<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/12/journal-editors-resign-to-protest-ai-use-high-fees-and-more/>
'Over the holiday weekend, all but one member of the editorial board of
Elsevier's
Journal of Human Evolution (JHE) resigned "with heartfelt sadness
and great regret," according to
Retraction Watch, which helpfully provided an
online PDF of the editors' full statement. It's the 20th mass resignation from
a science journal since 2023 over various points of contention, per
Retraction
Watch, many in response to controversial changes in the business models used
by the scientific publishing industry.
"This has been an exceptionally painful decision for each of us," the board
members wrote in their statement. "The editors who have stewarded the journal
over the past 38 years have invested immense time and energy in making
JHE
the leading journal in paleoanthropological research and have remained loyal
and committed to the journal and our authors long after their terms ended. The
[associate editors] have been equally loyal and committed. We all care deeply
about the journal, our discipline, and our academic community; however, we find
we can no longer work with Elsevier in good conscience."
The editorial board cited several changes made over the last ten years that it
believes are counter to the journal's longstanding editorial principles. These
included eliminating support for a copy editor and a special issues editor,
leaving it to the editorial board to handle those duties. When the board
expressed the need for a copy editor, Elsevier's response, they said, was "to
maintain that the editors should not be paying attention to language, grammar,
readability, consistency, or accuracy of proper nomenclature or formatting."
There is also a major restructuring of the editorial board underway that aims
to reduce the number of associate editors by more than half, which "will result
in fewer AEs handling far more papers, and on topics well outside their areas
of expertise."
Furthermore, there are plans to create a third-tier editorial board that
functions largely in a figurehead capacity, after Elsevier "unilaterally took
full control" of the board's structure in 2023 by requiring all associate
editors to renew their contracts annually—which the board believes undermines
its editorial independence and integrity.'
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
