Early career researchers and predatory journals during the Covid-19 pandemic. An international analysis
Profesional de la Informacion
; 32(1), 2023.
Article
in English
| Scopus | ID: covidwho-2233775
ABSTRACT
Around 170 early career researchers (ECRs) from 8 countries were interviewed about the whole range of their scholarly communication attitudes/behaviours during pandemic times and this paper analyses what they said about predatory journals in a wide range of scholarly communication contexts. Because of the delicacy of the topic there was just one question exclusively directed at predatory journals, which asked about policies rather than actions, which yielded nevertheless wide-ranging comments on the topic. ECRs also volunteered information on predatory journals in another half dozen questions, most notably including one on questionable research practices. The source of data was mainly the final interview of three undertaken, with some comparisons made to rounds one and two. Findings disclose the existence of a whole raft of formal and informal assessment policies/codes that direct ECRs to legitimate journals and away from predatory ones. Despite being junior, ECRs are very accultured to the criteria of what is considered as prestige and quality and believe predatory publishing is not even conceivable. They are far more concerned about low-quality research, preprints and borderline ‘grey' journals. The pandemic has increased the level of questionable practices and low-quality research, but predatory journals were only singled out by a relatively small number of ECRs. © 2023, El Profesional de la Informacion. All rights reserved.
China; Country differences; Covid-19; Early career researchers; ECR; France; Harbingers project; Interviews; Low-quality research; Malaysia; Pandemic consequences; Poland; Policies against predatory journals; Predatory journals; Preprints; Publishing; Questionable research practices; Research; Russia; Scholarly communication; Spain; UK; United Kingdom; United States; USA
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Scopus
Type of study:
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal:
Profesional de la Informacion
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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