A new Canadian? Journal.

The science community depends on a rigorous peer-review system to both validate and communicate the results of their research. Prior to the development of the Web, the scientific journals in which such articles were published depended on either page charges or revenues from subscriptions to the journal to cover their costs. With the advent of the Web and also the requirements from public funders of research that the results should be accessible to all at no cost (Open Access) much has changed.

I recently received the following email.

Dear Colleague,

We gladly invite you and your fellow colleagues to submit your original research papers/ review research articles/mini-review articles/short communications for publication in Canadian Journal of Biotechnology (CJB). CJB had recently published its inaugural issue on April 28, 2017. The second issue is slated to be released on July 28, 2017. It is an international online peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas spanning across biotechnology. Our mission is to publish research articles of high quality and essence and disseminate it among students and researchers without constraining its access due to heavy subscription fees. The process of peer-review to maintain a good quality control is rigorous and takes about four to six weeks.

Despite its name the Editor and Editorial offices for this journal are based in India. It lists an Editorial Board of 36 members, including three Canadian scientists.  Manuscript costs are $250 USD ($150 USD for those from developing countries) with a 40% discount for Canadians.

As it happens this journal is listed as a “predatory” journal. “In academic publishing, predatory open access publishing…is an exploitative business model that involves charging publication fees to authors without providing the editorial and publishing services associated with legitimate journals (open access or not).” From Wikipedia, accessed July 26th 2017.

Is this really a Canadian journal or is it just trying to capitalize on Canada’s reputation for good science?  

Graham Scoles, Ph.D. PAg
Dept. of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan