Academics urged to avoid predatory journals
ONE of the key performance indicators imposed by universities worldwide is publications in referred journals. Most academics know that research and publications are their mainstay, besides teaching.
For some in academia, in their frenzy to meet publications targets, they publish papers in journals of questionable repute.
In physics, the top journals are the Physical Review and its sister publication, Physical Review Letters.
Stringency is their hallmark and very few physicists from developing countries can penetrate the gates of these journals.
Well-known US physicist Richard Feynman had published there and in his career, he had only 37 papers to his credit, a number far below the number achieved by many physicists from developing or even developed countries.
Nevertheless, Feynman had not only won a Nobel prize in physics in 1965, he was also among a select few American physicists honoured and featured on US stamps.
The others were German-born American physicists Albert Einstein and Maria Goeppert Mayer and Chinese-American experimental physicist Chien-Shiung Wu.
Using Feynman as an example, universities have to relook their annual KPI requirements imposed on academics.
We do not want to see them churning out the numbers just to meet the requirement and, in the process, fall prey to predatory journals.
If universities recognise only certain reputable journals in their criteria and assessment, academics will do their best to meet the demand.
They will not simply publish just to satisfy the requirements hitherto imposed.
The dictum “publish or perish” has been drummed into academics from day one when they step into academia.
Universities, therefore, should send the right message to their professoriate that quality is prized and paramount.
If for a particular year an academic falls short of the expectations, it is not the end of the world. It is not the numbers of notes that count, it is the number of notables.
With that in mind, the issue of predatory journals will be mitigated as academics will try to publish papers that are deemed impactful and insightful and which will win peer recognition and respect.
DR KOH AIK KHOON
Alumni, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.