Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Is Frontiers Media a Predatory Publisher?

Frontiers Media (frontiersin.org) is an open access publisher in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded by serious neuroscientists. I looked around to learn what people were saying about it after receiving a request to review a manuscript for Frontiers in Genetics. The associate editor who wrote me as well most of the large board of "chief editors" seem to be published researchers, but I do not know what to make of the journal's claim to have 5,689 editors. Zooming in on the field of "ELSI in Science and Genetics" yielded a list of 131 "associate editors." Frontiers notes the number of articles these editors have written; 27 had no publications of their own (or if they did, Frontiers neglected to mention them).

Naturally, Frontiers claims that all of its 59 journals covering more than 460 specialties conduct transparent and rigorous peer review. It also states that "We publish all papers that are scientifically correct." (Emphasis in webpage). This asservation is hardly transparent. What is a "scientifically correct" paper? One that reports true results? No journal can guarantee that. Does it mean that every article that meets some methodological criteria will be published? What about those that do not meet these criteria? How many of the 65,000 papers published in the profusion of journals are not only incorrect, but reflect poorly conceived or executed research?

Wikipedia lists various controversies about Frontiers articles and resignations of editors. Individuals have complained about the shallowness of the review process (e.g., 1, 2) and allegedly heavy-handed or unscrupulous tactics by Frontiers to shut down Beall's list of predatory journals (e.g., 3, 4). One Frontier editor wrote an interesting description of "How to create a top journal by accepting (almost) everything" (5). 

I do not like to label journals "predatory" on this blog, and some thoughtful, albeit anonymous, comments appear below in defense of Frontiers. Given the nonscientific polling and anecdotal reports that abound (6), however, it seems doubtful that publishing in these journals generally would be regarded as a coup.

Email

Frontiers in Genetics

  • From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Monday, April 19, 2021 5:26 AM
    Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    A quick follow-up to my previous emails, offering you the opportunity to guest edit a new article collection with a leading Frontiers journal. Leading an article collection - or Research Topic - with us is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the research you care about. As a guest editor you would set the scope for the new collection, then invite other experts in your field to collaborate by joining you as co-editors, or by submitting their own research.
    If you’d like to find out more about what’s involved, please do get in touch. My team and I will be happy to discuss it further with you.
    Best regards,
    Antonella Tesoro,
    Journal Manager
    Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
    Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
    Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you.
    Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field. If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.
  • From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com>]
    Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 5:24 AM
    Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit with a leading Frontiers journal.
    Based on your article, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference [← which was not an article, but rather a chapter in a book, and which had almost nothing in particular to do with genetics], we would like to work with you to develop a new article collection with us, shining a light on your field of research.
    If you’d like to take up the opportunity, please reply to let us know. My team and I will be back in touch shortly to discuss it further with you and let you know what’s involved.
    Best regards,
    Antonella Tesoro,
    Journal Manager
    Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
    Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
    Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you. Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field.
    If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.

Frontiers in Psychology

  • From: Marcelo Saad (Via FrontiersIn) [noreply@frontiersin.org]
    Date: Thu, Aug 26 at 12:38 PM
    Subject: Invitation to Review a Manuscript
    Dear Dr David H. Kaye ,
    I am writing to ask whether you would be able to review the manuscript "Development of an instrument to assess spirituality: reliability and validation of the Attitudes Related to Spirituality Scale (ARES)", by Camilla Casaletti Braghetta, Clarice Gorenstein, Yuan-Pang Wang, Camila Bertini Martins, Frederico Camelo Leão, Mario Peres, Giancarlo Lucchetti and Homero Vallada, submitted for consideration in Frontiers in Psychology, section Health Psychology.
    Please read below for details concerning the submission and inform us of your interest using the hyperlinks enclosed. In agreeing to review this manuscript, we trust that its subject matter falls within your area of expertise [← I am neither a psychologist nor an expert in developing scales] and that you are available to review the paper within 7 days. [← Are you kidding?]
    Before accepting this invitation, verify whether you have any potential conflicts of interest with the authors, including past collaborations or shared affiliation (see policy at [link deleted] ).
    Please note that should you participate in the review process and endorse publication of the paper, you are agreeing to the disclosure of your name on the published article. You may read below for more information. It is also important that you familiarize yourself with the Frontiers Collaborative Review Guidelines, accessible at ... . Briefly, the Frontiers review mandate is to evaluate the manuscript based on objective criteria, including the validity and rigor of the work.
    To ACCEPT this review invitation, please click on the link below. If you are not registered with Frontiers yet, you will be first asked to register. [link deleted]
    To DECLINE this review invitation, preventing further reminders, please click on the link below: [link deleted]
    Thank you for considering to review this manuscript.
    With best regards,
    Marcelo Saad
    Associate Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
    https://www.frontiersin.org/
    ***
    Frontiers Review Guidelines
    The Frontiers peer-review is a collaborative process with a focus on objective criteria, efficiency and transparency. A review questionnaire is provided in the online review forum to assist you in reviewing the manuscript.
    Reviewers identities are revealed at the end of the review process and you will be acknowledged for your work and contribution on the publication. Please note that you will remain anonymous throughout the entire review process. If irresolvable conflicts arise you may choose to withdraw from the review process and in such case you will remain anonymous. However, if the paper gets accepted for publication and no conflicts arose that led to your withdrawal, your contribution will be acknowledged on the publication.
    The Frontiers review process has unique features, including an interactive review stage, and a focus on objective criteria. To ensure an efficient review process please familiarize yourself with the Frontiers review guidelines: [link deleted]
    Reviewers are obliged to keep all manuscript files confidential and to delete all records after completing the review process. The review reports are also confidential and may only be shared with the authors and the handling editor of the manuscript in the review forum. Posting of the review report publicly is prohibited.
  • From: psychology.topics@frontiersin.com
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    Given the prominence of your research in the field, I wonder if you would be interested in discussing the possibility of editing a collection of articles with Frontiers in Psychology. As one of the newest and most innovative open-access journals, we help researchers to bring together new developments in their field through Frontiers' Research Topics, which are online collections of peer reviewed articles, developed and managed by leading researchers. The editorial team and I would be happy to discuss potential themes, and provide you with additional information about the project. Please let me know if you have any questions
    With an Impact Factor of 2.089, Frontiers in Psychology is the largest and most cited multidisciplinary psychology journal in the world, led by Chief Editor Prof. Axel Cleeremans of the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. We have published several article collections to date, such as: Towards an embodied science of intersubjectivity: Widening the scope of social understanding research, edited by Prof. Ezequiel Di Paolo and Prof. Hanne De Jaegher.
    If you would like to discuss this please let us know!
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin
    Research Topic Manager
  • From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Date: Fri Mar 30 2019 5:11 AM
    Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I am wondering if you received our earlier email (found below my signature)? I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create an editorial project around this (called Research Topics). In my first email I included links to our journal and examples of Research Topics.
    Please let me know if you would like to discuss this further. I would be happy to send you some more information, or we could schedule a phone call at a time that is convenient for you.
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin Research Topic Manager
    Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    You have received this message because you have previously been in contact with Frontiers or because, due to your profile and expertise, it was thought likely that it would be of interest to you. ...
  • From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Date: Apr. 5, 2019 5:13 AM
    Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I am wondering if you received our earlier email?.
    I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create a special issue around this (called Research Topics).
    I would be happy to provide you with information on how to get started with this project.
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin
    Research Topic Manager
    Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
    Frontiers Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15 Meet the Frontiers Team Frontiers journals lead in citations in their fields and rank in the top Impact Factor percentiles. Read the full analysis here.

Frontiers in Sociology

  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 4:20 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    While we all deal with the effects of COVID-19, making science open has never been more essential to global well-being. At Frontiers we’re still working to connect scientists and increase the visibility of their work. I noticed that you’ve collaborated with Prof. Susan Pope on the article "A comment on the PCAST report: Skip the "match"/"non-match" stage.". Prof. Susan Pope also led an editorial project with Frontiers, entitled "The Dialogue Between Forensic Scientists, Statisticians and Lawyers about Complex Scientific Issues for Court". Read more about this project here.
    I’m currently looking for guest editors who:
    • are working on exciting new areas that might benefit from an article collection
    • want to drive the direction of advancements in their field
    • want to collaborate with international peers across disciplines
    • want to make research available to anyone by publishing open access.
    Given your past collaboration and your own research activities I wonder whether you would be interested in discussing the possibilities of working with us on such a project.
    Would you have time next week to discuss this further by phone?
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers in Sociology has published several Research Topics including Immigration in the Global Era: Migrants and the People and Laws at Origin and Destination edited by Guillermina Jasso and Moshe Semyonov.
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 4:29 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you previously about an opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Please let me know if you would like to hear more.
    If you’re unable to be involved at this time, please feel free to suggest a time in the future when this might fit better with your schedule and commitments.
    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 4:27 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Have you had a chance to consider this?
    If you have any questions, I’m happy to send you more information about what’s involved, or to discuss it further by phone. Would you be interested in setting up a call?
    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post and eventhough it is old I want to comment on it.

    Frontiers section journals have a chief editor, associate editors and review editors. Hence the discrepancy between the stated number of editors (=all of them) and your number (only associate editors).

    Publications of editors are only listed if they show up in the journals own publication database (loop). This is awkward and annoying, but not really any major issue.

    I can only judge the section in which I am an associate editor, but my experience is very good. Articles have been carefully reviewed. Reviews usually go over more than just 1 or 2 review rounds and offer the opportunity for a discussion between authors and reviewers (under supervision of the associate editor). In a recent case, reviewers requested more data to validate key statments in a submitted manuscript. The authors asked mne to put the submission on hold, to be able to collect this data and then revise their manuscript accordingly. This is a very constructive and helpful process to improve the scientific quality.

    I also want to challenge critics, as I have experienced countless examples of illegitimate behaviours by "established" publishers and their editors. I was once asked (after acceptance of an article) by a chief editor of a Wiley journal to please make sure to cite my own paper at least 12 times over the next 2 years (sic!). I have also been invited by an editor of a Springer journal to review a paper of which I was a co-author. And what about the countless errata and corrigendum sections in Nature, is this not somewhat fishy?

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  2. I have published over fifty articles in my career, including four in Frontiers (in Immunology and Microbiology). I did not especially feel that the reviews were worse than elsewhere. But I must admit that Frontiers generally leaves more opportunities for authors to defend their work, which is not a bad thing.

    Reviewers have, I think, less opportunity to reject an article without justification, which is also not a bad thing. I have had the opportunity several times to find that well-established journals tolerate authoritative arguments from reviewers, which is not very serious. But this is only my personal experience which is quite limited.

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  3. They invited me to collaborate as guest editor, though the article they said directed them to me was so "narrow" that nobody cited it. It was in a high-impact revue, but nothing to do with the subject (almost holistic) they propose. The invitation came from one of their staff researchers who does not publish anything since 7 years and who faked his h-index, increasing it by 4. It is clearly a predatory organization and I'm quite curious who's owning it (have some hints about).

    ReplyDelete

  4. YES, Frontiers in is a Predatory Publisher
    They sent me invitation to organize a Special Issue in their Journal in Surgery, but I am a Civil Engineer and I do not have any relation with the Surgery

    I am pretty sure that "Frontiers in" is a Predatory Publisher
    of the worst kind, because I told them I am a Civil Engineer and they asked me: do you know some Surgeon that can organize a Special Issue.

    This is very bad in my opinion because they are predators. They hunt the Special Session Organizers
    CONCLUSION: Frontiers In is A COMPLETELY PREDATORY PUBLISHER

    ReplyDelete