In this blog I will explore an open access journal in civil engineering. Open access journals, are journals that grant access to anyone with access to the internet without paying a subscription. Usually the author pays for the processing fees to publish the article and use the distribution network of the journal.
In this case, I will explore the Advances in Civil Engineering Journal (Hindawi, 2015). It is owned by the Hindawi Publishing Corporation that according to its website owns 437 peer reviewed journals. According to Wikipedia (2015) it was founded in 1997 in Cairo, Egypt and it is growing rapidly through acquisitions and launching of new journals. It mentions as its aim and scope “Advances in Civil Engineering is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of civil engineering.” They claim they have an acceptance rate of 17% and take 46 days from review to acceptance.
They explain opens access saying they charge the author, but it is usually paid by the author’s institution or grants they might have. In this particular journal they charge $600 and argue this is for the processing fees and will allow free access to anyone with access to the internet. In their publication ethics they have the sections that will be expected in any other journal; plagiarism, duplicate submissions, citation manipulation, improper author contribution, etc.
It is difficult to identify how it positions itself among other open access journals. It mentions it has over 580 reviewers and in its editorial board it has professors from internationals universities and several well recognized universities in the United States like Berkeley and Texas A&M.
Sources:
Hindawi (2015). “Advances in Civil Engineering.”, <http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ace/> (May. 4, 2015).
Wikipedia (2015). “Hindawi Publishing Corporation.”, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_Publishing_Corporation> (May. 4, 2015).
Good article, many thanks.