3 ms·

The second paper in the post should never have made it past any peer-reviewer had they bothered to read the first two paragraphs. It all stems from the (suppos

The second paper in the post should never have made it past any peer-reviewer had they bothered to read the first two paragraphs. It all stems from the (supposedly optional) requirement that a Masters' level student get a paper published. Sure, it is somewhat justified - seeing as how they are partially research students themselves - but the absence of a honest and thorough peer-review kinda puts paid to the justification. As a result, most students end up opting for these pay-to-publish scams (sometimes even knowingly) and they continue to thrive. The aim of the whole exercise was to expose these conferences for what they really are - money-making scams that prey upon the students' desperation. What hurts is the fact that the students (probably) knew about it but they were so desperate to get a publication, they couldn't care less. Such is the state of the education system in India. :(

ngkabra 13y ago
What depressed me the most was seeing the poor, sincere students who had come to the conference to present. Some of them were tweaking their PPTs. Others were going over notes for their talk. They were clearly (I think) under the impression that presenting at this conference was a major achievement. Of the 22 papers accepted by the conference (i.e. 22 people paid to get their papers published), only about 10 came to present, which leads me to suspect that the remaining 12 knew the true nature of this conference.
- desipenguin 13y ago
  Or remaining 12 couldn't afford to pay for the conference ?? (Rs. 6000 is not a trivial amount for a student.)
  - ngkabra 13y ago
    Nope. If you can't afford to pay for the conference, your paper does not get published at all (of the two papers I got accepted, I paid for one and that appeared, while the one I did not pay for did not appear). And once you pay, then actually attending the conference is optional.

ngkabra 13y ago

What depressed me the most was seeing the poor, sincere students who had come to the conference to present. Some of them were tweaking their PPTs. Others were going over notes for their talk. They were clearly (I think) under the impression that presenting at this conference was a major achievement. Of the 22 papers accepted by the conference (i.e. 22 people paid to get their papers published), only about 10 came to present, which leads me to suspect that the remaining 12 knew the true nature of this conference.

desipenguin 13y ago
Or remaining 12 couldn't afford to pay for the conference ?? (Rs. 6000 is not a trivial amount for a student.)
- ngkabra 13y ago
  Nope. If you can't afford to pay for the conference, your paper does not get published at all (of the two papers I got accepted, I paid for one and that appeared, while the one I did not pay for did not appear). And once you pay, then actually attending the conference is optional.