I read about these ghoulish practices in Poland, too… extremely disturbing—and thanks for sharing the expose and the disgusting ‘research’ that gets published. Terribly sad. Of course we’re right on course with it, here in the US…
I get review requests from MDPI and I always decline. I see more and more articles from them in my Google Scholar feed though. It's disturbing. There are some great things about OA but I agree that even in the best cases (a society journal) there is this incentive to publish the article (I was an editor on an OA journal). Sadly, lots of good OA articles just languish (there are too many journals). So maybe the bright side is that no one will read this crap.
Grisly, misogynistic, authoritarian stuff. Well beyond the patriarchy and in to the realm of a gestapo, really.
Heroic article.
What do you think of petitioning ACOG, AAFP, ABIM, AAP, etc to devise a system of classification for journal quality? Akin to what we do with strength of evidence for clinical trials (SORT, etc)?
I could help draft a letter, but you are more experienced in this fight and have a wider reach! Let me know if I can help. I am a Doximity writing fellow this year and so I could drop a call to action there, too (2 million members).
I think the problem is not so much that academics see this, they recognize it for what it is (unless they have their own ax to grind). I feel that the issue is more with the general lublic who may not know what to look for and may be unfamiliar with usual and ethucal scientific conduct, such as obtaining consent, who financed the study, other obvious biases. Since hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were hailed in „ scientific studies“ as the cure for covid everybody who can google something thunks they are now in the know. Sorry, if i sound condescending, i have encountered too many people who are completely unaware of the scientific process talk about the research they have bern doing…
I read about these ghoulish practices in Poland, too… extremely disturbing—and thanks for sharing the expose and the disgusting ‘research’ that gets published. Terribly sad. Of course we’re right on course with it, here in the US…
I get review requests from MDPI and I always decline. I see more and more articles from them in my Google Scholar feed though. It's disturbing. There are some great things about OA but I agree that even in the best cases (a society journal) there is this incentive to publish the article (I was an editor on an OA journal). Sadly, lots of good OA articles just languish (there are too many journals). So maybe the bright side is that no one will read this crap.
Thank you for educating us.. misognynistic beyond words. Women are losing their rights and educating us is our only defence.
Grisly, misogynistic, authoritarian stuff. Well beyond the patriarchy and in to the realm of a gestapo, really.
Heroic article.
What do you think of petitioning ACOG, AAFP, ABIM, AAP, etc to devise a system of classification for journal quality? Akin to what we do with strength of evidence for clinical trials (SORT, etc)?
I could help draft a letter, but you are more experienced in this fight and have a wider reach! Let me know if I can help. I am a Doximity writing fellow this year and so I could drop a call to action there, too (2 million members).
I think we would need to involve an academic librarian. Many have told me they don't carry (have subscriptions I guess) to MDPI journals anymore.
I think the problem is not so much that academics see this, they recognize it for what it is (unless they have their own ax to grind). I feel that the issue is more with the general lublic who may not know what to look for and may be unfamiliar with usual and ethucal scientific conduct, such as obtaining consent, who financed the study, other obvious biases. Since hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were hailed in „ scientific studies“ as the cure for covid everybody who can google something thunks they are now in the know. Sorry, if i sound condescending, i have encountered too many people who are completely unaware of the scientific process talk about the research they have bern doing…
Welcome to The Handmaid‘s Tale, coming soon to a state near you.
I hate liking this comment :(
And to think people got research funds to do these so called studies.
You gotta follow the money….
Unfortunately! I have read several studies while I do research for my colleagues and am astounded how much money is allocated.