
Medical Ethics: Why obscure Indian journal has impressive international stature - ozdave
https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/09/ijme-journal/
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denzil_correa
> And, importantly for an ethics journal, the IJME seems to be operating
> pretty ethically. It doesn’t charge authors a fee to publish, and its
> articles are available online to everyone for free (the print edition
> carries a modest annual subscription fee). It doesn’t accept advertising
> from drug companies or medical device manufacturers, Jesani said.

In the world of paying for _open access_ to publicly funded research, this
journal offers a refreshing working model.

~~~
JadeNB
> And, importantly for an ethics journal, the IJME seems to be operating
> pretty ethically. It doesn’t charge authors a fee to publish, and its
> articles are available online to everyone for free (the print edition
> carries a modest annual subscription fee).

I don't like paying for publication or for access, but I've always accepted,
perhaps naïvely, that something like the former is literally the price of
avoiding the latter, and never regarded it as unethical. How does the journal
support itself? (At a quick skim, the article didn't seem to say.)

~~~
denzil_correa
> I've always accepted, perhaps naïvely, that something like the former is
> literally the price of avoiding the latter, and never regarded it as
> unethical.

The problem is not that you pay but HOW much you pay. An Open Access in ACM
would cost $1700 for a journal and $900 for a conference article [0]. That
cost is ridiculous to host online PDFs.

[0] [http://authors.acm.org/main.html](http://authors.acm.org/main.html)

~~~
JadeNB
> That cost is ridiculous to host online PDFs.

Agreed, but: without defending the pricing practices of journals (I don't know
much about it, but assume that there's just as much predatory pricing in OA
as, if not more than, in traditional journals), if that's all you want, then
you can post your PDF on the arXiv for free. The journal purports to add some
value—at the very least, it adds the prestige of being published in that
journal, which I imagine for many of us is literally the only advantage over
the arXiv.

~~~
denzil_correa
> The journal purports to add some value—at the very least, it adds the
> prestige of being published in that journal, which I imagine for many of us
> is literally the only advantage over the arXiv.

The journal in itself does not ANY value. The people who peer review the
articles in journal do it at no cost. The articles are completely written by
authors. The ONLY value that the journal adds is by hosting online PDFs.

~~~
gradstudent
> The journal in itself does not ANY value. The people who peer review the
> articles in journal do it at no cost. The articles are completely written by
> authors. The ONLY value that the journal adds is by hosting online PDFs.

I suppose if you are not a practicing scientist the difference between a PDF
hosted by a journal and a PDF on arXiv can seem irrelevant. It is not.

Good journals have an effective peer review process that requires editors who
will curate articles, match them with expert reviewers and subsequently
provide their own meta review on the paper and the process. All of this is a
valuable contribution that goes way beyond simply hosting a PDF. Even good
work is genuinely improved by going through this process.

~~~
denzil_correa
> I suppose if you are not a practicing scientist

I am. I'm reviewing 2 papers this moment.

> Good journals have an effective peer review process that requires editors
> who will curate articles, match them with expert reviewers and subsequently
> provide their own meta review on the paper and the process. All of this is a
> valuable contribution that goes way beyond simply hosting a PDF. Even good
> work is genuinely improved by going through this process.

How much are these editors paid? They are paid ad honorarium. I know editors
who are paid a grand sum of 500$ a year. You are significantly over estimating
the costs.

~~~
gradstudent
> You are significantly over estimating the costs.

I wasn't talking about costs. I was talking about the value of the review and
editorial process which is organised around journal publication. There is no
equivalent for arXiv.

Journals add value and a PDF hosting service is not an equivalent substitute.

~~~
denzil_correa
> Journals add value and a PDF hosting service is not an equivalent
> substitute.

This value added do not justify the costs.

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arjie
Neat. My dad was the Editor of this journal until a couple of years ago and
I've worked with the people who work on it.

