Stuart Burch
www.stuartburch.com
  • 01 Home
  • 02 Articles
  • 03 Blog
  • 04 Big Ben
  • 05 Reviews
  • 06 Talks
  • 07 Contact
  • 08 Search
  • 09 Twitter
  • 10 Etisarap

A journal editor and his (former) go-betweens

3/9/2011

 
Museum and Society, Vol. 9, No. 1
A paralabel for "Museum and Society"
Wolfgang Wagner of Vienna University of Technology was, until recently, editor-in-chief of the open access journal, Remote Sensing. He has now resigned from that post for reasons set out in an editorial statement (Wagner 2011). It focuses on a "controversial paper" that sought to question the science of climate change and which appeared in the July 2011 issue of Remote Sensing (Spencer & Braswell 2011). Subsequent criticism of the article has convinced Wagner that it contains both "methodological errors" and "false claims" (Wagner 2011: 2002). As such he now regrets allowing it to be published. His resulting resignation was intended "to make clear that the journal Remote Sensing takes the review process very seriously" (Wagner 2011: 2004).

It is that "review process" that has failed. Remote Sensing is not primarily a journal concerned with climate change. Be that as it may, the three unidentified reviewers of the paper were well-published "senior scientists from renowned US universities". However, it now appears that all three "probably share some climate sceptic notions of the authors" (Wagner 2011: 2003). Wagner is at pains to stress that climate change scepticism is not in itself a reason to deny publication. Indeed, "minority views" make an important contribution to debate, ensuring that science progresses through argument and even controversy. Instead, what made the paper in question unacceptable was the fact that it "essentially ignored the scientific arguments of its opponents" (Wagner 2011: 2003). It was this "fundamental flaw" that was missed by the reviewers. Their failings and Wagner's own lack of oversight prompted the editor's resignation.

This affair is the latest in a series of cases in which the nature of academic peer review has come into question (Burch 2011b: 11). One such example concerns a paper I had published in the open access journal, Museum and Society (Burch 2011a). This was approved through the usual system of "double blind" review. However, following its publication the editor of the journal - Professor Richard Sandell of the University of Leicester - received complaints from fellow members of the board. This led Sandell to delete the article. I have since republished the work in its original form and supplied an introduction setting out the background to its "withdrawal" (Burch 2011a; Burch 2011b).

The Remote Sensing and Museum and Society cases differ in a number of respects. However, one thing that connects them is the protection granted to the "go-betweens", i.e. the peer reviewers. The identities of the people who forced my paper's removal are hidden. So too are the names of the three biased reviewers who saw to it that a "fundamentally flawed" piece of research appeared in Remote Sensing. Anonymity is central to the practice of peer review. Yet those who undermine this system should surely be identified and asked to account for their actions. They should have the courage and professionalism of Wolfgang Wagner - a man who deserves credit for "taking responsibility", admitting to a mistake and resigning for the sake of the academic system and its contribution to scholarship and to knowledge.

_________
References

Burch, Stuart (2011a) "A Museum Director and His Go-Betweens: Lars Nittve's Patronage of Neil Cummings and Marysia Lewandowska", Museum and Society, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 34-48, accessed 17 May 2011 at, http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/m&s/Issue%2025/burch.pdf

Burch, Stuart (2011b) "A Journal Editor and His Go-Betweens: Richard Sandell and the University of Leicester’s Museum and Society", uploaded 05/08 at http://www.stuartburch.com

Spencer, Roy W. & Braswell, William D. (2011) "On the Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedbacks from Variations in Earth’s Radiant Energy Balance", Remote Sensing, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 1603-1613, accessed 03/09/2011 at, http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/3/8/1603

Wagner, Wolfgang (2011) "Taking Responsibility on Publishing the Controversial Paper 'On the Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedbacks from Variations in Earth's Radiant Energy Balance' by Spencer and Braswell, Remote Sensing, 2011, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 1603-1613", Remote Sensing, Vol. 3, No. 9, pp. 2002-4, accessed 03/09/2011 at, http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/3/9/2002


___________
Supplemental

The peer review system is clearly a matter of widespread interest and concern, as can be seen from this recent newspaper article:

Colquhoun, David (2011) "Publish-or-perish: Peer review and the corruption of science", The Guardian, 05/09, accessed 06/09/2011 at, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/05/publish-perish-peer-review-science


Comments are closed.
    Author
    an extinct parasite
    of several hosts
    Why parasite?

    Try the best you can

    Para, jämsides med.
    En annan sort.
    Dénis Lindbohm,
    Bevingaren, 1980: 90

    Picture
    Even a parasite like me should be permitted to feed at the banquet of knowledge

    I once posted comments as Bevingaren at guardian.co.uk

    Guggenheim New York, parasitized

    Archives

    July 2019
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    August 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    November 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All
    Architecture
    Archive
    Art
    Commemoration
    Dénis Lindbohm
    Dennis Potter
    Design
    Dylan Thomas
    Ethics
    Framing
    Freedom Of Speech
    Heritage
    Heroes And Villains
    History
    Illicit Trade
    Landscape
    Media
    Memorial
    Museum
    Music
    Nordic
    Para
    Politics
    Rupert Murdoch
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Shockmolt
    Statue
    Tourism
    Words

    Stuart Burch
    View my profile on LinkedIn
    _
    Note    All parasitoids are parasites, but not all parasites are parasitoids
    Parasitoid    "A parasite that always ultimately destroys its host" (Oxford English Dictionary)


        I live off you
        And you live off me
        And the whole world
        Lives off everybody

        See we gotta be exploited
        By somebody, by somebody,             by somebody
       
        X-Ray Spex
            <I live off you>
        Germ Free Adolescents
            1978  

    From symbiosis
    to parasitism
    is a short step.
    The word is
    now a virus.
    William Burroughs, The word is now a virus
    William Burroughs
    <operation rewrite>

    Do nothing
    that can
    harm
    your host!

    Hal Clement
    <
    Needle>
    1950
key words: architecture | archive | art | commemoration | design | ethics | framing | freedom of speech | heritage | heroes and villains | history | illicit trade | landscape | media | memorial | memory | museum | music | nordic | nottingham trent university | parasite | politics | science fiction | shockmolt | statue | stuart burch | tourism | words |