Top health research funders’ guidance on selecting journals for funded research

Abstract

Background: Funded health research is being published in journals that many regard as “predatory”, deceptive, and non-credible. We do not currently know whether funders provide guidance on how to select a journal in which to publish funded health research. Methods: We identified the largest 46 philanthropic, public, development assistance, public-private partnership, and multilateral funders of health research by expenditure, globally as well as four public funders from lower-middle income countries, from the list at https://healthresearchfunders.org. One of us identified guidance on disseminating funded research from each funders’ website (August/September 2017), then extracted information about selecting journals, which was verified by another assessor. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion. Results were summarized descriptively. This research used publicly available information; we did not seek verification with funding bodies. Results: The majority (44/50) of sampled funders indicated funding health research. 38 (of 44, 86%) had publicly available information about disseminating funded research, typically called “policies” (29, 76%). Of these 38, 36 (95%) mentioned journal publication for dissemination of which 13 (36.11%) offer variable guidance on selecting a journal, all of which relate to the funder’s open access mandate. Six funders (17%) outlined publisher requirements or features by which to select a journal. One funder linked to a document providing features of journals to look for (e.g. listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals) and to be wary of (e.g., no journal scope statement, uses direct and unsolicited marketing). Conclusions: Few funders provided guidance on how to select a journal in which to publish funded research. Funders have a duty to ensure that the research they fund is discoverable by others. This research is a benchmark for funder guidance on journal selection prior to the January 2021 implementation of Plan S (a global, funder-led initiative to ensure immediate, open access to funded, published research).

Faculty Attitudes Towards Article Processing Charges for Open Access Articles

“…As mandates for OA, such as the NIH Public Access Policy and Plan S (developed by cOAlition S), gain popular support, the nuances of OA publishing will increasingly dictate researchers' publication practices [9]. At the same time, there is no universal standard for obtaining funds to cover these charges, let alone regulation of the charges themselves [16].…”

Research on Predatory Publishing in Health Care: A Scoping Review

“…Most of these studies have been bibliometric analyses/document analyses of the literature on predatory publishing in health care ( n = 56). Twelve studies included qualitative methods for the investigation or analysis: there was one narrative review (Misra & Agarwal, 2020), one content analysis of policies of major health research funding agencies for disseminating funded research and suitable journals (Shamseer et al, 2021), and one interview of nursing faculty (Rawas et al, 2020). The other nine studies were bibliometric/document analyses that included additional content analyses.…”

Open access and its potential impact on public health – A South African perspective

“…Using open access policies, funders can encourage funded researchers to publish in credible journals that adhere to established open access principles (Shamseer et al, 2021). Open access is not understood by most researchers beyond making research free to read.…”

“…Predatory journals do not always include licensing information for articles or provide information on reusing published research. Scientists who publish in predatory journals are likely to be violating their funders' open access policies (Shamseer et al, 2021).…”

“…Plan S is an initiative that was implemented by Science Europe, a group of state funded scientists and researchers from 12 national European funding agencies referred to as "cOAlition S" (Plan, 2022). In 2021, as part of Plan S, a group of international funders (including UK Research and Innovation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Health Organization) launched a major reform of the way funded research is published (Mering, 2020;Shamseer et al, 2021). Recipients of grants funded by agencies affiliated to Plan S are required to publish research in open access journals or platforms and make publications available via open access repositories (Plan, 2022).…”