Dear Jonathan,
Thanks for your query. Your note today explains your concerns more completely than yesterday. Yesterday, you asked specifically about the La Clusaz conference. I was happy to give you the information you requested on that conference and why I’ve announced the free online edition of the conference proceedings here.
You are now asking me how I identify problematic conferences. This requires a lengthy answer. I appreciate your concerns, and you’ll find I answer them completely in the notes I have posted to the list. Since I’ve answered this question at length, I suggest you review my comments in the list archive. These posts appear on 2015 January 22, 2013 November 13, 2010 May 8 [3 posts], 2010 May 7, 2008 April 3, 2007 April 23. I give full information on ways to identify fake conferences and the for-profit companies that organise them.
You’ll find similar issues raised by Jeffrey Beall’s Scholarly Open Access site. The New York Times, the Times Higher Education Supplement, and other publications have considered these issues. In the design field, The Design Society has warned against some of the same conferences that I have noted.
I do not criticise conferences by universities in emerging economies. As I wrote yesterday, I support not-for-profit conferences sponsored by learned societies, professional organisations, and universities. This includes conferences in which not-for-profit universities use conference fees for other not-for-profit purposes. This is a case of not-for-profit organisations running conferences where they dedicate the surplus to charitable purposes. This is not profit.
Profit-making conference organisations are business firms that generate income for the owners or shareholders of the business. If I did not explain this clearly enough yesterday, my apologies. Not-for-profit organisations are defined under law. Learned societies, professional organisations, and universities are generally not-for-profit organisations. These organisations are governed by trustees operating under law. The special provisions of law that apply to not-for-profit organisations means that they operate for defined purposes in the public good. The operating proceeds of these organisations must be used for the purposes defined in the by-laws and articles of the organisation. They may not be used to the private benefit of an individual owner or the shareholders of a business. The conferences I criticise do not support deserving students or research. They tap scarce resources to benefit the individual owners of the conference businesses. This does not further the field. I hope that this explains my reasoning more clearly.
What I have written about fake conferences is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I describe the criteria on which I evaluate conferences carefully. People can use these criteria to form their own opinions, or they may establish other criteria as it suits them. List subscribers may reach their own conclusions.
This is a research list with many younger scholars and researchers among our subscribers, as well as a significant number of PhD students. For this reason, this is an appropriate forum in which to raise these issues. That is the basis of my concern. There is a second issue here as well: universities make decisions on hiring, tenure, and promotion based on the quality of the journals in which people publish their research and the quality of the conferences at which they present their work. A portfolio filled with presentations at fake conferences will harm the career of a researcher seeking jobs or advancement, as well a bibliography of articles in predatory journals.
Your comment on universities that use conferences to benefit aspirational students is a valid argument on a similar point. We have a common concern. We want conference fees to go to responsible charities that support aspirational students, to research activities in learned societies, or to professional societies that seek to advance the field.
If this is our goal, we should encourage people to participate in legitimate conferences. It is important for people to distinguish between legitimate conferences and fake conferences.
Warm wishes,
Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | 设计 She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Elsevier in Cooperation with Tongji University Press | Launching in 2015
Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| University Distinguished Professor | Centre for Design Innovation | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia
Email [log in to unmask] | Academia http://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman | D&I http://tjdi.tongji.edu.cn
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|