PhD/PsyD What is a "peer-reviewed video article"?

[NeuroWise]

I recently received an email from an editor at JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments. This person explained that they had recently come across a paper of mine and want to discuss the possibility of publishing my work as a "peer-reviewed video article". They go on to say that the journal is interested in focusing on the methods described in the paper, "so there wouldn't be any copyright concerns."

So. . . what is this? It seems sketchy and similar to predatory publishers that are becoming increasingly common. Is my initial inclination to outright ignore this email correct? I'm sure others have received emails similar to mine, and I would like to hear what the forum thinks.

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[WisNeuro]

I have a policy to not publish in a journal that charges authors to publish work.

 

[singasongofjoy]

Sounds like one for the spam box to me.

 

[glowstick]

This doesn't sound particularly sketchy or predatory to me, yet? Some quick googling indicates that they're trying something I agree with -- putting complicated methods into other formats than just brief descriptions -- although potentially charging money for it. I see Wired linking to them in a few articles which isn't to say that it's legitimate by definition, but is to say that they're not entirely a puff journal. I wish we just automatically included this in more papers as supplementary info, but I wouldn't overlook it immediately.

That said, the videos I watched on their website weren't super impressive.

 

[Ollie123]

I cannot imagine this being worth your time. My general feeling is that any journal explicitly reaching out to individual authors is not worth publishing in, especially if they charge fees (couldn't tell if this one does). I guess the only exception would be a handful of prestige journals (e.g. annual review of psychology, which does invited submissions but does NOT charge fees).

Video seems more gimmicky than helpful. The few I clicked were basically podcasts. I agree some nuance can be conveyed more easily in video, but other information cannot. I'm not sure I see much upside and I can't imagine this being anything short of embarrassing to have on a CV.

If I had tenure, they agreed to waive all costs and provide technical support for making the video...I'd consider it. Until then....Pass.

 

[WisNeuro]

I cannot imagine this being worth your time. My general feeling is that any journal explicitly reaching out to individual authors is not worth publishing in, especially if they charge fees (couldn't tell if this one does). I guess the only exception would be a handful of prestige journals (e.g. annual review of psychology, which does invited submissions but does NOT charge fees).

"Cost of Publication
After your manuscript is accepted, you will be charged a one-time fee to help cover the costs of video production and publication. Authors may choose to publish in standard access, meaning that the viewer needs to have a JoVE subscription to see the full article (list of subscribed institutions), or open access, meaning that anyone can see the full article. For more information, see our Author License Agreement. UK authors, please see our UK Author License Agreement and our page on UK compliance.

For JoVE-produced videos: standard access $2,400, open access $4,200
For author-produced videos: standard access $1,200, open access $3,000

There is a cancellation fee for JoVE-produced videos. Video production requires money and resources. Please, do not submit a manuscript that you do not wish to publish. Submissions may be canceled with no penalty up until the point at which a script has been written. If the author withdraws the submission after a script is written, a fee of $1,200 will be charged in order to offset the cost of pre-production."

 

[glowstick]

Okay, missed the costs -- yes, WisNeuro is right. Too bad. Like I said, I wish this sort of thing existed more readily. But maybe we should just do some screen-grabs and upload them to YouTube.

 

[smalltownpsych]

"Cost of Publication
After your manuscript is accepted, you will be charged a one-time fee to help cover the costs of video production and publication. Authors may choose to publish in standard access, meaning that the viewer needs to have a JoVE subscription to see the full article (list of subscribed institutions), or open access, meaning that anyone can see the full article. For more information, see our Author License Agreement. UK authors, please see our UK Author License Agreement and our page on UK compliance.

For JoVE-produced videos: standard access $2,400, open access $4,200
For author-produced videos: standard access $1,200, open access $3,000

There is a cancellation fee for JoVE-produced videos. Video production requires money and resources. Please, do not submit a manuscript that you do not wish to publish. Submissions may be canceled with no penalty up until the point at which a script has been written. If the author withdraws the submission after a script is written, a fee of $1,200 will be charged in order to offset the cost of pre-production."

I could be a video star/published scientist for the small one-time fee of $4200? Wow! Can't wait to sign up for this one.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I remember hearing about JoVE back in 2010, I was attending an all-day seminar on tech-transfer that was being sponsored by a legit R1. It was an interesting time bc it had some qualities that felt predatory (high fee for pay to play), though given the cost of video production back then, it didn't seem that expensive. This was back when predatory publishing was rarely discussed, so I think Beall's List was not well known. Looking at how inexpensive producing high-quality videos is today, it definitely seems much sketchier.

 

[Lunatik]

$4200!!! Holy Jesus J Trump. What do they think they're shooting, Star Wars?

 

[deleted343839]

I recently received an email from an editor at JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments. This person explained that they had recently come across a paper of mine and want to discuss the possibility of publishing my work as a "peer-reviewed video article". They go on to say that the journal is interested in focusing on the methods described in the paper, "so there wouldn't be any copyright concerns."

I got one of these emails a while back too. It's an interesting concept but there is no need for those crazy fees. With a smartphone and Vimeo or YouTube you could produce a video of your methodology and link to it in your paper. I'd be surprised if people weren't already doing this.

Some legitimate medical/surgical journals do "publish" or promote online-only peer reviewed video content, so this is not novel to the publishing world.

 

[glowstick]

I got one of these emails a while back too. It's an interesting concept but there is no need for those crazy fees. With a smartphone and Vimeo or YouTube you could produce a video of your methodology and link to it in your paper. I'd be surprised if people weren't already doing this.

Exactly.