From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2016 11:49:19 -0600

And perhaps this is a good example of why authors might be concerned
about how their writing is translated--a right they do not have when
they use a CC BY license?

Sandy Thatcher


> From: "Pikas, Christina K." <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2016 01:30:21 +0000
>
> Seems like a lot of people are making hasty judgments based only on a
> word, most definitely an unfortunate choice, in the abstract and not
> on the science in the paper.
>
> A marine biologist whom I respect believes the article should not have
> been retracted:
>
> http://www.southernfriedscience.com/this-paper-should-not-have-been-retracted-handofgod-highlights-the-worst-aspects-of-science-twitter/
>
> "The authors responded to PLOS's decision and revealed that, far from
> an attempt to insert creationism into the scientific literature, their
> references to a Creator were simply the result of translating a
> Chinese idiom into English, and that, in a more literal sense, the
> idiom meant "nature as guided by natural processes like selection". In
> that light, I'm in 100% agreement with Dr24Hours: The "Creator" paper,
> Post-pub Peer Review, and Racism Among Scientists."
>
> It definitely is not a good basis to judge an entire publishing
> paradigm on. Further, PLoS One's JIF varies a lot from year to year
> which says more about the JIF than it does about mega journals in my
> opinion (for what that's worth!)
>
> Christina
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2016 15:31:34 +0000
>
> Does this situation reflect a problem with OA megajournals generally,
> or a problem with PLOS One in particular? And actually, does it
> reflect a serious problem with PLOS One, or does it represent an
> anomalous poor decision on the part of PLOS One? How does PLOS One's
> batting average with regard to problems like this stack up to the
> industry average?
>
> In order to accept this as evidence of either the inferiority of
> megajournals in general or of PLOS One itself, I would need much more
> data than the anecdote below.
>
> ---
> Rick Anderson
> Assoc. Dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication Marriott
> Library, University of Utah [log in to unmask]