Re: [tlug] Journals, Authors and 'Free Peer Review'

[Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>]

On 25/09/18 20:53, Benjamin Kowarsch wrote:
> On 25 September 2018 at 21:34, Raymond Wan 
> <rwan.kyoto@example.com <mailto:rwan.kyoto@example.com>> wrote:
>     The points I raised weren't actually by me but by an ACM
>     society that was conducting a survey last year that was
>     asking for opinions from their members.  That's when I
>     realized this whole issue of preprint servers is by no
>     means
>     "solved".
> At ACM, using ArXiv.org is not an issue. In fact there are 
> several ACM virtual journals
> now that are overlays, their articles are links to 
> ArXiv.org. ACM has embraced this trend.


The survey I refer to was just sent out last year (if I 
remember correctly...it could have been this year).  The 
fact that they are soliciting opinions seems to me that it 
hasn't yet been decided yet.

They aren't easy questions to answer and one shouldn't be 
too quick to make a decision.  And maybe if it isn't the 
decision that some people would like, it might be in 5 or 10 
years time...


> It is the Pearsons and brethren who may take an issue 
> because to them it is not about
> eminating scientific knowledge, for them it is only about 
> making money and they may
> well perceive open sourcing scientific articles as a thread 
> to their business model.


There are many publishing companies out there and those that 
we know of in CS aren't the only ones.  i.e., ACM, Pearsons, 
etc.  Some *are* actually looked at positively by the 
community which they work with.  I think it would be a 
mistake to have this opinion based on the engineering 
discipline and try to apply to everyone else.


> I seriously recommend you read that artcile by K.Apt ;-)


As for this, you should also re-consider what I said before. 
 It isn't like I disagree with you, but this is the 
environment which I and perhaps others in my discipline work 
within.  If you're low on the food chain and make a stand 
and say "No, I'm publishing with ArXiv", then guess what? 
There will be another who is happy to play by their rules 
who is more than happy to take my place.

But for the reasons I outlined earlier, I'm not [yet] in 
favour of ArXiv.  I think there are things that still need 
to be worked out.

Ray