A Major Science Journal Publisher Adds A Weird Notice To Every Paper. What’s Behind This?

Again in March of 2017, this unusual word first appeared on the finish of a paper within the journal Nature:

I regarded over the paper, and it didn’t have any maps in it. Not one of the authors had uncommon affiliations, simply the traditional college departments. Why the disclaimer?

Earlier than answering this query, let’s dig a bit deeper. This discover first began showing in mid-March of 2017 (in this issue of Nature), when it was hooked up to each single analysis paper in that difficulty. I can not discover any papers previous to that with the “Writer’s word.”

Ever since then, Nature has put this discover on each paper in all of their journals. For instance, the present difficulty has a paper on mapping sound on the planet Mars, by a global crew of astronomers and physicists. It does comprise maps, however they don’t describe any options on Earth. Nonetheless, it has the disclaimer on the finish about “jurisdictional claims in revealed maps.”

(Nature has executed it to me too, for instance in this 2018 paper led by a former Ph.D. pupil of mine. I didn’t but know in regards to the bizarre disclaimer when that paper appeared, and I didn’t catch it till later.)

It’s not simply Nature, however apparently all the many journals revealed by the Nature Publishing Group, which in the present day quantity in extra of 100 publications. I checked out a number of randomly chosen papers in Nature Biotechnology and Most cancers Gene Remedy, as a take a look at, and so they all have precisely the identical Writer’s Observe.

None of those papers, I ought to add, have any maps in them. I couldn’t discover something odd in regards to the institutional affiliations both.

Nature is likely one of the oldest and most-respected journals in all of science, dating back to 1869. Just some years in the past, in 2015, Nature’s publishing group merged with Springer, the second-largest for-profit scientific writer on the earth, and so they modified their identify to Springer Nature. We’ll see why that is related in a minute.

I also needs to point out that the papers showing in these journals, particularly Nature itself, are rigorously peer-reviewed. Any map that seems undergoes the identical peer overview. The reviewers additionally see all of the authors’ institutional affiliations. Usually, the writer has no say over any of this content material: if it passes peer overview, it’s revealed.

So what occurred? Springer Nature, it appears, added this word due to stress from the Chinese language authorities. The Chinese language authorities doesn’t need any maps to point out Taiwan, and it doesn’t need any affiliations to from scientists in Taiwan except they present (incorrectly) that Taiwan is a part of China.

I admit that I’m speculating, however we have now very clear proof that SpringerNature has succumbed to Chinese language calls for on associated issues. In late 2017, the New York Times reported that Springer was “bowing to stress from the Chinese language authorities to dam entry to lots of of articles on its Chinese language web site.” In accordance with the Occasions, Springer eliminated articles on subjects that the Chinese language objected to, together with Taiwan, Tibet, human rights, and Chinese language politics. A Springer spokesperson on the time admitted that they’d eliminated many articles, however mentioned they did it “to forestall a a lot higher influence on our clients and authors.” Their argument was that it was higher to get not less than a few of their journals to Chinese language scientists, even when others had been censored.

Extra not too long ago, in late 2020 a health care provider from Taiwan was instructed that she wanted so as to add “China” to her nationwide affiliation or else her paper would be rejected from one other journal, Eye and Imaginative and prescient, revealed by Springer Nature. Springer acknowledged on the time that it doesn’t require authors to vary their nation of origin, however that Eye and Imaginative and prescient was co-published by a Chinese language college, and subsequently operated underneath totally different editorial guidelines. I regarded up this physician’s affiliation in different journals, and noticed that it was listed as “Nationwide Taiwan College School of Medication, Taipei, Taiwan.”

So apparently Springer Nature doesn’t have an issue with modifying its publishing practices to accommodate the calls for of the Chinese language Communist Occasion. Nonetheless, what they’ve executed on this case–with their Writer’s word–is so as to add an announcement to the textual content of each single paper revealed by their journals, the overwhelming majority of which don’t have anything by any means to do with China.

Lastly, I ought to add that no different journal writer provides a Writer’s Observe like this to scientists’ papers. So any declare by Springer Nature that they want to take action is, frankly, nonsense. They don’t. They seem to have added the discover to appease the Chinese language authorities, and it’s not the primary time they’ve executed so.

I don’t count on scientists to cease publishing in Nature or any of the 100-plus Nature journals. Nonetheless, I hope that others can communicate up and let Nature’s editors know that they received’t settle for having this disclaimer added to their papers. I actually will.

Oh, and one very last thing: for all scientists funded by NIH, each paper have to be deposited within the public archive PubMedCentral, the place all the content material is free and unrestricted. PMC doesn’t embrace this weird writer’s word! So I extremely advocate that everybody use the PMC link, somewhat than the hyperlink to the Nature web site, while you share your papers with others.