Skip to content

Published on

October 22-28, 2012 is Open Access Week, which raises awareness of open access publishing opportunities. In addition to the high quality open access publishers, such as BioMed Central, Public Library of Science, mBio, SpringerOpen, Wiley Open Access, BMJ Open and others, there are many new open access publishers emerging that are on a mission to scam authors.

These “predatory” publishers solicit articles from faculty through spam emails with the goal of exploiting their desire to publish for the article processing fee. They create a seemingly legitimate online presence with webpages for bogus journals, complete with issues of previously published articles. Closer scrutiny reveals the articles to be plagiarized, completely fake or promoting unsound science that was not approved for more mainstream journals. Some advertise an Impact Factor on their website and in emails to prospective authors. They can also list editors for their journals who either did not agree to be an editor, or use fake names to populate the editorial board. They could also offer expedited peer review to get your article published quicker.

How do you avoid being tricked by these predatory publishers? Do some research on the publisher before agreeing to send a copy of your article, and definitely before sending one cent of an article processing fee.

  • Look at a few of their articles to ensure that they are scientifically above the board.
  • Check Ulrich’s Periodical Directory to see if the journal is indexed in MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus or other legitimate A&I services.
  • If the journal is only one or two years old, they are unlikely to have an Impact Factor as supplied by ISI Web of Knowledge. To be sure, you can look the journal or publisher up in ISI’s Journal Citation Reports.
  • Search for information on the chief editors of the journal through PubMed, MEDLINE or simply by Googling them. If they are legitimate scholars in your discipline, they will have previously published articles and some sort of legitimate online presence.
  • Visit Scholarly Open Access, a blog authored by University of Colorado-Denver Librarian Jeffrey Beall. Mr. Beall evaluates predatory publishers on his blog, and maintains an updated list of individual journals and publishers who use unscrupulous methods to take advantage of STM scholars.

If you are looking to publish your research with an open access publisher, but are unsure of the quality of a publisher you’re considering, please contact Steve Brown, Serials Librarian at swb105@gwu.edu or 202-994-9756 for assistance. Read more about open access publishing in our post from earlier this week, “Looking for high quality journals where you can publish your article or case report?”

Published on

Note: This session has been postponed and will be rescheduled!

Learn how to prevent injuries while exercising at this interactive talk offered as part of the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb initiative.

Physical Therapy faculty member Dr. Jennifer Halvaksz will talking and demonstrating techniques Thursday, October 25 at 5 p.m. to lead this session.  Please RSVP asap!

Published on

Open Access WeekOctober 22-28, 2012 is Open Access Week, which raises awareness of open access publishing opportunities. Open access publishers allow you, as the author, to retain copyright ownership over your article. For most traditional publishers, the author must sign away most or all copyright ownership to the publisher. Open access journals have peer review standards just like traditional journals, but differ in the way that they are financially supported. Traditional journals charge subscription fees for the right to read (over $30,000 per year in one case) and keep the copyright ownership for the articles. Open access journals charge an article processing fee to the author, which can be similar to the fees charged for color, extra pages, etc. by traditional publishers. With the author paying up front, the author retains copyright ownership and everyone is free to read the article as soon as it is published.

Himmelfarb Library has institutional memberships for the following open access publishers, which provide a discount of the article processing fees for our GW authors.

BioMed Central: 15% discount; 243 peer-reviewed journals in many medical, public health and nursing disciplines. To date, 185 articles by GW authors have been published in BioMed Central journals, including 25 in 2012 alone!

Public Library of Science: 10% discount; Seven peer-reviewed journals, including PLOS One, which publishes research in all areas of science and medicine. To date, 190 articles by GW authors have been published in Public Library of Science journals, including 49 in 2012!

BMJ Case Reports: FREE for GW authors to publish case reports. Two case reports by GW faculty have been published in this new resource.

BioMed Central and Public Library of Science journals, and BMJ Case Reports are discoverable through MEDLINE, PubMed and other indexing databases, just like traditional journals. If you have questions about submitting an article or case report to one of these three publishers, please contact Steve Brown, Serials Librarian at swb105@gwu.edu or 202-994-9756.

Many questionable open access publishers have sprouted up recently, so watch for our blog post later in the week that identifies some of these “predatory” publishers, to help you steer clear and stick to reputable ones.

Published on

Have you ever been confused with another researcher with a similar or identical name?  Have you ever had difficulty identifying a particular author?  A new initiative, ORCID may be able to help.

"ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-based effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers."  After a 30-second registration, "ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized."

Published on

Yoga is widely practiced for exercise and relaxation, but what's the evidence regarding its effect on health and/or disease?  We've pulled together some key articles on yoga's effectiveness as a therapy from Himmelfarb Library's collections:

Himmelfarb Library was pleased to welcome Professor Linda Lang to lead a session on yoga as part of the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb initiative.    Professor Lang will be back in Himmelfarb to lead another session on November 5th on Yoga Nidra.  You can RSVP for that session as well as Preventing Injuries While Exercising and a second Whole Foods Market Healthy Eating talk/cooking demo on the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb website.

Published on

Or rather, Whole Foods Market @ Foggy Bottom was cooking in Himmelfarb Library on Monday night.  Katie Albers, healthy eating specialist, was in the library talking about healthy eating on a budget and teaching SMHS, SPHHS, and SON students to make Creamy Avocado & Garbanzo Wraps and Pineapple Avocado Salsa.  Along with a demonstration and discussion of ideas for making fast, budget-friendly recipes, the group sampled Katie's creations.

Katie was here as part of the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb initiative.  She will be back for another session on November 13th on Quick and Easy Meals.  You can RSVP for that session as well as sessions on yoga, yoga nidra, and preventing injury on the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb website.

If you want to try the (delicious) recipes from Monday night, follow these recipes:

Creamy Avocado & Garbanzo Wrap
Makes  4 Wraps / $1.59 per serving

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans
1 avocado
1 can chipotle chilies, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
2 T red onion, chopped
1/4 c. feta cheese (optional)
2 c. shredded red cabbage
1/4 c. fresh cilantro
2 T. cider vinegar
Salt & pepper, to taste
4 whole wheat tortillas or wraps

In a small bowl, whisk cider vinegar, chipotle chilies, 1/2 of the lime juice, and salt and pepper.  Add carrot, cabbage, and cilantro to coat.  Mash garbanzo beans and avocado in a medium bowl with a fork and stir in  onion, feta cheese and remaining lime juice.  Spread bean mixture over the wraps, top with the cabbage mix, and roll!

Pineapple Avocado Salsa
Serves 4 / $1.65 per serving

Ingredients
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 avocado diced
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Serve immediately or cover and chill until ready to use.

Published on

BMJ's Best Practice is now available as an app for iPhone, iPads, and iPods.  Best Practice is an evidence-based resource providing disease and drug information. Best Practice allows you access to information summaries on symptoms, signs, and tests as well as diseases and conditions.

Information summaries on symptoms, signs, and tests include:

  • Highlights including summary and etiology information.
  • Emergencies section with information on urgent considerations.
  • Diagnosis section with a step-by-step approach, differential diagnosis list (sorted by either common/uncommon or cardiovascular/endocrine/etc.), and guidelines.

Information summaries on diseases and conditions include:

  • Highlights including summary and overview information.
  • Basics including definition, epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology and classification
  • Prevention including primary prevention, screening, and secondary prevention.
  • Diagnosis provides structured information including a step-by-step approach, history and exam, diagnostic tests, differential diagnosis list (sorted by either common/uncommon or cardiovascular/endocrine/etc.), criteria, guidelines, and a case history example.
  • Treatment provides a step-by-step approach, detailed information, emerging therapeutic options, and guidelines.
  • Follow up includes recommended monitoring and patient instructions, prognostic information, and possible complications.

Best Practice can be accessed online 24/7 from the Himmelfarb Library website, and its information can also be downloaded to iOS devices (iPhone, iPads, iPod).  To download the Best Practice app: access Best Practice then login or register for a personal account; download 'BMJ Best Practice' from the Apple iTunes Store; login to the app with your personal login/password to download topics and then download images.

Published on
USA News & World Report provides an interesting report take on popular diets by aggregating analysis by a panel of health experts with patient input regarding use and success of each diet.  Best Diets uses consistent criteria to evaluate and rank diets: "To be top-rated, a diet had to be relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, and effective for weight loss and against diabetes and heart disease."

This report includes 'best of' lists for best overall diets, best weight loss diets, best diabetes diets, best heart-healthy diets, etc.  For each diet reviewed, you can read a text overview of the diet as well as view a snapshot with scores showing short- and long-term weight-loss, ease, nutrition, safety, etc.  Additional information provided for each diet includes recipes, menus and nutritional information, reviews, and do's and don'ts.

This blog posting is part of Himmelfarb Library‘s Healthy Living initiative.

Published on
Take a break from research and studying and spend an hour with salsa, cumbia, and rumba. Join us on Thursday, October 11th as Melanie Gutmann from the GW Health and Wellness Center gets us moving to Latin rhythms.

We can all use a break to re-energize - so take some time off next Thursday and spend an hour moving to music while getting a good workout!  Space is limited so RSVP early; class will be held in Himmelfarb Library.
Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Visit GW’s Website Privacy Notice to learn more about how GW uses cookies.