On 18 May 2008, at 8:17 am, Miltiadis D. Lytras wrote:

> Hi Chris,
> you know that half-truth is not good way to communicate facts.
> WE DONT ASK from ANYBODY TO PAY!! Dont be anxious, soon we will have  
> all
> you request. Just have a bit of patience and be cool. Because some  
> things
> are more clear and far away from the money addiction you imagine.
>
> And please recognize us that we have the right to try for something we
> believe. and sometimes it is more important to work for something than
> making critiques of it. So give a hand since you are a good designer  
> to
> make it better. We have no money but your contribution will be  
> valued from
> our supporters.

There was some discussion on this list a few weeks ago about a  
publisher who appeared to be introducing a large number of open  
journals, similarly without editors or editorial teams, and this  
raised some criticism at that time.

Following Chris's comments earlier, and in studying the ORS website  
today, I am left with a number of doubts too.

It seems to be promoted by a body named the 'Open Research Society'  
but I can find no reference to its members or who runs it. I would be  
reluctant to deal with a society whose operation was not transparent.  
The Design Research Society, for example, has a website where all its  
officers are named, and the policies are open to public scrutiny.

The website does indicate that editorial teams who register will have  
to pay 45 euros per individual. I presume then that the income stream  
is generated solely through those subscriptions, and that there are no  
further costs to authors or readers? This is not clear, as the site  
suggests in one place that 'supporters' who register will pay, and  
elsewhere that supporters do not pay. There are no terms and  
conditions that look like a well thought through contract.

In randomly searching through the various journals listed, they are  
generally empty of editors, editorial teams, reviewers, policy, and  
papers. OK, this is at an early stage, but perhaps it might have been  
better to announce the initiative once it was in a firmer state of  
construction. I too am somewhat incredulous that so many journals can  
be set up all at once. Most conventional journals that I have watched  
develop, and a small number that I have been involved in as advisor or  
in editing, have taken a number of years to get going, and to reach an  
acceptable standard of peer review.

In looking through the website, and thinking about the interesting  
prospects that this recent open publishing venture offers, my  
confidence is further shaken by the design and content of the website  
itself. The design of the site is execrable and breaks several rules  
of graphic communication: in the subjective view of this designer, it  
is in bad taste as well. The site also suffers from dreadful English.  
I admire non-native English speakers dealing with such content (I  
could not do it in a foreign language), but it does raise an issue of  
who exactly is in control of standards: if the website is so poor,  
what hope is there for the individual journals in communicating with  
readers and coming up to high standards?

My professional interest in all this is the quality of peer review. I  
know how difficult it is to obtain effective and fair review of papers  
within a clear editorial policy, and the difference that good editors  
make. Anybody can think up a journal title and a website, but putting  
good rigorous review teams together is quite different, and this is  
what the better journals do very well.

This ORS venture leaves me with so many doubts that I would not be  
able to recommend it to colleagues in its present form.

So, to reassure me and others who may be interested in this venture, I  
would like the founders of ORS to identify themselves, to demonstrate  
the transparency of the society's operations, and  to address the  
other issues that I have raised here...

David

_______________________________________________

David Durling PhD FDRS  |  Professor of Design
School of Arts & Education, Middlesex University
Cat Hill, Barnet, Hertfordshire, EN4 8HT, UK
tel: 020 8411 5108  |  international:  + 44 20 8411 5108
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