Dear Ken,
Thank you for drawing the issue to attention.
There is, however, another, perhaps more positive, way of looking at this situation.
You could see the loss of a protective nanny-guide (accepted that it was skilfully implemented) to predatory publishing as one of a number of factors that apply at least a small pressure on individuals to be competent.
Some of the things that would to me seem to be good consequences are:
That individuals could be competent enough to read a research publication and be able to competently analyse whether the content was valid or not.
For individual's to be able to read, analyse and judge the validity of a publication without depending on reviewers as proxies for competence to tell them whether it was valid, or professional guidance as to whether it was a 'good' publication or not .
That individuals could be expected to have read, understood and remember all the content of publications in a field rather than the tiny snippets that have been referenced (perhaps misleadingly).
That anyone can publish anything and it is the responsibility for each and all of us to be competent enough to make a personal judgement as to how much to incorporate it into our own thinking.
A removal of control of communication via elite-controlled gatekeeping of publication
Reduced barriers to communication and speed of dissemination about new ideas in new disciplines.
And perhaps not least...
A weakening of the stultifying roles of universities on society, and
A hope that we can all be competent enough to be aware when a person or organisation is making money from things we do without paying us for it, and the strength of character to do something about it...
A final aside, the reason for Beall's list was NOT directly to improve the world, to improve academic thinking and research practice, or improve how individuals in the world beneficially distribute and use knowledge. The focus of Beall's list is that of a librarian (see for example - http://crln.acrl.org/content/76/3/132.full) - with all that profession's challenges of managing resources to a budget - and the reality that libraries and the way that librarians act as an intermediary gatekeeping access to information are becoming less relevant - disintermediated.
Warm regards,
Terry
==
Dr Terence Love
FDRS, AMIMechE, PMACM, MISI, MAISA
Director
Design Out Crime & CPTED Centre
Perth, Western Australia
[log in to unmask]
www.designoutcrime.org
+61 (0)4 3497 5848
==
ORCID 0000-0002-2436-7566
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ken Friedman
Sent: Wednesday, 18 January 2017 6:33 PM
To: PhD-Design <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Beall’s list of predatory publishers is gone
Friends,
It was with shock and sadness that I learned today that Jeffrey Beall’s list of predatory publishers is no longer.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/18/librarians-list-predatory-journals-reportedly-removed-due-threats-and-politics
This is unfortunate for the field — Jeffrey Beall performed a great and valuable service. Given the problems in so many fields with the avalanche of crank journals and predatory publishers, I understand his decision, but I lament it.
For every research field — including our own — it is time to discuss the ways that people can determine on their own whether a journal is predatory or a conference is bogus. Open access publishing by serious publishers under the same conditions as paywall publishing offers a useful approach for some journals, but the flood of problem journals and predatory publishers is causing untold damage and destruction.
Many of us have used Beall’s list every day. We sent students and colleagues to the list for up-to-date advice. This leaves a massive gap in the field, and Beall's work will be irreplaceable. I cannot imagine anyone with the capacity to replace Beall’s list — and I cannot imagine, given the repeated attacks on his good name and his character, that anyone will dare to step up.
Since reading this news, I have been sitting here, stunned. I feel the way I felt when the Taliban blew up the great Buddhist monuments.
A global mob of barbarians and pirates found a way to use the university system to open a cash flow spigot, turning earnest young researchers into suckers, and flooding the world with garbage publications. Beall created a solution, at least for those who did not wish to benefit from the corrupt predatory system. Over the past three or four years, the number of enterprises in this corrupt business has quadrupled. To me, this was a monumental effort. In the history of mankind, it may not be remembered in the same way that we remember destroyed monuments and looted archeological treasures. But for those concerned with the integrity of research publishing, Beall’s List was a high point at a low moment in history.
Jeffrey Beall has many friends and admirers around the world. I am one of them.
With sadness,
Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | 设计 She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Tongji University in Cooperation with Elsevier | URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
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
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