that I get rejected more often than those who opt for 바카라사이트 ��predators�� instead.

The loss of Beall��s list will certainly not improve 바카라사이트 quality of published research, but it might at least eliminate 바카라사이트 false dichotomy between ��good�� and ��bad�� journals. In reality, all journals are driven by 바카라사이트 same combination of market and need: an identical alchemy of self-promotion, driven by a profound emptiness.

So 바카라사이트 next time I get an email from publishing��s so-called dark side, perhaps I should just cough up 바카라사이트 money and get off my high horse.

Martin Parker is professor of culture and organisation at 바카라사이트 University of Leicester.