[AISWorld] concerns regarding the 4rth World Summit on Knowledge Society

[Manfred Jeusfeld]

Dear Kathrin,

thanks for starting a discussion on this.


While I do not know all details, I find it unethical to guarantee authors
a (ISI) journal publication if they provide sufficient financial
support to some institution.

Papers in conferences and even definitely in journals should only be accepted
after a rigorous peer review process.

Kind greetings: Manfred


On 2011-09-12 14:21, Kathrin Gruger wrote:
> Dear AISWORLD members,
> 
> I would like to share with you my following experience which has raised my suspicious and
> concerns about the credibility and quality of academic journals as well as the
> professionalism and ethics of the organisation of the following conference.
> 
> Some weeks ago, I was informed in AISWORLD about the 4th World Summit on the Knowledge
> Society (WSKS) by an e-mail sent by Miltiadis Lytras. I submitted a paper on the 26th of
> August 2011 and I received an e-mail acceptance of my paper four days later (i.e. 31
> August 2011).  The e-mail confirmed that my paper was accepted for publication in the
> conference proceedings as well as in an academic journal provided that I pay the
> conference registration until a specific day. The e-mail did not provide any
> feedback/reviews for my paper and it also guaranteed that people that had  attended (and
> paid registration) for 2 WSKS conferences would have a publication published in an ISI
> journal that is sponsoring the conference.....! 
> 
> I was surprised myself that my paper was accepted even for the conference publication, as
> the paper was a very basic and descriptive one. The writting style of this e-mail urging
> me to pay the registration fee in order not to miss the publication opportunity prompted
> to ask further details about the journal in which the paper will be published as well as
> details about the conference (e.g. venue), as the conference website does not provide any
> information apart from the many special issues in sponsoring academic journals that have
> been secured for the conference. I never got any response to this e-mail, but a week later
> I was sent another e-mail urging me again to pay the registration fee, otherwise my paper
> will be deleted from the conference and the journal publication.
> 
> To my interpretation this practice means and shows that:
> 
> - one conference registration fee can provide one paper publication in an non ISI journal
> 
> - two conference registration fees can provide  a paper publication in an ISI journal
> 
> Even if robust review processes and quality standards are applied for creating these
> journal special issues (but for which I am not persuaded at all), how can someone exploit
> the special issues of respected journals for urging and tempting people to register at a
> conference? how ethical is this? and who controls such practices?
> 
> why should someone pay a registration fee of 600 euros for getting the following? (I copy
> paste below what is stated on the conference registration form that I was sent)
> 
> "This rate includes light lunch, coffee breaks, and Proceedings of SpringerCommunications
> in Computer and Information Science proceedings plus the costfor managing the journal
> version publication"
> 
> 600 euros for registration fee is too much for what is given by the conference
> 
>  who benefits from the conferences? why to pay a registration fee to a 'personal' and not
> an 'institutional or business' bank account as it is instructed in the registration form ?
> why to pay someone for managing the journal publication? the mentioned journals do not
> charge for a paper submission or review
> 
> are the journal editors aware and/or responsible of controling the above practices?
> 
> so, what  is this? is it a business plot to make money and/or a clever way to publish in
> academic journals?
> 
> I provide below the original e-mails that were exchanged and that I am referring above, so
> that anyone can derive his/her own conclusions and that I am not imposing my
> perception/interpretation.
> 
> The conference website is found at: http://wsks.org/
> 
> and some of the academic journals that are mentioned to be related to the conference  are:
> 
> -Information Systems Management,
> 
> -Computers in Human Behavior
> 
> -International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering
> 
> -Computer Applications in Engineering Education
> 
> -International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems
> 
>  
> Apologies for any disruption for raising this issue, but as I found this conference to be
> promoted through AISWORLD,  I thought that its members should be informed about my
> experience.
> 
> I am very happy to receive any feedback about the above issue
> 
> with kind regards
> 
> Kathrin 
> 
>  
> 
> On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 4:53 PM, WSKS 2011 <wsks2011 at easychair.org
> <mailto:wsks2011 at easychair.org>> wrote:
> 
> Dear Kathrin,
> this is to inform you that your paper:
> 
> ID: 87
> Knowledge management and web 2.0
> Kathrin Gruger
> 
> has been accepted for presentation in the 4th WORLD SUMMIT ON THE KNOWLEDGE
> SOCIETY and publication in the official proceedings. Additionaly there is a
> journal invitation for the extended version of your submission. (you have to
> take this opportunity by registering to the conference ASAP).
> 
> Please:
> 
> 1. Upload the latest till 5th of September a 6-10 pages version of your article
> and cc the source files to wsks2011 at gmail.com <mailto:wsks2011 at gmail.com>,
> miltiadis.lytras at gmail.com <mailto:miltiadis.lytras at gmail.com> with
> subject WSKS - ID paper number given by easychair
> 
> 2. Submit till 15th of October he extended version of your article, max 14pages
> for journal publication (upon registration and attendance to WSKS)
> 
> 3. You must register the latest till 5th of July. Each article need a
> registration
> 
> We are very happy since we arranged 8 ISI special issues for WSKS 2011. People
> that have at least attended 2 WSKS will have a paper in ISI journal and more
> other authors. It is a way to thank them for their support
> 
> 
> Thanks to you WSKS 2011 will be an excellent event.
> 
> Please in order to avoid managerial overload confirm your intention to
> register/attend to conference
> 
> Last but not least if you wish the extended version of your paper to be
> published on the 3(1) 2011 volume of IJKSR, http://www.igi-global.com/ijksr
> just contact me ASAP.
> 
> http://www.igi-global.com/ijksr
> 
> Once again thank you for your support.
> 
> Yassas myfriends
> Miltiadis
> Attachments: regform-wsks2011.docx
> 
>   
> 
> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 12:04 PM, Kathrin Gruger <kgruger at gmail.com>wrote
> <mailto:kgruger at gmail.com>wrote>:
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Miltiadis,
> 
> many thanks for the good news.
> 
> Can you please clarify the dates until when I have to register ?
> 
> is it 5th July or 5th September?
> 
> I will have to apply and investigate whether I can get the conferenceexpenses reinbursed
> from my institution, so it may take some time (I guess Iwill know few days after I apply
> for this)
> 
> However, I am trying to find information about the conference cost, butthere is no
> information about accommodation suggestions on the conferencewebsite.
> 
> Where the conference will take place? where should I stay in Mykonos, so Ican be close to
> the venue and reduce taxi expenses?
> 
> do you have any cheap hotels to reccomend ?
> 
> Is there time for including my paper in the proceedings ?
> 
> in which journal will my paper get published? is it an ISI journal ?
> 
> many thanks for your prompt answer
> 
> kind regards
> 
> Kathrin
> 
>  
> 
> On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 10:11 AM, WSKS 2011 <wsks2011 at easychair.org>wrote
> <mailto:wsks2011 at easychair.org%3Ewrote>:
> 
> Dear Kathrin,
> we want tot hank you for your submission of article that has been accepted for
> presentation in WSKS and publication in sponsoring journals.
> 
> Please make us an update related to your registration/payment.
> We still missing this info.
> Unfortunately if we dont hear from you we will have to delete your article.
> A registration is required the latest within one week by now.
> Please drop me a mail.
> Looking forward to see you in Mykonos
> Kind Regards
> Katerina
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
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