Reputable Peer-Reviewed Article Publishing: An Assessment of the IUPUI 2017 Annual Review Data

Abstract

This report quantifies the number of articles by Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) authors that were published in 2017 in “trusted” journals or conference proceedings. As the global proportion of for-fee article publishing increases, so do the number of email solicitations to authors for submissions to previously unknown journals. In an effort to exploit a new business model, a portion of these solicitations seek to acquire a fee for publication while promising (but failing) to provide peer review. Publishing an article in a disreputable journal (intentionally or not) wastes the resources of the university, funders, and tax payers that have supported the work. It also risks damaging the reputation of authors and the integrity of peer reviewed literature. By quantifying the number of articles published in “trusted” journals, IUPUI can assess the degree to which authors need support for the task of selecting suitable outlets for publication.