We suspect that most people will be aware of ChatGPT. In our view, it has marked a step change in Artificial Intelligence and the way we communicate with computers. Without doubt, the things it can do are incredible and it provides the world with amazing opportunities, as well as almost as many problems (such as plagiarism, setting assessments etc.).
In this article we report what ChatGPT said about Predatory-Publishing.com.
The Question
We asked ChatGPT the following question:
“Tell me about predatory-publishing.com“
We know that we could have phrased the question in many different ways, and the answer may have been (slightly) different but as our first look at ChaptGPT, we thought we would keep it simple.
The Response
This was the response from ChatGPT:
“Predatory-publishing.com is a website that aims to help researchers identify and avoid predatory journals and publishers. It was created by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian and academic who is known for his work in the area of predatory publishing. The website includes a list of predatory open-access publishers and journals, as well as information about the characteristics of predatory publishers and tips for identifying them. The website was active until 2017 and is no longer available. However, similar information and resources can be found on other websites such as Think, Check, Submit and Cabell’s blacklist.“
Our Comments
- The first sentence we have no issues with. This is our main reason for being here. We want to educate and inform others how to identify and avoid predatory publishers and journals.
- So that there is no confusion, Predatory-Publishing.com was not created by Jeffrey Beall. We state this as much to protect him, as to clarify the situation. We are aware that others could ask ChatGPT a similar question and this misinformation could propagate and become accepted fact.
- Our website does NOT include a list of predatory publishers. We would like that to be the case, but it is a mammoth task to do, and we are a very small team.
- We do give tips for identifying predatory journals and publishers.
- The statement about the website being active until 2017, but is no longer available is not correct.
- The statement that similar resources are available from Think, Check, Submit and Cabells is true but we like to think that we offer something they don’t and, likewise, they offer something we don’t.
Based on the response from ChaptGPT and our comments, it appears that there is some confusion between Predatory-Publishing.com, Jeffrey Beall and his own web site (essentially Beall’s List).
We arrive at this conclusion based on the comment that the web site was closed down in 2017 (this is really in reference to Beall’s List).
Regenerate the Response
ChatGPT allows you to regenerate the response. We did this twice, and received the following responses.
- “predatory-publishing.com is a website that aims to provide information and resources about predatory publishing. The website lists predatory journals and publishers, and provides information about how to identify and avoid them. It also includes a blog that discusses issues related to predatory publishing and scholarly communication. The website is run by a group of librarians and scholars who are concerned about the impact of predatory publishing on the integrity of scholarly communication. The website is not affiliated with any official organizations or institutions, and the information provided on the website should be used as a guide, but should not be considered as definitive or authoritative.“
- “Predatory-publishing.com is a website that was created by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian and academic who is known for his work in the area of predatory publishing. The website was a platform for Beall to maintain a list of predatory open-access publishers and journals. Beall’s work helped to bring attention to the issue of predatory publishing, which refers to the practice of publishing low-quality or fraudulent scholarly works for financial gain. However, the website and list were taken down in 2017 and it is no longer available.“
… these are both interesting responses. Like the initial response, there are some correct information there, but also some information which is not correct. For example, “the website is run by a group of librarians and scholars” is not correct.
Final Remarks
Like most people, we are very impressed with ChatGPT. It often has correct responses to many questions which we would hardly have believed possible, even just a few months ago.
We are not surprised that it was not totally correct about our web site, and we had asked about Jeffrey Beall in a previous question, so perhaps that has some influence on the responses we report here (as one of the ‘features’ of ChatGPT is that you can ask follow up questions).
This was an interesting exercise and we will plan to ask ChatGPT further questions in the future.