A panel of scholars in Finland has downgraded 60 journals in their quality rating system after extensive review and feedback from researchers. The Finnish Publication Forum (JUFO) classifies and rates journals to support the quality assessment of academic research, using criteria such as transparency, editorial board expertise, and peer review standards. JUFO’s classification system ranges from 3 (supreme-level) to 1 (legitimate publication), with level 0 indicating exclusion from the ranking.
In February, JUFO sought negative experiences from the academic community to re-evaluate its ranking system. James Heathers and Veli-Matti Karhulahti gathered around 200 publication-related experiences and submitted them to JUFO.
Downgrade Details
- Journals Affected: 60 journals will be downgraded from level 1 to level 0 starting in 2025.
- Publishers Affected:
- MDPI: 21 journals
- Wiley: 3 journals
- Frontiers: 3 journals
MDPI’s Sustainability was previously downgraded to level 0 in 2023 due to concerns about its quality assurance procedures. At a recent meeting, JUFO discussed the possibility of downgrading all MDPI journals but did not take action.
Reactions and Responses
- Frontiers: Tom Ciavarella, head of public affairs for Frontiers North America, expressed confusion and disappointment over the decision, highlighting the journals' strong support in research communities.
- Wiley: A spokesperson emphasized Wiley's commitment to research integrity and quality, noting that the affected journals continue to serve their communities.
- Heathers and Karhulahti: Heathers highlighted issues with unreasonable demands on reviewers, poor review processes, and dismissive editors in some journals. They also submitted positive reports of good practices.
Community and Feedback
JUFO encourages ongoing feedback from the scientific community regarding publication quality. Karhulahti advocates for using researcher or community-produced indexes over publisher-generated metrics like Scopus indexing.
This decision reflects an ongoing effort to ensure the credibility and reliability of academic publications and underscores the importance of transparent and rigorous peer review processes in scholarly publishing.
More: https://retractionwatch.com/2024/06/28/finland-group-downgrades-60-journals/
