on vacation Over the weekend, all but one editorial board member of Elsevier’s Journal of Human Evolution (JHE) resigned “with profound sadness and great regret,” according to Retraction Watch. Retraction Watch was kind enough to provide the full editor’s statement online as a PDF. This is the 20th mass resignation at a scientific journal since 2023 over a variety of issues, many in response to controversial changes to the business model used by the scientific publishing industry, according to Retraction Watch.
“This was a very painful decision for each of us,” board members said in a statement. “The editors who have overseen the journal for the past 38 years have invested significant time and energy in making JHE the leading journal for paleoanthropological research, and have remained loyal to the journal and its authors long after their terms have ended. We all care deeply about the journal, our profession, and our academic community. I realized that I could no longer work with Elsevier in good conscience.”
The editorial board cited several changes made over the past decade that appear to run counter to the magazine’s long-standing editorial principles. This included eliminating support for copy editors and special issue editors and leaving those duties to the editorial board. When the board expressed the need for a copy editor, Elsevier’s response was that editors should not be concerned with accuracy of language, grammar, readability, consistency, proper nomenclature and formatting. They said it was a “claim”.
A major reorganization of editorial boards is also underway, with the aim of reducing the number of associate editors by more than half, resulting in “fewer AEs handling more papers and moving them far outside their areas of expertise.” We will be dealing with various themes.”
Additionally, a third tier, which will function primarily in a nominal role, will emerge after Elsevier takes “unilateral full control” of the editorial board structure in 2023 by requiring annual contract renewals for all associate editors. There are also plans to create an editorial board – which they believe would undermine editorial independence and integrity.
worst act
In-house production was reduced or outsourced, and in 2023 Elsevier began using AI during production without notifying the board, resulting in many style and formatting errors or already accepted by editors. The formatted version of the paper was reversed. “This was a huge embarrassment for the journal and took six months to resolve, but was only achieved through the persistent efforts of our editors,” the editors wrote. “AI processing continues to be used, regularly reformatting submitted manuscripts to change meaning or format, and requires extensive author and editor oversight during the proofreading stage.”
Additionally, JHE’s author page fees are significantly higher than Elsevier’s other commercial journals and broader open access journals such as Scientific Reports. Many of the journal’s authors cannot afford these fees, the editors wrote, “which violates the journal’s (and Elsevier’s) commitment to equality and inclusivity.”
The breaking point appears to have come in November, when Elsevier announced that co-editors Mark Grabowski (Liverpool John Moores University) and Andrea Taylor (California College of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University) had been working since 1986. We have announced that we will be discontinuing the dual editor model. When Grabouki and Taylor protested, they were told they could only continue modeling if they took a 50 percent cut in their pay.
(Tag translation) ars technica
