EPIDEMIOLOGY; ETHICS (see Medical Ethics); Health policy; Protocols & guidelines; General Medicine
Abstract :
[en] INTRODUCTION: Many predatory journals fail to follow best publication practices. Studies assessing the impact of predatory journals have focused on how these articles are cited in reputable academic journals. However, it is possible that research from predatory journals is cited beyond the academic literature in policy documents and guidelines. Given that research used to inform public policy or government guidelines has the potential for widespread impact, we will examine whether predatory journals have penetrated public policy.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a descriptive study with no hypothesis testing. Policy documents that cite work from the known predatory publisher OMICS will be downloaded from the Overton database. Overton collects policy documents from over 1200 sources worldwide. Policy documents will be evaluated to determine how the predatory journal article is used. We will also extract epidemiological details of the policy documents, including: who funded their development, the discipline the work is relevant to and the name of the organisations producing the policy. The record of scholarly citations of the identified predatory articles will also be examined. Findings will be reported with descriptive statistics using counts and percentages.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethical approval was required for this study since it does not involve human or animal research. Study findings will be discussed at workshops on journalology and predatory publishing and will be disseminated through preprint, peer-reviewed literature and conference presentations.
Disciplines :
Public health, health care sciences & services Human health sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others Library & information sciences
Author, co-author :
Brandts-Longtin, Olivier ; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Blueprint Translational Research Group, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Lalu, Manoj M ; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada mlalu@toh.ca kcobey@ottawaheart.ca ; Blueprint Translational Research Group, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Regenerative Medicine Program, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Adie, Euan A; Open Policy Limited, London, UK
Albert, Marc A ; Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Almoli, Elham; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Almoli, Faris; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Bryson, Gregory L ; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Dony, Christophe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > CARE "ULiège Library" > ULiège Library : Direction générale et services communs
Dunleavy, Daniel; Center for Translational Behavioural Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Grudniewicz, Agnes; Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Lehmann, Christian; Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Lhoest, Rémy ; Université de Liège - ULiège > CARE "ULiège Library" > ULiège Library : Direction générale et services communs
Moher, David ; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Montroy, Joshua; Blueprint Translational Research Group, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Pitts, Mallory; Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Ricketts, Alicia; Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Thirion, Paul ; Université de Liège - ULiège > CARE "ULiège Library" > ULiège Library : Direction générale et services communs
Cobey, Kelly D ; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada mlalu@toh.ca kcobey@ottawaheart.ca ; University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Article processing charges were paid by the Dalhousie University Anesthesia Research Fund. No specific project funding was received. MML is supported by the Ottawa Hospital Anesthesia Alternate Funds Association and holds a University of Ottawa Junior Research Chair in Innovative Translational Research.
No award or grant numbers are applicable.
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