University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Applying Rational Choice Theory to Authors' Behaviors in Unethical Publishing in China

Xia, Jingfeng

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/102331

Description

Title
Applying Rational Choice Theory to Authors' Behaviors in Unethical Publishing in China
Author(s)
Xia, Jingfeng
Issue Date
2018
Keyword(s)
  • Scholarly publishing
  • Commercial publishers
  • Rational choice theory
  • Scholarly communication
  • China
Abstract
Much have been discussed about unethical scholarly publishing in the learned community from the perspective of publishers, particularly commercial ones, while few have tried to seek an understanding of the actions taken by individual authors in the practice. This paper attempts to adopt an economic principle, the rational choice theory, in the examination of exploitative publishing using China as a case study. It argues that it is human's inclination to make prudent decisions for their highest self-interest while trying to minimize personal losses that drives some researchers to take advantage of an eroding system of scholarly communication. It has also attempted to pinpoint a possible solution.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press. The School of Information Sciences at Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
Library Trends 67 (2). Fall 2018
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102331
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0035
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2018 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 67 (2) Fall 2018: The Role and Impact of Commercial and Noncommercial Publishers in Scholarly Publishing on Academic Libraries PRIMARY
Library Trends 67 (2) Fall 2018: The Role and Impact of Commercial and Noncommercial Publishers in Scholarly Publishing on Academic Libraries. Edited by Lewis G. Liu