Peer review under the ethical lens: possible questions

Abstract

The pressure to publish and get cited along with the extensive use of citation metrics in individual career promotion, research funding and university ranking have radically changed the research ecosystem during the last few decades, favoring the rise of predatory journals. This phenomenon has shaken the very backbone of the system, represented by the peer review process. The present article builds up upon the recommendation for reviewers, including the ethical ones, and articles expressing some concerns related to the peer review in order not to answer, but merely ask several questions that could serve as the start point for a reform of the system. Overall, the role of peer review is not at stakes, but its intricate mechanisms need to adapt to the challenges of the new environment.-------------------------------------------------Stručna recenzija pod etičkim povećalom: moguća pitanjaPritisak da se rad objavi i citira zajedno s velikom upotrebom citatskih metrika u individualnoj promociji karijere, financiranju istraživanja i rangiranju univerziteta radikalno su promijenili istraživački ekosistem tijekom posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća, pogodujući porastu grabežljivih časopisa. Ovaj fenomen je uzdrmao samu okosnicu sistema, predstavljenog postupkom stručne recenzije. Ovaj se članak temelji na preporuci za recenzente, uključujući etiku, te članci izražavaju zabrinutost koja se odnosi na recenziju, ne kako bi dali odgovor, već postavljajući samo nekoliko pitanja koja bi mogla poslužiti kao polazište za reformu sistema. Sveukupno, uloga stručne provjere nije na kocki, ali njeni zamršeni mehanizmi moraju se prilagoditi izazovima novog okruženja.

Predatory Journals: How Far Can They Go? An In-Depth Look at the Outliers = Grabežljivi časopisi: koliko daleko mogu ići? Temeljita analiza vrijednosti

“…Several studies have addressed English language related issues with respect to the predatory journals. Soler and Cooper (2019) believe that the repeated rejection due to the level of the English proficiency, often used as a 'milder' reason by publishers to reject articles unlikely to receive sufficient citations instead of the 'tougher' lack of research depth (Petrişor 2020), favored the predatory journals, which do not hesitate to accept any submission, regardless of the language level, if the authors pay their fees. For non-native English speakers, the fear of a rejection due do the language level is justified (Kurt 2018).…”

“…Nekoliko studija se bavilo pitanjima engleskog jezika u vezi sa grabežljivim časopisima. Soler i Cooper (2019) vjeruju da je opetovano odbijanje radi nivoa poznavanja engleskog jezika, koje izdavači često koriste kao 'blaži' razlog da odbiju članke koji vjerovatno neće dobiti dovoljno navoda umjesto 'oštrijeg' nedostatka dubine istraživanja (Petrişor 2020), favoriziralo grabežljive časopise koji se ne ustručavaju prihvatiti bilo kakvu prijavu, bez obzira na nivo jezika, samo ako autori plate naknadu. Za neizvorne govornike engleskog jezika, strah od odbijanja radi nivoa poznavanja jezika je opravdan (Kurt 2018).…”

Influence of Predatory Journals on the Publishing Behavior of Researchers From Countries With a Short Western-Style Academic Publishing Tradition. A Language Perspective

“…While there is an abundant literature dealing with all their practices and negative influence on science and the scientific community in general (see, for example, the economic impact on science -Shen and Björk 2015, 'burying' quality research in obscure journals without disseminating it proportionally to its value -Gogtay and Bavdekar 2019, indirect support to unethical practices including plagiarism due to a poor quality control -Petrişor 2021a, or adoption of predatory practices by legitimate journals when funding is scarce - Habibzadeh et al 2017), very few studies deal with their impact on the behavior of researchers. For example, Rainer and Hurst (2019) look at the presence of predatory journals in student bibliographies; Petrişor (2020) suspects that the increasingly demanding peer review process of already established journals makes inexperienced authors choose predatory publishers, due to a poor (or lack of) quality control; and Soler and Cooper (2019) believe that the repeated rejection by established journals due to the level of the English proficiency has a similar effect. There are studies distinguishing between people who are victims of the predatory journals (Rawas et al 2020) and those who deliberately publish in such journals (Balehegn 2017), and on their motivation (Cobey et al 2019).…”

“…In the western world, the first peer reviewed journal, "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society", was launched in 1665 (Lovejoy et al 2011), and introduced peer review in 1752 (Jana 2019). Ever since, academic publishing standards have evolved, moving towards an "impact assessment" of submissions, meaning that the primary decision is influenced by the potential of the manuscript to attract a broad international readership, and ultimately more citations (Petrişor 2020). This behavior was influenced by the competition of journals, and development of journal and research metrics (Petrişor 2020).…”

“…Ever since, academic publishing standards have evolved, moving towards an "impact assessment" of submissions, meaning that the primary decision is influenced by the potential of the manuscript to attract a broad international readership, and ultimately more citations (Petrişor 2020). This behavior was influenced by the competition of journals, and development of journal and research metrics (Petrişor 2020). However, in other places, such as Eastern Europe, where a tradition could not be formed due to changes of political circumstances in the Middle East and other countries, writing in the Western style (in terms of structuring the article and copy-editing a manuscript in English) has even a shorter tradition.…”