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| Year : 2014 | Volume
: 25
| Issue : 5 | Page : 550 |
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| Setting stronger "Firewalls" |
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SM Balaji
Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Dental Research, Director and Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon, Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital, Teynampet, Chennai, India
Click here for correspondence address and email
| Date of Web Publication | 16-Dec-2014 |
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How to cite this article:
Balaji S M. Setting stronger "Firewalls". Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:550 |
With India emerging as a research destination, more number of manuscripts is being published from Indian authors. With the biggest open access scam being exposed by the scientist about a year ago, more and more dynamics of the open access publishing are emerging. [1] This has been the most "unkindest cut" against the open access model. Undoubtedly, all malpractices, ethical breaches and unprofessional publication conduct of researchers need to be penalized. Simultaneously, honest errors and oversights need to be acknowledged, especially if they are reported by the authors themselves.
In a recent instance, the model of peer reviewing has been challenged. In a recent post, Biomed central, a leading open access publisher has unearthed an organized malpractice by the authors where they doubled as the reviewer themselves. [2] This could be a final nail on the coffin of "suggesting peer review" model in open access.
Yet, one another research finding was published very recently, indicates that open access model is tiring out honest reviewers. [3] This is of direct relevance to our journal too. With increasing submissions, (we crossed 750 in mid-year 2014) it has been increasingly difficult to find apt reviewers for the manuscript. With the issue of "self-reviewing" possibility, the problem becomes more confounded. This could lead to situation where the quality of the reviewing could be compromised-either owing to the pressure to review more manuscript by a competent reviewer or by a poorly trained/relatively inexperienced young reviewer (who's help could be taken by the reviewer!) or by a young overenthusiastic reviewer. The ultimate loss is for the quality of the manuscript. As such there is no amicable solution in the sight. One way I see this is by recruiting more capable, willing reviewers for Indian Journal of Dental Research (IJDR).
In order to prevent potential malpractice and publication misconduct, the IJDR editorial board is working on a revised version of the standard copyright form. Hopefully, after a complete consultation with stakeholders, a new form may be introduced from January 2015. This probably would be a good "firewall" that could prevent the menace. If there are constructive suggestions to this, it would be gladly welcome.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Bohannon J. Who's afraid of peer review? Science 2013;342:60-5.  [ PUBMED] |
| 2. | Patel J. Who reviews the reviewers? Available from: http://www.blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2014/11/26/who-reviews-the-reviewers/. [Last accessed on 2014 Nov 30]. |
| 3. | Arns M. Open access is tiring out peer reviewers. Nature 2014;515:467. [ PUBMED] |
Correspondence Address:
S M Balaji
Executive Editor, Indian Journal of Dental Research, Director and Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon, Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital, Teynampet, Chennai
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0970-9290.147068
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