The 2023 Fall Seminar Series will feature Patricia Hartman, Associate Professor at Auburn University Libraries. Hartman will give a talk titled “A very special issue: Problematic mega-publishers and open access” on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m. in Room 2217 of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Building located at 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL.

Hartman is hosted by Dr. Robert Gitzen, Associate Professor in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Hartman will address scholarly communication issues, including open access and predatory publishing, which are commonly associated with frustration, confusion, and misconceptions among scholars. The rise of mega-publishers further complicates matters by blurring lines between “reputable” and “predatory” journals. As Journal Impact Factors of mega-journals have increased, so has scrutiny of hasty peer review practices and aggressive solicitation of manuscripts. This presentation will focus on recent patterns of publishing in MDPI and Frontiers journals by Auburn University scholars and discuss concerns relevant to the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment researchers faced with choosing potential journal outlets for their work.

Patricia Hartman is an Associate Professor at Auburn University Libraries, where she has served as the Subject Librarian for the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment as well as the Departments of Biological Sciences and Mathematics since 2013. Additionally, she specializes in scholarly communications issues related to open access, scholarly identity and federal funding mandates. Patricia received master’s degrees in Forestry and Wildlife and Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky.

Faculty, students, and the public are invited to attend this program. Advanced registration is not required.  Refreshments will be available after the seminar, and CFEs are available upon request. Parking is available on the third and fourth floors in the South Quad Parking Deck across from the CFWE Building on Duncan Drive. To receive announcements about future seminars, download the 2023 Fall Seminar Calendar or request to join our email list at cfwecom@auburn.edu.