First of all, I want to make one thing clear. I am writing this article on disappointment and sadness. Academics without proper values (ethics, honesty,etc..) is the core of all social problems. I published my first article in the year 2012. Back then I wasn’t aware of so-called predatory journals. Now I know and trying to know more about the background of publishing a paper.
Predatory journal
A predatory journal is a publication that actively asks researchers for manuscripts. They don’t have a proper peer review system and quality editorial board and are often found to publish mediocre or even worthless papers. They also ask for huge publication charges. Often they accept a paper in a very short time (3-5 days).
There are many things to be shared on how to identify such journals. As my first post here, I give you some guidelines. How such journals deceive an author with a decorative “Indexed in” information.
I have come across numerous journals that list they are indexed in Google Scholar, Academia.edu, Research gate, DOI, Scribd, Researcher id and etc.., !!!.
What is Indexing?
Indexation of a journal is considered a reflection of its quality. Indexed journals are considered to be of higher scientific quality as compared to non-indexed journals.
Some good indexing services are Web of Science by Clarivate Analytics, Scopus by Elsevier, DOAJ, Pub Med, Emerging Sources Citation Index, and etc… (Share with our readers’ other good indexing services in the comment section).
So I believe now it is clear that what is an indexing service. So here comes the question what about Google Scholar, Academia.edu, Research gate, DOI, Scribd, Researcher id?
Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. There are some journal states it is indexed in Google Scholar and they have a profile link. I would like to clarify, The google scholar pages are meant to authors and not publishers. This is not the way fo getting indexed in Google Scholar, To get indexed in google you can use the tools available in OJS if you use OJS. It’s misleading information about your journal and a common mistake by publishers. Always remember google scholar page is meant to authors and not publishers, here is my own profile link as an author: A. Sulthan. If I say I am indexed in google scholar, it sounds funny and doesn’t make any sense.
Coming on to Academia.edu, It is a platform for academics to share research papers. Profile here is also meant for authors. You can find my profile link here: A. Sulthan.
Research Gate is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. In other words, it is Facebook for researchers. So how come a journal say they are indexed in research gate. Doesn’t make sense right? Here is my profile in RG A. Sulthan.
I came across a journal stating they are indexed in DOI!! It’s shocking and shame to see that a publisher doesn’t understand what is indexing and DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a persistent identifier or handle used to uniquely identify objects, standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Scribd is a digital library, e-book and audiobook. ResearcherID is an identifying system for scientific authors and not for publishers. These are not indexing services. My ResearcherID profile is here: A. Sulthan
Journals should stop this unethical practice of deceiving authors. Academics should always focus on quality rather than quantity. Authors are also recommended to avoid these journals as these don’t add any value for your profile. Academics is not a place to make money. It is a platform to promote research and knowledge. I also request to RG, Academia.edu, Researcher ID to remove such profiles from their database.
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