[BOAI] Re: BOAI Fwd: [SCHOLCOMM] Backlash against my blog

[David Prosser]

Last week I disagreed with Jeffrey on the importance of 'predatory' publishers in the wider scholarly communications landscape.  Such disagreements are naturally part of the ebb and flow of academic discourse.  What is not part of this ebb and flow is the outrageous and despicable attempt to smear Jeffrey and his work.  I have no idea if what has been done is criminal - but it should be.

Reputable businesses work with their critics to address concerns - and a number of publishers who found themselves on Jeffrey's list have done just that.  Disreputable business try to silence their critics.  Our sector is not immune from this - one recalls the attempts of Gordon & Breach to drag Professor Barschall through the courts of a number of countries to shut down his price comparisons - but this is surely a new and depressing low.

David
 

> 
> 
> On 18-Dec-12, at 9:48 AM, Peter Suber wrote:
> 
>> [Forwarding from Jeffrey Beall, via the ScholComm list.  --Peter
>> Suber.]
>> 
>> 
>> Colleagues,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I am the author of Scholarly Open Access, a blog that includes lists
>> of questionable scholarly publishers and questionable independent
>> journals.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I'm writing to let people that I've been the victim of an ongoing,
>> organized attempt to discredit me and my blog.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Specifically, I've been a victim of email spoofing, in which someone
>> is sending emails that appear to be from me but really are not.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> One of the spoofed emails is an offer to "reevaluate" a publisher's
>> presence on my list for five thousand dollars. These emails try to
>> make it look like I am extorting money from publishers.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Also, someone is going around setting up new blogs that reprint the
>> spoofed email or that include contrived quotes from scholars. An
>> example is here.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Additionally, someone is leaving negative comments about me and my
>> work on various OA-related blogs and websites, writing in the names
>> of people prominent in the OA movement. One place this occurred was
>> in the comments section of my October Nature piece. The publisher
>> has removed these spurious statements and closed further comments.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I'm going to continue my work identifying questionable and predatory
>> publishers as best I can. Because many of the publishers on my list
>> are true criminals, it's no surprise that they would respond in a
>> criminal way.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I realize my blog is not perfect; I've made mistakes and have tried
>> to learn from them. Many of you have given me valuable advice, and I
>> have tried to implement the good advice as best I could. I have not
>> engaged in any of the activities that they are trying to frame me
>> with.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks for your understanding.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Jeffrey
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Jeffrey Beall, MA, MSLS, Associate Professor
>> 
>> Scholarly Initiatives Librarian
>> Auraria Library
>> University of Colorado Denver
>> 1100 Lawrence St.
>> Denver, Colo.  80204 USA
>> (303) 556-5936
>> jeffrey.beall at ucdenver.edu
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> <image001.jpg>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
>