Dear Filippo and Mohammed
In addition to your perspectives of MDPI, I was also sent a message off-list detailing a good experience with MDPI’s Sustainability journal.
In my previous post I described MDPI as a ‘known’ predatory publisher on the basis it was on Beall’s list and because of the controversies described on its wikipedia page<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDPI#Controversies>. Please let me change that to ’suspected’ predatory publisher, and those suspicions require skepticism. This article<https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/08/10/guest-post-mdpis-remarkable-growth/> acknowledges MDPI’s issues, but maintains its citability is improving rapidly alongside its dramatic growth due its successful open access, rapid turnaround, pay-to-publish business model. ’Sustainability’ is noted in particular to be one the most citable journals in its stable. It notes MDPI’s retraction rates are comparable to other publishers.
It may be that its controversies in the early and mid 2010s, that saw it added to Beall’s list, were simply missteps in a rapidly expanding business and they have since made good efforts to improve their practices. Their CEO argues (previous link) that being tagged with the predatory label made them particularly sensitive to reviewing standards. Nonetheless, discussions on researchgate<https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_MDPI_still_a_predatory_publisher> and elsewhere give both good and bad reviews. I don’t know how these reviews compare to other publishers, but it turned me off from responding to an unsolicited invitation to publish (for the time being, but I’m going to read some articles in Sustainability and think about it.).
Beall remains MDPI's critic,<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5493177/> noting that they harassed his employer even after being removed from his list. If we accept his claim at face value, it is the most curious point for me: why work to close a list of predatory publishers if you are not yourself a predatory publisher? Shouldn’t removal from the list be sufficient? Perhaps they wanted to discredit the list with the stigma of forced closure, but this seems to have been counter productive as the Beall’s list appears to have grown in esteem and renown since closure.
best regards
Guy
Hyperlinks:
MDPI’s controversies on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDPI#Controversies
The Scholarly Kitchen: Guest Post – MDPI’s Remarkable Growth
https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/08/10/guest-post-mdpis-remarkable-growth/
Beall on predatory publishers:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5493177/
Researchgate: Is MDPI still a predatory publisher?
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_MDPI_still_a_predatory_publisher
Dr Guy Keulemans
Lecturer
School of Art & Design
UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture
UNSW AUSTRALIA
Paddington Campus
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd,
Paddington, NSW 2021
Mobile +61 (0) 425 128 762
Email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Web guykeulemans.com<http://guykeulemans.com/>
On 8 Feb 2021, at 10:07 am, Moh. Lataifeh <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear Filippo et al,
As far as I know predatory publishers won’t be having Journals listed in
what Ken described earlier as reputable academic indexes.
Applied Sciences is an MDPI journal, we had an article published last year
and I assure you we have seen nothing that suggest adopting any less rigors
than Elsevier or IEEE for that matter.
You can find the journal listed and ranked with
Scimago Institution Ranking
https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=Applied+sciences+
And yes regardless of the publisher one needs to exert due diligence while
making a decision
So for this particular outlet, that is enough evidence of credibility..
Or so I think.
Mohammad Lataifeh
On Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 02:44 Filippo Salustri <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Guy et al,
I have no solid information that MDPI is predatory; since Beall's list is
gone, I haven't been checking it.
I do know that, sometimes, Beall removed a journal or conference from his
list based on evidence.
I wasn't aware about the problem between MDPI and Beall's employer, but I
wouldn't call that alone sufficient evidence to believe it to be predatory.
Should anyone contribute good evidence that MDPI is currently predatory, I
would gladly make every effort to eliminate it from future posts in my CFP
blog.
You can email me directly at [log in to unmask] or post here.
I definitely do NOT approve of predatory publishers, so I would be
gratified for any evidence that anyone can provide.
Thanks for pointing this out to me!
\V/_ /fas
*Prof. Filippo A. Salustri*
Ph.D., P.Eng., FCEEA <https://ceea.ca/nominations-and-awards/#fellows>
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Ryerson University
Room EPH-332C | EMAIL <[log in to unmask]> | WEB
<https://filsalustri.wordpress.com/> | ORCID
<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-5112>
"I do not share your view that the scientist should observe silence in
political matters." -Albert Einstein
"If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having."
-Henry Miller
“Some people are afraid to change - they try so desperately to silence us.”
-Greta Thunberg
On Sun, 7 Feb 2021 at 17:29, Guy Keulemans <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Dear Fillipo and colleagues
In light of the current thread on predatory conferences, I noticed that
one of these CFPs, the special issue from Sustainability, is from MDPI, a
known predatory pay-to-publish publisher. MDPI was on Beall’s list for a
year or two before being removed after legal threats to Beall’s employer
(threats that eventually caused the closure of the list as Nicolai
mentioned in his recent post).
However, MDPI publish hundreds of journals and perhaps not all are
suspect. After I was invited to contribute to Sustainability I researched
it and found mixed reviews, some good, but mixed enough to deter me from
further interest. I’ll gladly hear of any anyone’s experiences.
best regards
Guy
Dr Guy Keulemans
Lecturer
School of Art & Design
UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture
UNSW AUSTRALIA
Paddington Campus
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd,
Paddington, NSW 2021
Mobile +61 (0) 425 128 762
Email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Web guykeulemans.com<http://guykeulemans.com/>
On 8 Feb 2021, at 4:07 am, Filippo Salustri <[log in to unmask]<mailto:
[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Hi,
Here's a summary of designerly CFPs posted to
https://filsalustri.blogspot.com/search/label/cfp in January 2021.
\V/_ /fas
*Prof. Filippo A. Salustri*
Ph.D., P.Eng., FCEEA <https://ceea.ca/nominations-and-awards/#fellows>
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Ryerson University
Room EPH-332C | EMAIL <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
|
WEB
<https://filsalustri.wordpress.com/> | ORCID
<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-5112>
"I do not share your view that the scientist should observe silence in
political matters." -Albert Einstein
"If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having."
-Henry Miller
“Some people are afraid to change - they try so desperately to silence
us.”
-Greta Thunberg
Intl Symp of Architecture, Technology, and Innovation (Sep 2021,
Bornova/İzmir, Turkey and/or Virtual)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/hnVx53Q4Zbs/intl-symp-of-architecture-technology.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 03 Jan 2021 08:03 AM PST
Dates: 22-24 September 2021
Location: Yaşar University, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey (and/or Virtual)
Website: ATI21 <https://ati.yasar.edu.tr/>
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts: 15 February 2021
39th Albi-Nîmes Conference: Design, Semiotics and Philosophy. How to
address the Anthropocene (Jul 2021, Nîmes, France)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/t8ra0nzE-3Q/39th-albi-nimes-conference-design.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:28 PM PST
Dates; 5-7 July 2021
Location: Carré d'Art, Nîmes, France
Website: 39th Albi-Nîmes Conference
Deadline for submission of proposals: 25 Feb 2021
CHI 2021 Workshop: Realizing AI in Healthcare: Challenges Appearing in
the
Wild (May 2021, ONLINE)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/y1JS1TtnOKQ/chi-2021-workshop-realizing-ai-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 07 Jan 2021 06:11 PM PST
Dates: 8-9 May 2021
Location: ONLINE
Website: CHI 2021 <https://chi2021.acm.org/>
Deadline for submissions: 21 February 2021
13th Intl Social Innovation Research Conf (ISIRC): Enabling the change!
Social innovation and enterprises for a better future (Sep 2021, Milano,
Italy)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/T2h-QY2Xnhs/13th-intl-social-innovation-research.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 13 Jan 2021 04:32 PM PST
Dates: 8-10 September 2021
Location: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy
Website: ISIRC 2021 <https://www.isirc2021milano.com/>
Deadline for submissions: 28 February 2021
2021 SEGD Academic Summit (Jun 2021, VIRTUAL)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/gZZYDWRvdfA/2021-segd-academic-summit-jun-2021.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 19 Jan 2021 06:23 AM PST
Dates: 9 June 2021
Location: VIRTUAL
Website: SEGD <https://segd.org/2021-segd-academic-summit-call-papers>
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 March 2021
LEARNxDESIGN 2021: 6th Intl Conf for Design Education Researchers (Sep
2021, Jinan, China)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/Ui_k_jgG2Ss/learnxdesign-2021-6th-intl-conf-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 23 Jan 2021 05:45 PM PST
Dates: 23-27 September 2021
Location: Shandong University of Art & Design, Jinan, China
Website: LEARNxDESIGN2021 <https://learnxdesign.net/lxd2021/>
Deadline for submissions: 23 March 2021
Special Issue of Sustainability: "Design to Drive Behavior Change for
Sustainability and Circular Economy" (Mar 2021)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/rz0kIw3SWU0/special-issue-of-sustainability-design.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 27 Jan 2021 12:05 PM PST
Website: Sustainability
<
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Design_to_Drive_Behavior_Change_for_Sustainability_and_Circular_Economy
Deadline for submissions: 31 March 2021
INDIAN OCEAN TRIENNIAL AUSTRALIA 2021: Futuring Craft (Sep 2021, Perth,
Western Australia)
<
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTroubleWithNormal/~3/4Tprv4VWlVU/indian-ocean-triennial-australia-2021.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
Posted: 29 Jan 2021 05:41 PM PST
Dates: 16-18 September 2021
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Website: IOTA21 <https://www.indianoceancrafttriennial.com/conference/>
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 March 2021
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