First off, I am new to the JREF forums, and I probably won't be that active. However, I wish to make a small difference and am looking for a way to get some group action started.
The problem is the scientific publishing behemoth Elsevier. They publish a huge range of mostly low impact scientific journals with just enough cream to make their bulk subscription a necessary cost saving to universities. Amongst the "peer reviewed" scientific journals lurking in your local university, you will find the Journal of Homeopathy.
That is bad, but it gets worse. The Journal of Homeopathy is at least recognizable as having exactly the same content as the Journal of Complete and Utter Bollocks. Unfortunately, they also publish Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, which looks like (and may well be) a respectable peer reviewed journal. Except that it has a numerology guy as editor and chief, and he has managed to get 300 articles of the most dreadful nonsense into Chaos, Solitons and Fractals.
So, what to do?
My suggestion is that we make sure that the internet is swarming with criticism of Elsevier, the rubbish journals, poor editor choices, and bulk subscription policy. I happen to write for the science blog at Ars Technica, and would like to propose that all the science bloggers we can get on board write an article critical of Elsevier, to appear on the same day and linking each other.
My proposed date is Thursday 20th November.
In the end, I would like the story picked up by the main scientific news publishers so that Elsevier feels that it must respond.
As a scientific publisher Elsevier lives by impact factor, so I also suggest that the scientists amongst us, wherever possible, do not cite work published in Elsevier journals and submit your work to the journals of other publishers.
Why am I posting here?
Contacting the bigger scientific blogs is difficult. The authors get a lot of spam and nonsense emailed to them everyday. However, some of them read these forums (Hi Phil), and other forum member may know bloggers and popular authors such as PZ Myers, Steve Mirsky, and Lawrence Kraus personally and be able to pass on the message more effectively.
So, if you feel able to help out, either by writing an article, or contacting bloggers. Please do so.
Also, it would help if you posted here so that authors don't get a deluge of emails
Chris Lee
The problem is the scientific publishing behemoth Elsevier. They publish a huge range of mostly low impact scientific journals with just enough cream to make their bulk subscription a necessary cost saving to universities. Amongst the "peer reviewed" scientific journals lurking in your local university, you will find the Journal of Homeopathy.
That is bad, but it gets worse. The Journal of Homeopathy is at least recognizable as having exactly the same content as the Journal of Complete and Utter Bollocks. Unfortunately, they also publish Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, which looks like (and may well be) a respectable peer reviewed journal. Except that it has a numerology guy as editor and chief, and he has managed to get 300 articles of the most dreadful nonsense into Chaos, Solitons and Fractals.
So, what to do?
My suggestion is that we make sure that the internet is swarming with criticism of Elsevier, the rubbish journals, poor editor choices, and bulk subscription policy. I happen to write for the science blog at Ars Technica, and would like to propose that all the science bloggers we can get on board write an article critical of Elsevier, to appear on the same day and linking each other.
My proposed date is Thursday 20th November.
In the end, I would like the story picked up by the main scientific news publishers so that Elsevier feels that it must respond.
As a scientific publisher Elsevier lives by impact factor, so I also suggest that the scientists amongst us, wherever possible, do not cite work published in Elsevier journals and submit your work to the journals of other publishers.
Why am I posting here?
Contacting the bigger scientific blogs is difficult. The authors get a lot of spam and nonsense emailed to them everyday. However, some of them read these forums (Hi Phil), and other forum member may know bloggers and popular authors such as PZ Myers, Steve Mirsky, and Lawrence Kraus personally and be able to pass on the message more effectively.
So, if you feel able to help out, either by writing an article, or contacting bloggers. Please do so.
Also, it would help if you posted here so that authors don't get a deluge of emails
Chris Lee
