by Rex Godinez Ortega, Office of the Chancellor
The advent of the Internet has changed the way and the speed at which faculty researchers get their academic papers published in scientific journals. But is ease of sharing research results – brought on by technology and the removal of many limiting conditions – everything?
The Internet may have many benefits; however, according to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension (OVCRE), it also multiplied the dangers awaiting faculty researchers looking to publish their works.
With the establishment of many virtual journals of questionable repute that are “incentivized to deceive,” many researchers who publish in these journals, aside from getting fleeced, also suffer damaging blows to their credibilities and reputations.
To protect MSU-IIT’s faculty from the “seedy side of open-access publishing”, and to prevent them from falling prey to predatory journals, the Institute issued Special Order No. 1790-IIT dated September 19, 2016 that provides the list of classifications of journals where they are encouraged to publish in.
“We are doing this because many of our faculty do not know or are not aware of the existence of these predatory journals, which are proliferating,” explained the Institute’s Director for Research Dr. Franco G. Teves.
“We have started giving information regarding these journals, but to ensure no one gets victimized, we have to institute measures for everyone to adhere to,” Teves said.
Special Order No. 1790-IIT gives out the OVCRE-provided list that identified the journal classifications as, Thomson Reuters -Listed; Thomson Reuters (ISI) – Indexed; Scopus – Indexed; International-Refereed; and In-House.
The In-House classification is taken to mean the two research journals of MSU-IIT, which are the Mindanao Forum (MF) and the Asia Pacific Journal on Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (APJSME).
Both are accredited by the Journal Accreditation Service (JAS) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
According to the Order, a publication is classified as Thomson Reuters -Listed when it is included in the Master Journal List and covered in the following searchable databases:
- Biological Abstracts
- BIOSIS PREVIEWS
- Biological Abstracts/RRM
- Current Contents® / Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences
- Current Contents® / Arts & Humanities
- Current Contents® / Clinical Medicine
- Current Contents® / Engineering, Computing & Technology
- Current Contents® / Life Sciences
- Current Contents® / Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences
- Current Contents® / Social & Behavioral Sciences
- Current Contents Collections / Business Collection
- Current Contents Collections / Electronics & Telecommunications
CHEMICAL INFORMATION PRODUCTS
- ChemPrep™
- ISI Chemistry Reaction CenterSM
- Current Chemical Reactions®
- Current Chemical Reactions® Database
- Index Chemicus®
- Reaction Citation Index™
The Order also identified a journal as Thomson Reuters (ISI) – INDEXED when it is included in the Master Journal List and covered in the following citation indexes of the Web of Science® (formerly Web of Knowledge) in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities:
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index® (Web of Science)
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science)
- Science Citation Index Expanded™ (Web of Science)
- Social Sciences Citation Index® (Web of Science)
A journal is classified as Scopus – INDEXED when it is found in the Scopus abstract and the citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, the Order said.
For International Refereed Journals, the Order emphasizes that such journals should be truly refereed (either single– or double– blind), and must be of international circulation with credible international line-ups of editorial board members and peer reviewers.
In addition, the Order requires the publications described as “internationally-refereed” to not display the characteristics of a predatory journal.
To guarantee that all Institute constituents publish their academic researches only in the given journal classifications, the Order makes it a condition to the granting of publication awards.
The Order is set to become effective by October 1, 2016.
Topics : OVCRE research journals guidelines