Elsevier will close GeoResJ, a journal that published work on climate change, among other subjects, after five years of publication.
According to a statement on the journal’s site:
GeoResJ will be discontinued from January 2018 and is closed to new submissions. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the authors, referees, editors and editorial board members who have contributed to the journal over the past few years.
All published papers will remain available on ScienceDirect. Authors wishing to find alternative journals to publish in may wish to use the Elsevier Journal Finder tool.
It’s not unusual for publishers to close journals that are not drawing enough submissions, as we understand was the case here.
The journal’s launch earned a press release from Elsevier in 2013 that called “it a new venue for rapid and open access publishing of their work,” although it no longer appears to be open access-only.
The title caught the attention of some climate scientists last week when a Breitbart column referenced a study in its December 2017 issue. The columnist claimed that the study proved global warming was natural, and not human-made. But that claim doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, one climate scientist tweeted.
We understand that the closure was not linked to any particular controversy or article. And Vasile Ersek, one of the executive editors of the journal, told Retraction Watch:
I’m not entirely sure why Elsevier decided to stop publishing the journal. I was only informed that they will cease publication from next year.
Like Retraction Watch? Consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our growth. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, sign up on our homepage for an email every time there’s a new post, or subscribe to our daily digest. Click here to review our Comments Policy. For a sneak peek at what we’re working on, click here.