Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Beall's List, a collection of what the author called "predatory" journals, was suddenly removed from the internet this week. The story broke on Twitter Sunday night and on Debunking Denialism Monday. The site contained "thousands of journals and publishers that Beall alleged exploit open-access publishing for their own profit -- for example by spamming researchers with invitations to publish their findings or present at conferences, then pocketing publication or registration fees while providing little or no quality review." The emerging consensus is that the list was removed due to legal threats, but I have seen no formal confirmation of this. Beall was previously threatened in 2013 and 2016. The list still exists on the Internet Archive; check here. You can also use thinkchecksubmit.org, "a cross-industry initiative led by representatives from ALPSP, DOAJ, INASP, ISSN, LIBER, OASPA, STM, UKSG, and individual publishers," to verify publications. More coverage: Science Magazine, Ottawa Citizen.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 10:10 a.m.

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