Editorial rejection: “you are not citing articles of Statistical Papers”

The journal Statistical Papers, with editorial social psychology research topic workplace at the University of Dortmund rejects all manuscript submissions in the event that writers usually do not cite documents out of this Springer-published log. The editors claim it’s maybe maybe not about effect element rigging.

Every once in awhile, researchers publishing their work with book encounter a request from editors to cite some random earlier in the day papers from exact same log. Why? One explanation: the impact is raised by it element. In reality, for several journals it’s perhaps the rule that is unofficial such journal-self-citations are anticipated, or your paper should be refused. Some researchers abide ahead of time, to help make editors delighted. Many other people have a problem with the style that they find unethical. The German editor for the Springer log Statistical Papers will show you for your requirements right here why here is the scientifically proper and completely objective way to run a log.

A discussion grew up on Twitter recently, for the duration of which neither the log maybe perhaps perhaps not the editor had been known as.

Mark Hayter, teacher of medical at University of Hull in British and a log editor himself, tweeted:

“A PhD student of mine had a paper accepted – one condition of acceptance ended up being that she reviews her recommendations and includes any appropriate present documents through the journal that is accepting”

Then he included the log was “Not predatory. Distinguished journal, person in COPE and from a sizable,international publishing house” as well as specified that “They asked her to examine her recommendations and can include ‘recent, relevant’ documents through the accepting Journal. No papers that are specific suggested“. Ended up, Hayter had not been alone with that experience:

A reviewer ( maybe maybe not editor) when told us to add citations from that journal within my revision. a high log too. Very strange. I acquired when you look at the practice of including a few journal cites to wherever I’m submitting and very nearly forget to take into account the ethics. This will be waking me up.

More anecdotes arrived, like that one through the certain part of medication:

Certainly, ways to falsely inflate impact facets.

There clearly was another cardiology that is international historically that insisted you cite their ethics declaration (posted as a paper).

It had been cited a great deal, their impact relocated from circa 2 to over 6 in 3 years. #gaming #unethical

All the replies had been critical, similar to this advice through the Hindawi research integrity manager Matt Hodgkinson:

For many we all know, the writers could have valued the Twitter outrage after which just did exactly exactly just what the editor said and quoted some random documents from the log. Why making enemies, rather than making papers? Some boffins showed also understanding when it comes to policy:

We have blended feelings concerning this. One argument is the fact that you are targeting a community of scholars if you choose a particular journal. It really is rational to test whatever they have previously stated regarding your subject therefore the rational destination to begin may be the log you’ve chosen.

Now Professor Stephen John Senn of Luxembourg Institute of wellness is really a statistician, he’ll certainly concur that the policy that is following of log Statistical Papers is okay since it is. After all, when your work is written in the type of a paper which is about data, you sure must cite something using this journal that is particularly significant exactly just what with all the name, “Statistical Papers“, right?

It was the e-mail a reader forwarded if you ask me, a recently gotten respond to his refused manuscript distribution:

Dear …., your paper has many merits. Nevertheless, offered the enormous quantity of submissions we have been getting recently we now have chose to concentrate on documents that are regarding past work posted within our log. And also this will not appear to be the full situation along with your paper as you aren’t citing articles of Statistical Papers. Furthermore, the reference list just isn’t of great quality: often all pages and posts associated with the log articles are missing.Thank you for providing us the chance to consider carefully your work.Yours sincerelyChristine H. MьllerEditor-in-Chief, Statistical Papers

The EiC was contacted by me Christine Mьller, teacher of statistics in engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund (TU Dortmund) in Germany. She responded, confirming the e-mail authenticity:

“Due towards the amount that is high of, we need to set strict requirements, and two of these will be the quality of this paper additionally the relationship to many other documents of y our log. In the event that quality is okay and only Statistical Papers just isn’t cited then we frequently request a resubmission. Nonetheless, here the standard, suggested by the guide list, appears to be debateable.”

I happened to be unconvinced this training had nothing in connection with the Journal effect Factor (presently at 1.345 for analytical documents) and in addition puzzled the way the editors could judge a manuscript entirely based on its reference formatting (“page numbers missing”). Mьller then clarified:

“we want to make sure submissions fit to your log and an indicator that is good frequently just how well it’s linked to past work with our journal. Note as you may see from checking our published articles (the self-citation rate of SP is not higher than that of comparable journals and you may be aware that anyway only cites of within 3 years affect the IF) that we generally do not judge that solely by whether another SP-paper is cited or not. Needless to say the grade of a paper just isn’t judged because of the guide formatting. Nevertheless, we’ve the knowledge that a sloppy guide list is an indication of a sloppy written paper. We genuinely believe that editors of other journals may have the exact same experience and can make comparable conclusions. Ergo the remark regarding the guide area ended up being meant as service to your writer.”

That e-mail had been finalized by Christine Mьller together with other two editors that are chief Carsten Jentsch, professor of data in economics at exact exact exact same TU Dortmund, and Werner Mьller, teacher at Institute for Applied Statistics at University of Linz, Austria.

The journal’s writers seem to comply with these unofficial editorial guidelines. We looked over the very first 3 recently posted studies in Statistical Papers (all incidentally from Asia), one recommendations 4 documents here, another recommendations 2, 3rd sources 1 paper in exact exact same log. It is the range of Statistical Papers really that slim? It’s this that the log internet site states in this respect:

“Statistical Papers provides a forum when it comes to presentation and critical evaluation of analytical techniques. In specific, the log encourages the conversation of methodological fundamentals along with possible applications.

This log stresses analytical techniques which have broad applications; but, it can offer special awareness of analytical practices which can be highly relevant to the commercial and social sciences. Along with research that is original, visitors will discover study articles, quick notes, reports on analytical pc pc software, problem part, and book reviews”

Nowhere it really is mentioned that the submissions must cite some random papers that are past exact exact same log to match the range. The assigned publisher professional from Springer decided never to answer my e-mails, and just why as long as they. The editors do their finest to boost the journal’s citation index.

But also for argument’s sake, if Statistical Papers is a unique separate industry research, undoubtedly the Editor-in-Chief are going to be expert when it comes to certain technology section of “Statistical Papers”? Unfortuitously, she actually is certainly not. an extended variety of magazines is published by Christine Mьller on the TU Dortmund site, from 1984 till now, presumably her whole research production, since perhaps not otherwise specified. Yet just two of Mьller’s analytical documents showed up inside her log Statistical Papers, that will be posted since 1960 (until 1995, even yet in German). Her namesake editor colleague Werner Mьller comes with just two documents in this journal to demonstrate, while Jentsch will not record a publication that is single Statistical Papers on their web site.

Essentially, they’re industry outsiders associated with the obscure niche control technology of Statistical Papers, having barely (or perhaps not at all) published here on their own. Or even their very own journal’s impact factor is simply too low and requires boosting before Mьller, Mьller & Jentsch contemplate it as a location?

In the event that you had comparable experiences with editors imposing own-journal citation demands, please contemplate sharing these below when you look at the remark section.