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| COMMENTARY |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 3 | Page : 220-221 |
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Publication rat race
Anupama Sukhlecha
Department of Pharmacology, M P Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
| Date of Web Publication | 5-Jul-2013 |
Correspondence Address:
Anupama Sukhlecha
Department of Pharmacology, M P Shah Medical College, Jamnagar - 361 008, Gujarat
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
Sukhlecha A. Publication rat race. Med J DY Patil Univ 2013;6:220-1 |
| Why publish? | |  |
Publications add to research advancement. They can help in knowledge building. Experiences can be shared with people around the world and new thoughts can be stimulated. Duplication of studies can be avoided, thereby preventing wastage of resources like time, money, manpower and patients. They also help in academic and research career advancement and to get promotions. Authors get appreciation by colleagues. Publications also enhance one's curriculum vitae. The institute gets financial benefit in the form of grants. [1]
In this age of "publish or perish" culture, science, ethics and morals have been compromised just to get a publication in one's name. Lawrence states that "scientific research has been overtaken by careerism and management culture to the detriment of originality and discovery." [2] Added to this is sponsorship by pharmaceutical companies with vested interests (at times), which could put a question mark on the authenticity of the results.
| Articles and journals | | |
A paper by Watson and Crick on DNA in 1953 raised the impact factor of the journal, "Nature." It has been cited over 8468 times. It is termed the "pearl" of science. [3] Edward Jenner's discovery was contradicted by his peers who believed in conventional practices, and could not be published in a journal. Ultimately, he published his findings in a monograph. [4]
New journals are mushrooming up every day. A majority of them can be termed "Predatory Journals," meaning those addicted to plunder. The authenticity of these journals needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. These predatory journals have come up in rescue of those who want publications via a short-cut route. Such journals do not even check for the authenticity of the article, authors, ethical approval, etc. They leave behind all ethics and morals just to earn money. Most of them charge thousands to lakhs of rupees to publish an article. Most of them do not even have a bank account in the name of the journal and the fees are collected in the name of individuals.
| How to identify these predatory journals? | | |
An author should check for indexing with Pubmed, Embase, Index Copernicus, etc. and then submit his/her article. The author should think twice if a journal is charging exorbitant fees to submit and accept articles. Authors should also check whether the publishers of the journal are well known, the acceptability rate, etc. Simply by adding "international" to the name of journal does not make it international. The editorial team, advisory committee and peer reviewers should be checked and the editorial members may even be contacted (sometimes the members do not even know that they are on the editorial boards of these predatory journals).
| Conclusion | | |
Predatory journals have opened doors to let corruption and careerism replace genuine research. Research publications should add value to science. There is no use of overloading the web with "me too publications" junk. While it is important to publish one's research work, it is equally important to choose the right journal.
Research should help improve the health care of the community. Treatment guidelines and health policies are decided based on research findings. For the authors, it may be mere playing with numbers, but for the patients, these numbers could mean life or death.
| References | | |
| 1. | Parikh MN, Hazra A, Mukherjee J, Gogtay N. Research methodology simplified: Every clinician a researcher. 1 st ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd.; 2010. p. 244-54. 
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| 2. | Lawrence PA. The politics of publication. Nature 2003;422:459-61.
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| 3. | Watson JD, Crick FH. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Nature 1953;171:737-8.
[PUBMED] |
| 4. | Mastrangelo MJ, Eisenlohr LC, Gomella L, Lattime EC. Poxvirus vectors: orphaned and underappreciated. J Clin Invest 2000;105:1031-4.
[PUBMED] |
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