Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

I get e-mail


I have previously defended open access publishing here. It's a model of scientific publishing in which publication costs are paid for out of the grant funds that support the research, rather than subscriptions. Subscriptions to scientific journals can cost hundreds of dollars a year or even thousands, which means that only people with access to major university libraries can read many of them; and that even university faculty in low-income countries often cannot.

Science should be a democratic enterprise, available to all. So I'm all for open access. And there are important, reputable open access publishers, notably Public Library of Science (PLoS) and BioMed Central, among others.

Alas, the model invites scams. Just found a phony scientific journal, publish pretty much anything that comes over the transom, and collect the publication fees (typically $750-1,500). These execrable enterprises are proliferating like cockroaches; I have to delete solicitations from my in-box every day. They usually have a phony address in the U.S. but obviously originate abroad, and typically by people who do not speak English. This one I got today is pretty funny! Worth a laugh:

Peertechz salutes you for your compendium of writings which immensely help the global society and their descendants understand and shed light on and about Archives of Nursing Practice and Care. Your published manuscripts are evidence that you have innate ability and prodigies for research and writing. . .

But then again, we know that to gain the affection of an elegant author like you, we require some unmatchable spheres. So, here we are for you with some expounding uniqueness.

Join your writing ambitions with us and we assure that your manuscripts reach maximum hands. We invite you passionately to join Peertechz family.  

Should I go for it?

2 comments:

Don Quixote said...

Dear Sir: Recognizing your academic achievement for to enlist our opportunity for grandiloquent research calligriphating on your monkey's butt, no? Therefore, grant us this prescription to your greatness for our only fee of US $750 and always never sharing your most humble academic journal prowess for all types of foreign recognition in your state and out. Hail Caesar!

Cervantes said...

That's pretty good, you should go into the business.