Frontiers In - a revolution in publishing or another attempt to grab cash?

Recently, I was asked to join the editorial board of a new Frontiers In title. The new publishing company is currently expanding the number of their titles, and these are becoming more niche to try to dig much deeper into a broader academic base, covering all topics. Frontiers In is aGold OAmodel, and my views on Gold OA publishers (especially the ‘no impact’ journals like those published by Frontiers In) are mixed. On the one hand, I acknowledge that they do remove some of the issues surrounding the filter required for journals preoccupied by their impact, and these are serious issues (seehereandherefor examples). On the other hand, they demand a heavy price for their services.Article Processing Charges(APCs) for their manuscripts currentlystart at $700 and go up to $2950. 

What exactly are you paying for? 

Like some otherGold OAjournals, Frontiers In are proud to tell you how they are investing your money (or the taxpayers that fund your publishing) into their company. They are certainly setting up lots of new titles in a bid to claim a bigger market share of the billion dollar publishing sector. In accordance withcOAlition S(part of the distinctly dodgy Plan S), they share the different ways in which the money is divided (here), but without telling us the % of APC to each area. Moreover, we cannot get access to their annual reports or public accounting via their website (unlikePLoS), and therefore cannot see what profit is being given to shareholders (or simply into the CEO’s pocket), or how much is available for waivers. All of this information is kept from you. Does that make you suspicious? 

Gold OA publishers and their APCs

Because I am already involved in 3Gold OAjournals, I responded to the invitation that I had reservations but would be pleased to meet and discuss the offer. I met with the Journal Launch Specialist and expressed my reservations about becoming an editor for Frontiers In, specifically that their APC pricing policy and lack of sufficient waivers meant that researchers in the Global South were effectively excluded from contributing to their titles without digging into their research funds or their personal pockets. I was assured that Frontiers In is constantly expanding their portfolio of journals in order to give more help to such people. I further explained that this was not my experience, and that my only experience of publishing with them (as a corresponding author) was particularly fraught with respect to the 100% fee waiver (that we did eventually receive, although only after a lot of correspondence). One of the issues with their waiver policy is that authors have to wait until their article is acceptedbeforetheir request for a full waiver is considered. This means that Frontiers In make sure that the authors have invested their manuscript, reviewers’ time and revision time prior to making their decision. I would contend that this effectively locks them in, and I am sure that many are persuaded to part with their own cash rather than pull an accepted manuscript and go through the entire peer review process again at another journal.

What about the fee waiver policy of Frontiers In? 

Sadly, it’s a completeblack boxthat the staff are not willing to provide any information on. What I was told is that on completion of a submitted form, the staff will investigate the authors and their previous form to see whether they publish Gold OA. They will also look at their institution to see whether they think it has an existing pot of OA cash. I explained that in fact, many researchers (like myself) are good at getting their papers into Gold OA journals without paying APCs (a complete smogersboard of tactics), and that institutions which claim to have pots of cash for OA often do not have it accessible to all authors, for the entire cost, or for all of the year. In short, Frontiers In are, like other Gold OA publishers, going to try to squeeze every cent that they can from authors to the point where you might be tempted to put in your own cash.

And what is expected of editors?

When I clicked through to look at the agreement that editors are required to sign in order to have the privilege of working to fill the coffers of Frontiers In, I found that you really will be signing up for an awful lot of work. Indeed, I would say that this policy is directly in line with you signing up to be contractually liable as an agent of Frontiers In - while of course you receive none of their cash (seehere).

Pestering Bots

Another issue that I have withGold OApublishers, and specifically with Frontiers In is that I receive so many inappropriate requests for reviews, and indeed to be an editor for special issues (see another blog entry on thishere). I was assured that part of the exorbitant APC that Frontiers In demands is put into their new AI system that is helping them save time and find new reviewers (a fact confirmed by their website). I was told that it really wasn’t possible that I’d receive review requests from areas that were not my speciality because every request was double checked before being sent out. It was very appropriate then that within 24 hours of the meeting, I received a request from Frontiers In Psychology to develop an article collection on a research topic of my choice. The next day I received a review invitation from the Frontiers In Public Health editorial office to review an article on Electronic Medical Records in Angola. I flagged these with Frontiers In, and have been told (very nicely) to ‘unsubscribe’ (who knew that I was subscribed?).  

I would contend that the evidence is that the AI bots at Frontiers In are not as good as they think they are, and that there are probably lots more researchers who receive inappropriate and unsolicited offers from their ‘pest bots’.

Bottom line: 

• If you are tempted to submit to a Frontiers In journal and you will need a 100% APC waiver, then be prepared to pull your paper after acceptance. There is no guarantee that your 100% fee waiver will materialise, even with the best reasons.
• If we want a publishing route for everyone, then models like Frontiers In are not it. What we need isDiamond OAjournals. These do exist, cost practically nothing and need your support. Unsurprisingly,Diamond OAjournals are not flashy and you won’t be getting lots of pestering emails from them.
• If you support Frontiers In, then you are promoting a model that puts the majority of the world’s scientists at a disadvantage.  

Here are some of the requirements that Frontiers In expect of you so that you have the privilege of earning money for them:

• Nominate at least 10-20 potential Review Editors

• Co-edit article collections (Research Topics) - every 1-2 years

• Manage the peer-review of 5-10 manuscripts per year

• Accountability for acceptance of manuscripts

• Each Frontiers Editorial Board member needs to complete his/her profile on the research network Loop - on a public setting

• All Associate Editors attend annual Editorial Board teleconferences

• By agreeing to become an Associate Editor of Frontiers, you are entering into a legal contract with Frontiers.

Invasive Xenopus in Oeiras (near Lisbon, Portugal)

The invasive population of African clawed frogs in Portugal are also believed to have originated from a laboratory stock (Measey et al. 2012). Over the last 15 years, Rui Rebelo has been working hard to eradicate these animals from two streams invaded in the suburb of Oeiras, east of Lisbon where he works at the university. Their presence was first reported in a newspaper article in 2007, and an eradication programme has been ongoing since 2010. They have almost removed all of the animals, but a few still remain in the streams and more in a golf course between them.

In a very short trip to Lisbon, I joined Rui, the fantastically enthusiastic Monica Sousa (DCNB/DCM - Divisão de Conservação e Monitorização), and two technicians employed to electrofish the streams to remove all animals over the next couple of years: Manuel Sampaio & Bernardo.

In only a day, we visited first the golf course to sample animals waking up from the mud to find that they were being stunned by Manuel's volts (they quickly return to normal once they get into a bucket of water), and then to each of the streams where we managed to catch just two more individuals hiding in the stonework at the bottom of the walls.

It was a fabulous visit and really very successful, adding another invasive population to the growing list of sites in our study on the genomics of Xenopus laevis.

Many thanks go to Monica and Rui for making this day possible and for their ongoing work on removing this invasive population from Portugal. I'm sure that you'll manage it!

Visiting the lab in Paris

Taking advantage of the trip to Western France, it was only a short hop on the train to go to Paris where I met up with MeaseyLab PhD student, Laurie Araspin. Keen readers of the blog will know that Laurie is a co-tutelle student who is also registered with Anthony Herrel at the MNHN in Paris. Laurie was in South Africa collecting animals for her study and you can read all about that trip here.

We made arrangements to catch up with Laurie in her office in Rue Buffon in the 5eme arrondissement in Paris.

Laurie showed us the animals that had been collected in South Africa, and we also had a chance to meet Pedro Padilla - another well published Xenopus researcher who now works on invasive Pelophylax frogs.

Also present in Paris was Sara Zakrzewski who is using the Xenopus collected on these trips, plus others sourced from invasive populations around the world, to compare investment into different organs in various populations. 

Sara, John, Laurie and Dareen - the Xenopus crew in Paris!

It was an awesome couple of days in the baking hot French capital - thanks for making it so enjoyable!

Back at the Xenopus invasion in Western France

In 2003, I visited Antonie Fouquet in the French département of Deux-Sèvres as Antoine had been working on an invasive population that had emerged near his parents' home. He had conducted a massive effort each summer during the holidays, mapping the presence and absence of ponds in the area (later leading to a publication: Fouquet & Measey 2006). Although Antoine is no longer involved in the research of Xenopus from this area, a huge debt of gratitude goes out to him for this unpaid research he conducted as an undergraduate student.  

As part of the genetic study of native and invasive populations (see blog posts here and here), Dareen Amojil and I visited the invaded region in June 2022, immediately after our visit to Sicily (see here). 

The two regions looked very different and it was immediately obvious how different the habitats are that are occupied in Western France compared to those we had sampled in South Africa (see blog posts here and here and here), and Sicily (see here). Helped by Jean Secondi (who some of you will remember having co-supervised Natasha Kruger - and visiting South Africa), we set out to a number of ponds in the core of the range (around the hamlet of Bouille-St-Paul - where it all started), and at the periphery - now some 50 km from the core. 

The most abundant sites that we visited were two sewerage works, one of which was where Julien Courant and Natasha Kruger had conducted experiments for their doctoral studies. Happily, we managed to catch animals from throughout this large invasive range. Extensive thanks go to Jean Secondi and Axel Martin from the Thouars Community.

Further Reading:

Fouquet, A., & Measey, G.J. 2006. Plotting the course of an African clawed frog invasion in Western France. Animal Biology 56, 95-102. https://doi.org/10.1163/157075606775904722 

Grosselet O., Thirion J.M., Grillet P. et Fouquet A., 2005 – Etude sur les invasions biologiques : cas du Xénope commun ou Xénope du Cap, Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802). Conseil Général des Deux-Sèvres (Niort) et Agence de l’Eau Loire-Bretagne (Poitiers), 58p.

Visiting the population of African clawed frogs in Sicily - at last!

Of all the invasions ofX. laevisaround the world, the population in Sicily has been one of the easiest to visit, yet received surprisingly little attention. Of course, Francisco Lillo conducted many excellent studies under the supervision of Mario Lo Volvo during his PhD in the early 2000’s. But since then, this population has been spreading into the beautiful Sicilian countryside. 

Keen readers of this blog will know that I have been working on caecilians for many years, but this was my first visit to Sicily, and it was especially pleasing to work alongside some excellent local herpetologists, one of whom has taken up studies of this invasion: Simone Costa - again under the supervision of Mario.

Lillo et al. (2005) first reported the discovery of an established population from June 2004 when individuals were observed in the drainage of the Fiume Iato near Lago Poma in northwestern Sicily. Apart from 2 individuals captured in 1999, this was the first time that the species had been observed on the island. The source of this invasion is thought to be from laboratories at the University of Palermo whereX. laeviswas used for studies on developmental biology (Measey et al 2012). 

With the generous help of Mario Lo Volvo, Simone Costa and his band of herpetologist helpers (Mathia, Bruno & Peppe) we dashed around the countryside in search of points on Simone’s red list of occupied ponds with dense populations. 

One of the surprises Dareen Amojil and I was the amount of native herpetofauna that was also attracted to our traps. Most prominent wereNatrix helvetica, the Italian Barred Grass Snake - which were particularly good natured about having spent a night in traps with one of their favourite foods (lumps of Xenopus could be seen along their body and Simone informed us that individuals would occasionally vomit up their recently acquired prey). In addition, traps often containedEmys orbicularis, the European Pond Turtle, and when present it was often the case that they had shredded some of the X. laevis  also in the traps. One trap (pictured above) was so heavy with these additional occupants that I struggled to lift it out of the pond.

We had such a great time sampling in Sicily that we have to make a special thank you to Simone, Mathia, Bruno, Peppe and (of course) Mario. Thanks so much for all your help and friendship. We look forward to returning to Sicily soon.

Further reading:

Lillo, F., Marrone, F., Sicilia, A., Castelli, G. and Zava, B., 2005. An invasive population of Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) in Italy. HERPETOZOA 18 (1/2): 63-64.

Measey, G.J., Rödder, D., Green, S.L., Kobayashi, R., Lillo, F., Lobos, G., Rebelo, R. and Thirion, J.M., 2012. Ongoing invasions of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis: a global review.Biological Invasions,14(11), pp.2255-2270.