The rise of a mega-journal in public health publishing

Abstract

• In recent years, public health has experienced a rapid increase in articles produced by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
• The journal now accounts for around 15% of the documents in the Scimago Journal and Country Rank Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health category.
• The journal's success in attracting authors appears to reside in its ability to rapidly publish manuscripts after brief review.
• Acceptance rates also appear to be unaffected by the volume of submissions.
• An academic publishing process focused primarily on speed provides no guarantee of quality, especially if the emphasis is on sheer volume of papers produced.
• This has the potential to fundamentally weaken the knowledge base of public health which, in turn, will undermine public health practice and policy.