Protecting Authors from Predatory Journals and PublishersAl-Khatib, Aceil
doi: 10.1007/s12109-016-9474-3pmid: N/A
Given the recent proliferation of fee charging open access journals, unwary authors may not be able to differentiate between legitimate peer-review journals and those with fake peer review. Therefore, this paper proposes measures that if implemented would provide protection to junior and/or unwary authors against predatory journals and publishers whose sole purpose of existence is to exploit unsuspecting authors and institutions by collecting article processing charges.
The New Role of the Managing Editor at Large Companies in ArgentinaSaferstein, Ezequiel
doi: 10.1007/s12109-016-9478-zpmid: N/A
The purpose of this work is to address the changes in the role of the publisher, based on the analysis of the dynamics and performance of the major publishing houses in Argentina today. Based on a number of interviews, we will seek to identify and analyze the tension occurring between the cultural and business logics among stakeholders with a particular interest in the field. These actors share a “publisher’s practical sense” that outlines their habitus and refers to a series of dispositions for action consisting of technical and theoretical knowledge, intuitive processes which, together, make up the publisher’s practice.
Legends in Science: from Boom to BustTeixeira da Silva, Jaime; Dobránszki, Judit; Al-Khatib, Aceil
doi: 10.1007/s12109-016-9476-1pmid: N/A
In biology and medicine, a scientist’s legend is most commonly determined by their sphere of influence, either on surrounding peers, on clients in the case of medical practitioners, or on the wider scientific public in the case of research scientists. A scientific paper still constitutes the most effective portal through which ideas, knowledge and opinions can be shared among academics and scholars. Thus, legends in science are built upon a scientist’s published literature. Legend was always assumed to be safe in its final form, i.e., a published paper. Yet, a powerful movement of post-publication peer review has begun to identify that not all has been well with the vetting process that led to the publication of a tranche of the scientific literature, and that editorial oversight and weakness has prevailed in a number of cases, leading to retractions and a more critical re-assessment of the literature. One could say that the half-life of a scientific paper has only just begun once it is published. Within this context of science publishing that has given a sense of false security, legends may evolve from boom to bust within the space of weeks or even months. The legendary status of a scientist is therefore no longer safe if there are hidden or undiscovered errors, fraud or misconduct.
The Influence of E-book Format and Reading Device on Users’ Reading Experience: A Case Study of Graduate StudentsZeng, Yuanxiang; Bai, Xue; Xu, Jie; He, Chuqi
doi: 10.1007/s12109-016-9472-5pmid: N/A
To explore the influence of e-book format and reading device on users’ reading experience, this paper studied a group of graduate students’ reading speed and comprehension. The participants were asked to read same length content from the same monograph chapter in both fixed layout format file (PDF) and fluid format file (EPUB) on four different reading devices: laptop, tablet, dedicated e-reader and smart phone. Their reading process, speed and comprehension were recorded and compared. Through the experiment and depth interviews, this study found that e-book format and reading devices have influence on reading speed and reading comprehension level. Generally speaking, people read EPUB files faster than PDF files. For smart phone, dedicated e-reader and tablet, participants’ average reading comprehension is higher when reading EPUB file, while most participants read PDF file faster when they use laptops.