Trashy journals

A Chinese couple published a couple of dozen academic journals, collecting a reported $1.5 million in publication fees from thousands of contributors. But, provincial authorities allege, the journals were fake. Only a few copies of each issue were printed, and sent to the authors. The couple have been detained but charges not yet pressed.

A report in Science suggests that this episode is symptomatic of a wider malaise in Chinese scientific publishing, but that efforts are now under way to clean up China’s academic publishing industry.

the country’s 4700 scientific periodicals include a hefty number of what the Chinese press refers to as “trash journals.

China’s leading journals have made their mark by bringing on international editorial boards, wooing editors from top-shelf Western publications.

Others are experimenting with open-access platforms

Publications in China are regulated by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), which has started to reform the industry. GAPP has recently closed six obscure publications and reprimanded two others for violations.

I don’t expect such state intervention in the UK publishing industry – all we get is a feeble government response to reports on peer review. But, if there were such a thing, I wonder what journals you would like to see closed or reprimanded? Nothing libellous please!