“Blacklists” and “whitelists”: a salutary warning concerning the prevalence of racist language in discussions of predatory publishing

Authors

  • Frank Houghton Director, HEALR Research Group, Limerick Institute of Technology, Limerick http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7599-5255
  • Sharon Houghton Psychology Department, University of Limerick, Limerick

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2018.490

Keywords:

Racism, Predatory Publishing

Abstract

This commentary addresses the widespread use of racist language in discussions concerning predatory publishing. Examples include terminology such as blacklists, whitelists, and black sheep. The use of such terms does not merely reflect a racist culture, but also serves to legitimize and perpetuate it.

Author Biography

Frank Houghton, Director, HEALR Research Group, Limerick Institute of Technology, Limerick

Dr Frank Houghton is Director of the HEALR Research Group at Limerick Institute of Technology. He is a Public Health Geographer with research interests in information access and publishing. He was formerly Chair of the Department of Public Health & Health Administration at Eastern Washington University in Spokane, WA.

 

Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Public Health & Health Administration

References

The Root Staff. Maya Angelou’s words that spoke to all our lives [Internet]. The Root [cited 18 May 2018]. <https://www.theroot.com/maya-angelou-s-words-that-spoke-to-all-our-lives-1790875890>.

Butler D. Investigating journals: the dark side of publishing. Nature. 2013 Mar;495(7442):433–5.

Bell K. ‘Predatory’ open access journals as parody: exposing the limitations of ‘legitimate’ academic publishing. Triple C: Commun Capital Crit. 2017 Jul;15(2):651–62.

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. “Fake,” “predatory,” and “pseudo” journals: charlatans threatening trust in science [Internet]. The Committee; 2017 [cited 16 Jul 2018]. <http://www.icmje.org/news-and-editorials/fake_predatory_pseudo_journals_dec17.html>.

Danevska L, Spiroski M, Donev D, Pop-Jordanova N, Polenakovic M. How to recognize and avoid potential, possible, or probable predatory open-access publishers, standalone, and hijacked journals. Pril (Makedon Akad Nauk Umet Odd Med Nauki). 2016 Nov 1;37(2–3):5-13.

Hansoti B, Langdorf MI, Murphy LS. Discriminating between legitimate and predatory open access journals: report from the International Federation for Emergency Medicine Research Committee. West J Emerg Med. 2016 Sep;17(5):497–-507.

Laine C, Winker MA. Identifying predatory or pseudo-journals. Biochem Med (Zagreb). 2017 Jun 15;27(2):285–91.

Quek HC, Teo EK. Predatory publishing; pressures, promotions and perils. Proc Singapore Healthc. 2018;27(1):3–5.

Harvey HB, Weinstein DF. Predatory publishing: an emerging threat to the medical literature. Acad Med. 2017 Feb;92(2):150–1.

Sorokowska P, Kulczycki E, Sorokowska A, Pisanski K. Predatory journals recruit fake editor. Nature. 2017 Mar 22;543(7646):481–3.

Bohannon J. Who’s afraid of peer review? Science. 2013 Oct 4;342(6154):60–5.

Al-Khatib A, Teixeira da Silva JA. Stings, hoaxes and irony breach the trust inherent in scientific publishing. Publ Res Q. 2016 Sep;32(3):208–19.

Sidaway JD. Scholarly publishing landscapes: a geographical perspective. Area. 2016 Mar;48(3):389–92.

Nelson N, Huffman J. Predatory journals in library databases: how much should we worry? Serials Libr. 2015 Oct;69(2):169–92.

Houghton F. Ethics in academic publishing: a timely reminder. J Med Libr Assoc. 2017 Jul;105(3):282–4. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.122.

Das S, Chatterjee SS. Cabell’s blacklist: a new way to tackle predatory journals. Indian J Psychol Med. 2018 Mar–Apr;40(2):197–8.

Misra DP, Ravindran V, Wakhlu A, Sharma A, Agarwal V, Negi VS. Publishing in black and white: the relevance of listing of scientific journals. Rheumatol Int. 2017 Nov;37(11):1773–8. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00296-017-3830-2.

Xia J, Harmon JL, Connolly KG, Donnelly RM, Anderson MR, Howard HA. Who publishes in “predatory” journals? J Assoc Inf Sci Technol. 2015 Jul;66(7):1406–17.

Power H. Predatory publishing: how to safely navigate the waters of open access. Can J Nurs Res. 2018 Mar;50(1):3–8.

Beall J. What I learned from predatory publishers. Biochem Med (Zagreb). 2017 Jun 15;27(2):273–8.

Berger M. Everything you ever wanted to know about predatory publishing but were afraid to ask. Presented at: ACRL 2017; Baltimore, MD; 22–25 Mar 2017.

Vence T. On blacklists and whitelists. The Scientist. 17 Jul 2017.

Silver A. Pay-to-view blacklist of predatory journals set to launch. Nature. 31 May 2017. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature.2017.22090.

Couture M. Steering clear of predatory open access journals: beyond Beall’s list [Internet]. Univ Affairs. Jan 25 2017. <https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/steering-clear-predatory-open-access-journals-beyond-bealls-list/>.

Elmes J. Beall: ‘social justice warrior’ librarians ‘betraying’ academy. Times Higher Educ. 2017 Aug 10(supp) [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/beall-social-justice-warrior-librarians-betraying-academy>.

Baskin P. Why Beall’s list died — and what it left unresolved about open access [Internet]. Chron Higher Educ. 2017 Sep 12 [cited 13 Jul 2018]. <https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Beall-s-List-Died-/241171>. (Subscription required.)

Smith KL. Examining publishing practices: moving beyond the idea of predatory open access. Insights. 2017;30(3):4–10.

Plumwood V. Feminism and the mastery of nature. New York, NY: Routledge; 1993.

Plumwood V. Environmental culture: the ecological crisis of reason. New York, NY: Routledge; 2002.

Latour B. We have never been modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993.

Stuckey P. Being known by a birch tree: animist refigurings of Western epistemology. J Study Relig Nat Cult. 2010;4(3):182–205.

Harper D, historian. Blacklist. Online Etymology Dictionary. (Available from: Dictionary.com. <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/blacklist>. [cited 30 Apr 2018].)

Eysenbach G. Black sheep among open access journals and publishers. Gunther Eysenbach Random Research Rants Blog. (Available from: Archived by WebCite® at <http://www.webcitation.org/5YIqQBhDO>. [cited 3 Jun 2008].)

Schmitz J. Predatory publishing is the “black sheep” of open access journals [Internet]. PUBLISSO [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://www.publisso.de/en/advice/publishing-advice-faqs/predatory-publishing/>.

Anderson R. Cabell’s new predatory journal blacklist: a review. Scholarly Kitchen [Internet]. [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/07/25/cabells-new-predatory-journal-blacklist-review/>.

Merriam-Webster. Black sheep [Internet]. Merriam-Webster [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20sheep>.

Cambridge Dictionary. Black sheep [Internet]. Cambridge Dictionary [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://www.google.com/amp/s/dictionary.cambridge.org/amp/english/black-sheep>.

Urban Dictionary. Black sheep [Internet]. Urban Dictionary [cited 4 May 2018]. <https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=black%20sheep&amp=true>.

Davis O. The English language is my enemy. In: Postman N, Weingartner C, Moran TP, eds. Language in America. New York, NY: Western Publishing; 1969. p. 74.

Burgest DR. Racism in everyday speech and social work jargon. Social Work. 1973;18(4):20–5.

Burgest DR. The racist use of the English language. Black Scholar. 1973;5(1):37–45.

Palmore EB. Ethnophaulisms and ethnocentrism. Am J Sociol. 1962;67(4):442–5.

Schulz MR. Is the English language anybody’s enemy? Public ETC Rev Gen Semant. 1975;32(2):151–3.

Pérez Huber L. Make America great again: Donald Trump, racist nativism and the virulent adherence to white supremacy amid U.S. demographic change. Charleston L Rev. 2016;215:215–44.

Schaffner BF, Macwilliams M, Nteta T. Understanding white polarization in the 2016 vote for president: the sobering role of racism and sexism. Polit Sci Q. 2018 Spring;133:9–34.

Kellner D. American nightmare: Donald Trump, media spectacle, and authoritarian populism. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers; 2016.

Houghton F. Learning from the ‘Muslim ban’: implications of the Trump presidency for international public health. N Z Med J. 2017 Mar 3;130(1451):75–7.

Harris J, Davidson C, Fletcher B, Harris P. Trump and American fascism. Int Crit Thought. 2017;7(4):476–92.

Smiley CJ, Fakunle D. From “brute” to “thug:” the demonization and criminalization of unarmed Black male victims in America. J Hum Behav Soc Environ. 2016;26(3–4):350–66.

Berger M, Cirasella J. Beyond Beall’s list: better understanding predatory publishers. Coll Res Libr News. 2015;76(3):132–5.

Jemisin NK. Goodreads: quotes [Internet]. [cited 18 May 2018]. <https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1093349-if-the-first-words-out-of-your-mouth-are-to>.

Downloads

Published

2018-10-04

Issue

Section

Commentary