What do you mean by affiliation in publications? What affiliation should we write in the manuscript?

Affiliation means the full name of the constituent institute (with acronym in parentheses) followed by the full name of the university (with the acronym in parentheses), area, and the name of the city with pin code, state and country in which the faculty member/researcher/ student is working. For detail guidelines, please refer to Chapter 9 of the Research Manual.

What is SIU White Journal List?

SIU White List of Journals has been prepared by SCRI comprising of 28000+ quality journals (only Q1/Q2/Q3) that are indexed/abstracted in Scopus and WoS. This list acts as a ready reference for the faculty members, researchers and students of SIU. All the SIU researchers are advised to publish only in journals from the list.

Does SIU incentivise research publications?

Yes. SIU incentivise the journal publications that are indexed in Scopus and WoS (only Q1/Q2/Q3). It is very well mentioned in RSF policy.

What is considered as a true research publication?

Please refer to the Research Manual.

Which Impact Factor (IF) should be considered as a true IF?

The IF computed by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) should be considered as a true IF. Similar kind of IF is computed by Scopus. However, the terminology used by Scopus is CiteScore.

How to identify predatory or fake or substandard journals? What are the features to identify them?

In general, predatory journals persistently follow up with researchers for manuscripts submission. Such journals publish the manuscripts ‘as is’ without revisions or revisions for name sake. They lack peer review system and have a fake editorial board, and are often found to publish worthless papers with no addition to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, they ask for publication charges. Below are some of the indicators through which one can identify predatory journals:

• The publishers of such journals charge a processing fee which is payable by the author before publication. Such charges are often negotiable. The main objective of a “predatory” journal is to make money from gullible authors (‘prey’)
• The journal does not have or have only a fake peer-review process
• The journal invites manuscripts from authors with an assurance to publish within a few days or weeks of submission on payment of the fee
• Their website often does not provide a clear postal address of the Editorial office; even if provided, it is generally not of an academic institution or a regular publisher or is not verifiable
• The full postal addresses of the Chief Editor and other editors are often not provided; even if provided, such addresses do not belong to an established academic institution or a regular publisher
• The journal’s claim for being indexed in well-known indexing databases and/or having an impact factor that is not verifiable like Journal Impact Factor (JIF), Global Impact Factor (GIF), Index Copernicus Value (ICV), etc.
• The actual periodicity of publication of the journal is often irregular and may not match the declared frequency
• The journal may claim established scholars as its editors/editorial board member without their knowledge and consent
• Published papers in such journals are non-academic like essays, pseudo-science and disputations
• Not indexed in reputed databases like Scopus and Web of Science and nor they are listed in ABDC or ABS.

Following are the useful links on predatory journals for ready reference:

• Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers (Retrieved on 12 Jan. 2024), URL Link:-   https://beallslist.weebly.com/
• List of blacklisted journal publishers by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (Retrieved on 12 Jan. 2024), URL Link:-  
https://science.tdtu.edu.vn/en/blacklisted-journals-ministry-education-malaysia
• Retraction Watch – A blog that reports on retractions of scientific papers (Retrieved on 20 Jan. 2019), URL Link:-   https://retractionwatch.com