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

[Kathrin Gruger]

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> 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, miltiadis.lytras at gmail.comwith
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:



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:

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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