Two Bosnian WoS-indexed journals

Sat Apr 6 14:38:54 EDT 2013

Dear Rajko,

Did you look into another journal of this publishers as well?
International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine and Public Health  

With the Scimago tool it appears that self cites in the two mentioned journals are quite high indeed http://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=Drunpp-Sarajevo&tip=pub 
Also a quite high percentage of uncited articles is found. And articles from international collaboration is quite low.

Wouter

Wouter Gerritsma
Team leader research support
Information Specialist – Bibliometrician
Wageningen UR Library
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The Netherlands
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Wouter.gerritsma at wur.nl
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@wowter
wowter.net

http://viaf.org/viaf/285392263 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7274-0698
http://wu.academia.edu/WouterGerritsma
http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-4161-2008
http://www.narcis.nl/person/RecordID/PRS1329274
http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/wouter-gerritsma
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wouter_Gerritsma
http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3iDBE-MAAAAJ
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Author/34373815
http://www.narcis.nl/person/info:eu-repo/dai/nl/33714253X

-----Original Message-----
From: ASIS&T Special Interest Group on Metrics [mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU] On Behalf Of Rajko
Sent: vrijdag 5 april 2013 23:37
To: SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
Subject: [SIGMETRICS] Two Bosnian WoS-indexed journals

Dear Information Scientists,

Enclosed please find the summary of analysis of two 'scientific journals' from Bosnia that are included in the WoS.

I would appreciate it very much if you comment this analysis, and state what should be done.

Sincerely,

Rajko Igic
Editor-in-Chief
Scripta Medica (Banja Luka)

WWW.scriptamedica.com (free access)

___________________________________________________________________________

http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/03/07/report-details-predatory-practices-of-two-bosnian-journals/

Šipka, P., (2012). Legitimacy of citations in predatory publishing: the case of proliferation of papers by Serbian authors in two Bosnian WoS‐indexed journals. CEES Occasional Paper Series ; no. 2012‐12‐2. Retrieved from http://www.ceon.rs/ops/12122 ISBN 978‐86‐89475‐00‐5

Summary
!
This!paper!contains!the!results!of!an!ad!hoc!action!research!undertaken!within!a!CEON/CEES!broader! 
project!on!publishing!misconduct!in!journals!from!Southeast!Europe.!Its!purpose!is!to!urgently! 
communicate!the!alarming!degree!of!misconduct!practiced!by!two!Bosnian!WoS/JCR!journals,!with! 
substantial!involvement!of!a!large!group!of!authors!from!Serbia!who!publish!extensively!and! 
increasingly!in!the!two!journals.!After!comparing!them!with!the!other!two!journals!from!the!same! 
country,!also!indexed!in!WoS/JCR,!it!was!found!that:! 
! 
! The!two!journals,!HealthMed!and!TTEM,!are!published!by!an!organization!(DRUNPP)!of!unclear! 
identity,!low!transparency!and!questionable!management.! 
! The!general!profile!of!these!journals!shows!a!typical!"predatory"!pattern!characterized!by!the! 
discrepancy!between!author!publishing!charges!and!investment!in!journal!quality.!! 
! The!two!journals!are!bibliometrically!isolated,!i.e.!not!being!cited!by!other!quality!journals! 
including!two!controls,!and!even!by!small!non"WoS!Bosnian!journals!of!the!similar!background.!! 
! Relatively!high!Impact!Factor!of!the!two!journals!comes!entirely!from!self"citations,!their! 
mutual!citations!exchange,!and!citations!delivered!by!Serbian!authors.! 
! A!large!amount!of!those!citations!is!illegitimate,!i.e.!either!unjustifiable,!or!fabricated.! 
! The!proofs!exist!of!direct!engagement!of!both!journals’!editorial!staff!in!misconduct.!Some!of! 
these!malpractices,!e.g.!appending!article!reference!lists!with!items!citing!their!own!or!the! 
other!DRUNPP!journal!without!informing!authors!about!the!change,!are!to!our!best!knowledge! 
unprecedented!in!international!academic!publishing.! 
! Clear!indications!exist!of!willing!involvement!of!authors!from!several!Serbian!institutions,!which! 
makes!them!members!of!a!"citation!cartel".! 
! Considering!the!benefits!Serbian!researchers!have!from!publishing!in!WoS!journals,!these! 
authors,!along!with!editors!of!DRUNPP!journals!themselves,!have!to!be!tagged!as!"members!of! 
a!joint!unethical!enterprise".! 
! The!cross"border!spillover!of!fabricating!citations!is!already!taking!place!in!Serbia,!where!two! 
authors,!one!of!which!is!a!prominent!member!of!the!DRUNPP!group,!established!journals!of!the! 
very!same!profile!and!started!very!same!malpractice.! 
!
!CEES!Occasional!Paper!Series!No.!2012"12"2! 
! 
Legitimacy!of!citations!in!predatory!publishing! 

 "!6"!! 
The!results!call!for!urgent!international!action!of!all!stakeholders!involved.!Relevant!institutions!and! 
individuals!involved!are!in!the!position!to!take!their!fair!share:!! 
! 
(1)!The!Serbian!Ministry!responsible!for!science,!as!both!funding!and!regulatory!institution,!as!well! 
as!the!National!Council!for!Science!and!Technological!Development,!should!take!best!care!that!the! 
two!DRUNPP!journals!are!removed!from!the!list!of!international!publications,!that!papers!published! 
in!the!two!journals!at!any!time!in!the!past!are!not!recognized!as!such,!and!that!authors!heavily! 
involved!in!misconduct!bear!ethical!consequences.!! 
! 
(2)!Publisher!of!WoS/JCR!should!consider!withdrawing!DRUNPP!journals!from!its!lists,!based!on!the! 
conclusions!of!this!study,!as!well!as!on!raw!materials!used!to!arrive!at!these!conclusions,!which!form! 
an!integral!part!of!the!study.! 
! 
(3)!The!authors!who!published!valid!papers!and!have!not!been!indulged!in!unethical!activities!should! 
withdraw!their!papers.!! 
! 
!(4)!Affiliated!institutions!of!DRUNPP!journals!editors"in"chiefs!should!consider!appropriate!measures! 
against!their!staff.!They!are!obviously!most!responsible!for!both!masterminding!technologies!of! 
manipulation!and!engineering!sociocognitive!framework!for!the!project!realization.!! 
! 
(5)!The!Committee!on!Publication!Ethics!(COPE)!as!an!international!organization!protecting!public! 
interest!in!this!field!should!examine!the!case!and!take!appropriate!recommendations.!! 
! 
In!order!to!assist!actions!suggested!above,!CEON/CEES!has!prepared!a!database!and!web!application! 
containing!critical!data!gathered!within!this!study,!including!proofs!for!all!citations!suspected!of! 
illegitimacy!and!all!papers!suspected!of!plagiarism.!The!application!is!available!at! 
http://data%2Dscindeks.ceon.rs/.!Relevant!institutions!are!provided!with!login!credentials!to!access! 
the!application!and!check!integrity!of!the!data,!as!well!as!the!validity!of!analytical!assessments! 
made,!in!order!to!make!sure!that!the!conclusions!of!this!study!are!warranted.!It!was!assumed!that! 
this!was!a!necessary!and!sufficient!condition!for!their!final!decisions!about!possible!interventions.! 
! 
This!study!was!not!supported!by!any!organization!and!has!no!clashes!of!interest.!