The previous post described various commercial open access publishers spamming for book chapters and journal articles. Now I read that Phil Davis at the blog The Scholarly Kitchen sent a SCIgen-generated nonsense manuscript to “The Open Information Science Journal” published by Bentham. Four months later Bentham accepted the paper and offered to publish it for a $800 fee. No reviews were provided with the acceptance letter.
It looks like at least some of these commercial open access publishers are essentially vanity presses that will publish anything for a hefty fee. It is a shame they are doing this since they may drag down the reputation of reputable open access publishers, such as PLoS. Another danger is that we will see even more use of pseudo-scientific rankings and measures of the impact of journals based on citations just so that people can filter out all the meaningless junk. I suppose no one is any longer interested in reading the actual articles.
In defense of open access journals, a journal called “Applied Mathematics and Computation” which has been published by Elsevier since 1975 has apparently also accepted an automatically generated nonsense paper.
I received that e mail. Is it academic spam? Thank you for your kind replay. Inés
Dear Prof. Noher Halac,
Since the chapter proposal deadline is approaching, I would like to remind you again to submit your chapter proposal for the book under the working title “Neurodegenerative Diseases”.
NEXT STEP: Upload your chapter proposal
A chapter proposal consists of: a tentative title, author name(s) and a short description of the chapter, clearly explaining the aims and concerns of the chapter. Abstract length: 1-4 pages. There are no particular technical requirements.In order to have your proposal accepted, we strongly advise that you pay particular attention to your research methods, key results and language.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 23 March, 2011
HOW TO SUBMIT THE CHAPTER PROPOSAL
1. Login to http://www.intechweb.org/account/login/ to access your Author Panel
2. Go to the dashboard in your Author Panel and choose your book project
3. Upload your chapter proposal
If you have any additional questions or concerns, I remain at your disposal.
Kind regards,
Ms. Ivana Zec
Publishing Process Manager
—
InTech – Open Access Publisher
Email: zec@intechweb.org
Web: http://www.intechweb.org/
From Europe +43-1-229 7379
From America +1-347-625 3346
From Asia +86-10-8405 3529
Fax: +385-51-686166
Corporate Address
University Campus STeP Ri
Slavka Krautzeka 83/A
51000 Rijeka, Croatia
—
This e-mail message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not an addressee or otherwise authorized to receive this message, you should not use, copy, disclose or take any action based on this e-mail or any information contained in the message. If you have received this material in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message.
Hi Inés,
You probably received that message as a result of their spamming, yes. However, as I understand it, their offer is genuine (that is, if you pay they will publish the book chapter). My own personal opinion is that the academic value/prestige associated with such book chapters is low. Others may hold different opinions.
I recieved the more or less the same as Ines:
Dear Prof. Zaleha,
Attached is the Invoice for the Article Processing Charge. You can also find the
Invoice by logging into your Author Panel:
http://www.intechweb.org/booksprocess/index/chapter/43810, and going to the Account
information / Payment section, under the Personal information section.
If necessary, you can change or update the invoicing data there.
Moreover, you can find attached InTech – Open Access Publisher’s Statement with
regards to the publishing engagement with you as the author.
NEXT STEPS: Payment
PAYMENT DEADLINE: 19 September, 2011
Payment can be made by Bank Transfer as indicated in the Invoice, or by Credit Card
by logging into your Author Panel:
http://www.intechweb.org/booksprocess/index/chapter/43810
We currently accept the following payment options:
– Bank Transfer
– Credit Card
– Moneybookers
Please note that when paying by Credit Card, we will redirect you to the
MoneyBookers.com online payment gateway. InTech will help you complete your payment
safely and securely keeping your personal, professional and financial information
safe.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, I am at your disposal.
Kind regards,
Ms. Molly Kaliman
Publishing Process Manager
—
InTech – Open Access Publisher
Email: kaliman@intechweb.org
Web: http://www.intechweb.org/
From Europe: +43 1 229 7378
From America: +1 347 753 8144
From Asia: +86 0 8405 3528
Fax: +385 51 686166
Corporate Address
University Campus STeP Ri
Slavka Krautzeka 83/A
51000 Rijeka, Croatia
—
This e-mail message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you
are not an addressee or otherwise authorized to receive this message, you should not
use, copy, disclose or take any action based on this e-mail or any information
contained in the message. If you have received this material in error, please advise
the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message.
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what should i do since i already submitted the chapter and agreed to their TOR
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