Re: May issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

If I may push this up one level in the taxonomy:  the entire
church-and-state principal is such a key component of publishing
that it is truly rare to hear even the most hard-nosed financial
types speak against it.  I was once told by an industry veteran
and colleague that "the only thing that can get you fired around
here is if you meddle with the editors."

Are there exceptions, creeps, and so forth?  I'm sure there are.
But creeps are rare in publishing.  Most people get into the
field because they like being in an intellectually stimulating
environment.

As for the difference between OA and toll-access models for this
issue, I do believe that author-pays systems are potentially more
prone to abuse.  But the instances of such abuse that have come
to light have been challenged aggressively. I recall that Stevan
Harnad, with whom I don't often agree, was unstinting in his
condemnation of inappropriate practices.

Of course, eternal vigilance and all that.  But if every industry
subscribed to the ethical practices of publishing, it would be a
better world.

BTW, I work in the software industry now.  Whew!

Joe Esposito


On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 2:09 PM, Ken Masters
<kmasters@ithealthed.com> wrote:

> Hi All
>
> No, I'm sure there's some corruption, so it's not that clear-cut.
> But the potential for corruption depends on the individuals
> involved, not on whether or not the journal is OA, author-pay,
> traditional, or any any model.
>
> I guess we all bring personal experience to the table, but we
> have to have more than that to argue for wide-spread corruption.
>
> Regards
>
> Ken
>
> Dr. Ken Masters
> Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics
> Medical Education Unit
> College of Medicine & Health Sciences
> Sultan Qaboos University
> Sultanate of Oman
>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: May issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter
>> From: Laval Hunsucker <amoinsde@yahoo.com>
>> Date: Tue, May 18, 2010 7:39 am
>> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
>>
>> So clear-cut, in the big real world out there, seriously?
>>
>> It might be nice, but isn't nearly the case, is my experience.
>>
>> Do I detect some slightly rose-colored glasses here?
>>
>> - Laval Hunsucker
>> Knokke, Belgie
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Ken Masters <kmasters@ithealthed.com>
>> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
>> Sent: Fri, May 14, 2010 6:15:49 AM
>> Subject: RE: May issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter
>>
>> Hi All
>>
>> Pippa makes the all-important point that decisions to accept or
>> reject papers are made by editors, not publishers. It is this
>> point that is conveniently forgotten when critics of author-pay
>> OA journals accuse those journals of accepting anything, just to
>> increase their revenue. Even in the author-pay model, the
>> decision to accept is made by the editor; the money goes to the
>> journal, not to the editor.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Ken