Do Indian journals represent the quality of Indian universities?

Question

Since I published my first paper in a well-respected journal I receive approx. one time per month an invitation to journals such as Global Journal of Engineering Science and Research Management and International Journal of Engineering Sciences and Management Research.

Interestingly, all those "journals" are from India. Furthermore it is obvious that they are only interested in charging you money for publishing your paper: for instance, the "peer-review" process lasts just 2 days, so in fact they publish all the stuff they receive for money.

Nevertheless, since the Editorial Boards of these Journals also consist of Prof. and Dr. from India and most articles are also from people from India (sometimes also Dr.) I am interested if these journals represent the quality of the Indian education system?

Note that it's not unusual for scam journals to just pick random scholars to list as editors, without even asking their permission. So the people listed are not necessarily involved in the journal, or even aware of its existence. — Nate Eldredge, Apr 07 '15 at 16:20

score 13 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 07 '15 at 12:22

13

Scammers appear in all nations, I'm afraid. In addition to the Indian predatory publishers, I receive lots of spam from Chinese, German, and American predatory publishers, plus I'm sure from many other nations that just aren't coming to mind. Just as I wouldn't judge American scholarship from the spam I get from American publishers, or from the diploma mills that operate there, so I would not judge Indian scholarship by the fraudsters of India. It's just a large nation with an open society and a good information infrastructure, and so a certain fraction of scammers are to be expected.

Now, there are other aspects of the Indian school system which merit concern, but the publishing scams should not be the basis for any opinion that you hold.

answered Apr 07 '15 at 12:22

jakebeal

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It's also worth noticing that scam journals are often not actually based in the countries they say they are. – Nate Eldredge Apr 07 '15 at 16:22
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This answer is a bit too politically correct in my opinion. You can note that there is a high concentration of fake journals, and thus fake science in India (including from established scholars, and in institution where reporting fraud is associated with retaliation) without judging all scholars from this country. – Cape Code Apr 07 '15 at 19:15
@CapeCode The problem is that the cost of setting up a fake journal and spamming for it is so low, I don't think there's much signal there. If you look at Beall's list are you actually certain there is a disproportionate representation from India? – jakebeal Apr 07 '15 at 19:37
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He does report a high concentration of fake publishers in Hyderabad and India in general. – Cape Code Apr 07 '15 at 20:20

Do Indian journals represent the quality of Indian universities?

1 Answers1