MAHansonSep 21, 2023

Wow. Ok. Normally I feel like it's a bit overplayed to individually comment on #MDPI in the whole #AcademicChatter conversation, but this is really a must-see:

A Special Issue where the guest editors are lead or senior author on 27 of the 28 papers it published. Were they also their own reviewers!? Like... that sounds like I'm taking the piss, but... no seriously were they?
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/Biologics_Botanicals

I guess this is a preview to an upcoming post. Look forward to it...

Processes

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Show threadMAHansonSep 21, 2023

@Samuelmoore @petersuber @deevybee @brembs

It's old hat to talk about MDPI being this or that... but this is really a whole other level. I'm amazed. Hats off Jochen Strube and Axel Schmidt. True visionaries.

Show threadAlbert CardonaSep 21, 2023

@MarkHanson @Samuelmoore @petersuber @deevybee @brembs

Is the target audience of these papers the administrators that do the bean counting and haven't yet learned what Goodhart's law is about? Because clearly it isn't scientists.

Show threadBjörn Brembs

@albertcardona @MarkHanson @Samuelmoore @petersuber @deevybee

Probably the right guess.
This looks like blatant abuse to me. There have been similar abuses of entire journals (not just special issues) at various publishers over the decades. Off the top of my head: El Naschie
http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2008/11/chaos-solitons-and-self-promotion.html
There are many more.

Chaos, Solitons and Self-Promotion

Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science

Sep 22, 2023 at 8:55amWeb