home Ellis Library, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Protect Yourself and Your Research from Predatory Journal Publishers

Protect Yourself and Your Research from Predatory Journal Publishers

Predatory publishing doesn’t just take advantage of authors by misrepresenting review, editorial, and fee structures. It also hinders access to the work itself, hurting the overall enterprise of research. The epidemic of predatory journals reached serious enough heights in 2016 that the Federal Trade Commission charged OMICS, one such publisher of hundreds of predatory journals, for its deceptive practices.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” says Janice Dysart, Science Librarian and creator of the Where to Publish Your Research guide. “Be wary of these email solicitations from publishers trying to get you to submit articles to their journals.” She recommends using the Think Check Submit checklist to determine whether a publisher is legitimate.

Anyone can fall victim to predatory journal publishers. Jung Ha-Brookshire, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Human Environmental Sciences, and Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Textile and Apparel Management, relates her experience after a graduate student recommended a journal a few years ago. She says, “I didn’t think twice about it. We submitted our paper and got accepted without any revisions. Then they were asking us to send money somewhere in Pakistan.” She still didn’t realize what was happening because she hadn’t even heard of “predatory journals.”

That all changed about a year later when she learned of a list of predatory journals from her colleagues. “We found out that our journal was on that list,” she says. They tried to withdraw their work from the publication but couldn’t. Because the journal wasn’t legitimate, the article could only be found via the specific URL and not by searching, so they pulled the publication information from their CVs. Jung says, “We had to take that manuscript as a loss because we couldn’t even take that paper to other publishers since, technically, it is already published.”

After that experience, Jung now checks with her subject librarian, Noël Kopriva, every time she encounters a journal she hasn’t heard of, “no matter how good the website looks.” Jung advises, “Be careful with choosing the right journals. Do not get fooled by address, location, a beautiful website, and a wonderful set of editorial board names. Check with your librarian first when in doubt!”

For more information on how to spot predatory journal publishers, see our Where to Publish Your Research guide or contact your subject librarian

Originally published in 2018 by Jen Gravley, Research and Instruction Librarian

home Resources and Services Recent Webinar Recordings

Recent Webinar Recordings

Looking for open access resources? Don’t know how to start your research? Need help navigating the libraries or learning how to use a new technology? Check out our webinar recordings, available on our MU Libraries YouTube channel. 

See some of our most recent ones below:

 

home Resources and Services 24/7 Pickup Lockers Now Available

24/7 Pickup Lockers Now Available

The MU Libraries are pleased to announce that contactless pickup lockers are now available at two locations on campus.

Users can choose Ellis Locker or Lottes Locker as their pickup location when requesting MU Libraries materials. Once the item is ready, users will receive an access code to pick up their items.

Patrons who select the pickup locker location will receive an email saying they have three days to pick up their library materials. At this time, only regular library items will be included in the pickup lockers; no equipment, reserve materials or ILL materials.

The Ellis Library locker is located inside the vestibule of the west entrance, which is near Speaker’s Circle. The Lottes Health Sciences Library locker is located in the Medical Science Building, just across the courtyard from the Medical Annex.

Questions? Contact mulibrarycircdesk@missouri.edu.

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Gateway Carousel HSL, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Overview of Recent University of Missouri Publications in Medicine and Related Fields: September 2021

Overview of Recent University of Missouri Publications in Medicine and Related Fields: September 2021

Each month we provide an overview of University of Missouri School of Medicine faculty-authored articles in medicine and related fields as well as a featured article with the highest journal impact factor.

This month’s featured article, “Fusion Peptide of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Rearranges into a Wedge Inserted in Bilayered Micelles”, was co-authored by Dr. Steven Van Doren of the Department of Biochemistry. The article was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society (impact factor of 15.419 in 2020).

Note that Dr. James Stevermer of the Department of Family & Community Medicine had another USPSTF guideline published in JAMA: Screening for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

See the list of publications in medicine and related fields we retrieved for this month: https://library.muhealth.org/code/facultypubmonthly/faculty_publications.php?Month=September&Year=2021

*This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Did we miss something? Email asklibrary@health.missouri.edu and we will add your publication to the list.

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services MEDLINE Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary!

MEDLINE Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary!

October 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of MEDLINE!

MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM’s) premier bibliographic database that contains more than 28 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine.

Much has changed since MEDLINE was created in 1971. Here are some notable milestones:

  • 1960: Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was introduced as a controlled vocabulary for indexing, cataloging, and searching biomedical information
  • 1971: MEDLINE is launched
  • 1997: PubMed is launched, allowing internet access to MEDLINE data
  • 2002: NLM Medical Text Indexer (MTI) was introduced to help automate indexing for biomedical literature
  • 2021: New MEDLINE website launches (see New MEDLINE Website and Policy Updates)

Let’s take a look at MEDLINE by the numbers. In Fiscal Year 2021 (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021):

  • 5,281 journal titles
  • 1,291,807 citations indexed
  • 28,480,393 total citations
  • 3.3 billion PubMed searches

 

TAGS:

Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Resources and Services Mizzou Must-Reads for National Book Month

Mizzou Must-Reads for National Book Month

Did you know that October is National Book Month?

For its 175th anniversary, Mizzou issued a poster asking its professors to recommend their favorite books. Each book is organized by categories, which include autobiographies and memoirs, fiction, history and biographies, nonfiction, philosophy and spirituality, plays, poetry, science, and social sciences. Out of the 175 recommendations, there is a book for every reader. Take a look and see if any standout to you or you can count to see how many you have already read!

Visit the poster here: https://hdl.handle.net/10355/66451

Read more information on these books: https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/mustreads

[Article written by Digital Services student employee Danielle Gorman]
home Government Information, Resources and Services Research Alert: A potential Federal shutdown could darken agency websites. Prepare now.

Research Alert: A potential Federal shutdown could darken agency websites. Prepare now.

If you are currently conducting research using federal government websites, the MU Libraries urge you to work ahead and collect any needed information before midnight on September 30. Some faculty and students with deadlines for publications and other projects were significantly inconvenienced during the 2013 and 2019 shutdowns because many government agency websites went offline for a significant period of time. We encourage you to prepare for this loss of access to information that is pertinent to your research. For more information or assistance, contact Marie Concannon, head of Government Information and Data Archives.

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Exercise Your Body and Mind at the Health Sciences Library

Exercise Your Body and Mind at the Health Sciences Library

Get your blood flowing to get your brain working with the bike desks at the Health Sciences Library.

The Health Sciences Library bike desks, previously located in the copy room, have been moved closer to the windows overlooking Stankowski Field. Now you can study and work with a view.

Many studies have shown that the use of bike desks results in increased energy and motivation as well as students feeling more successful in studying. While bike desks aren’t a replacement for exercise, they do make studying more active.

 

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, Resources and Services Asked to Pay for an Article? Request Articles for Free

Asked to Pay for an Article? Request Articles for Free

If you search for an article and hit a paywall, or simply can’t find what you are looking for, request a copy through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

There are two ways you can request items from ILL:

  • When searching for articles in databases, you can request a copy throughFindit@MU
  • Fill out the blank interlibrary loan form if you already know what item you are looking for

There is no charge for MU faculty, staff and students.

Click here for more information about our Interlibrary Loan service.

If you need journal articles, book chapters, proceedings, technical reports, government documents, and any part of other printed publications found in the university libraries, you can use our scan and deliver service to get a scanned copy of the material you need. This includes items in any library building, and our off-site depository

TAGS:

Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Resources and Services Sorry for the Noise: We Are Working on Improvements to Ellis Library

Sorry for the Noise: We Are Working on Improvements to Ellis Library

The following construction projects are happening in and around Ellis Library this semester. We apologize for any noise or other inconvenience that occur while we work on some much-needed improvements to the library and campus. Please contact Shannon Cary at carysn@missouri.edu if you have any questions.

  • University Archives is moving from Lewis Hall to the 4th floor of Ellis Library.
  • The Ellis Library auditorium is being renovated.
  • The Ellis Library telepresence room will be updated in mid-October..
  • Windows and masonry are being repaired or replaced at Ellis Library and Memorial Union.
  • Hitt street utility system repairs are in progress.