 |
 |
I also don't typically weigh in here, but I feel compelled to mention that there are conferences that have given a lot of thought to the problem of uncollegial reviews. The Digital Humanities 2020 conference <https://dh2020.adho.org/>, for example, offers extensive guidelines for both submitters *and* reviewers. They are experimenting with an open peer review system, and the conference organizers have written a thoughtful explanation of why <https://dh2020.adho.org/guidelines/the-open-peer-review-process/>, and I encourage anyone who is involved with any kind of review process to take a look. We're all responsible for creating the environments and institutions we want to see. I'd encourage some self-reflection here about why we equate certain types of criticism with intellectual rigor. All the best, Sarah On Thu, Aug 22, 2019 at 12:50 PM Randal Harrison <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I don’t usually weigh in here, but, in support of Karen’s (whom I do not > know personally) original post: > > You know, when I have a bad time, I sometimes share it with colleagues. So > I support hearing about it when another academic had a particularly bad > experience. And it certainly doesn’t make up my mind automatically when > someone expresses an opinion at me. Nor did I think her comments were > particularly rancorous. > > Sharing is caring. Sorry you felt spanked, Chairs of MTSR 2019 Conference, > but then your response seemed either overweening, perhaps “chairsplainin’,” > and maybe a little Trump-y? Why not apologize if there was a disconnect and > then hold out the olive branch? > > Randy > …… > > Randal Sean Harrison, Ph.D. > Emerging Technologies Librarian > > University of Notre Dame > 158 Hesburgh Library > Notre Dame, IN 46556 > > (574) 631-0312 > [log in to unmask] > randalseanharrison.com <http://randalseanharrison.com/> > > ⌖ Map to my office <http://randalseanharrison.com/new_office/map.png> > ⌖ Make a meeting <https://randalseanharrison.youcanbook.me/> > > > > > On Aug 22, 2019, at 12:25 PM, Lina Bountouri <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > > On behalf of the Chairs of MTSR 2019 Conference > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Dear list members, > > > > We apologise for the long email. > > > > We apologize also that we have to reply to an email of a member in the > > list, but this is not about saying that “we are right, you are wrong”, or > > talk about why an author felt that the reviewers were “nasty” to a paper, > > but about giving the facts about this issue, and protect the MTSR > Community > > (http://www.mtsr-conf.org/). > > > > MTSR is an inter-disciplinary conference, which brings together > academics, > > researchers, practitioners, librarians, etc. in the specialized fields of > > metadata, ontologies and semantics research. Professionals from more than > > 40 countries are involved. We feel that the comments of Karen Coyle > insult > > us personally and professionally and we have to reply by giving only > facts. > > > > Conferences are vibrant events and no one says that mistakes never > happen. > > But If an author has any problem with a conference, a conference track > or a > > review process, the professional way to solve or discuss about it is > > firstly to directly contact the Conference, try to find a solution or > get a > > proper explanation, and then, if s/he is not happy and go publicly to any > > professional list. > > > > The International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research (MTSR) > goes > > back to 2005. Since then the community has grown and become strong. > > Proceedings have been published by the Springer's CCIS (Communications in > > Computer and Information Science) Series. The acceptance rate of full > > research papers for both the general session and tracks was 24.6% for > MTSR > > 2018. The rate of downloads of the proceedings and chapters is very high > > according to Bookmetrix. > > > > When an author submits a paper to a conference is very important to read > > the CfP and to read carefully also the Track CfP. Choosing the wrong > Track > > could lead to rejection. Authors that do not follow the required > standards > > set by the Conference and the Publisher could lead to rejection. Authors > > that do not follow the instructions to authors, namely page length, > > Publisher’s template, references, etc. could lead to rejection. In this > > case, the author submitted a paper about FRBR in Jun 15, 19:23 in the > track > > “Knowledge IT Artifacts (KITA) in professional communities and > > aggregations”. The paper was submitted anonymously, went through a blind > > peer-reviewed process, and we had an outcome. > > > > After the review process an independent committee went through all the > > procedures in order to check that the conference quality criteria have > been > > implemented during the review process. In case of this paper all the > > procedures that followed were accurate. Nevertheless, the committee > decided > > to send the paper for a second round of review in the light of the > comments > > made by the reviewers. Two experts in the field did the second round of > > reviews. In total the paper had 4 reviews. > > > > We always, as MTSR community, value the work of all authors. By sending > > this paper after receiving two rejections to a second group of expert > > reviewers for a second round of reviews, shows that MTSR Conference takes > > seriously the review process and values the work of researchers. MTSR > > evaluates all papers on their timeliness and novelty; significance to the > > field and potential impact on the course of future work in the area; > > document structure; clarity; quality of text; relevance to MTSR > Conference > > and methodology. > > > > Two final points: > > > > a) When an author submits a paper to a conference or a journal s/he > expects > > that her/his work is to be evaluated. > > > > b) MTSR will continue to work closely with the Community, PC members and > > reviewers in order to improve further the quality of reviews, keeping the > > high standards in the review process and the independent voice of > reviewers. > > > > We will not respond to any other email concerning this issue. If you want > > to have a vibrant experience with MTSR Community and Conference, we > suggest > > that you attend a conference or submit in the future your research work. > > > > Karen, we invite you to attend an MTSR Conference, and we are sure that > you > > will change your opinion about it. We feel that this is not fair for all > > parties. > > > > We are looking forward to working with you. > > > > With best regards, > > > > Chairs of MTSR 2019 Conference > > > > > > On Wed, 21 Aug 2019, 18:34 Karen Coyle, <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > >> > >> Folks, > >> > >> I made the terrible mistake of submitting to this conference, so I > >> wanted to let others know about my experience. The "review" that I > >> received consisted of a 25-point nastygram, dripping sarcasm. I was > >> utterly shocked, to say the least. This is without a doubt a conference > >> that needs a Code of Conduct, but I'm not holding out hope for it. > >> > >> Clearly one that I will avoid in the future, and I regret having had > >> contact with this community. The contrast with Code4Lib is like 0 to 1. > >> Oh, boy, and I glad to be here! > >> > >> kc > >> > >> > >> -------- Forwarded Message -------- > >> Subject: [CODE4LIB] 1st C4P - SPECIAL TRACK on METADATA & SEMANTICS for > >> CULTURAL COLLECTIONS & APPLICATIONS > >> Date: Thu, 9 May 2019 08:39:16 +0200 > >> From: Lina Bountouri <[log in to unmask]> > >> Reply-To: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> > >> To: [log in to unmask] > >> > >> 1st Call for Papers, apologies for cross-posting > >> ------------------------------ > >> > >> SPECIAL TRACK on METADATA & SEMANTICS for CULTURAL COLLECTIONS & > >> APPLICATIONS <http://www.ionio.gr/labs/dbis/mtsr2019/> > >> > >> Part of the 13th International Conference on Metadata and Semantics > >> Research (MTSR 2019) <http://mtsr-conf.org/home> > >> October 28 – 31 2019, Rome, Italy > >> > >> *Submission deadline: June 16th, 2019* > >> Proceedings will be published in *Springer CCIS series > >> <http://www.springer.com/series/7899>* > >> > >> AIM AND SCOPE > >> Cultural Heritage collections are essential knowledge infrastructures > that > >> provide a solid > >> representation of the historical background of human communities. These > >> knowledge infrastructures > >> are constructed from and integrate cultural information derived from > >> diverse memory institutions, > >> mainly libraries, archives and museums. Each individual community has > spent > >> a lot of effort > >> in order to develop, support and promote its own systems, tools and > >> metadata for the management > >> of cultural information, mainly related to its particular resources and > >> use. > >> > >> In this framework, the management of the cultural information has to > deal > >> with challenges related to > >> (i) metadata modeling, specification, standardization, extraction, > >> (semantic) enrichment, mapping, > >> integration, effective use, and evaluation, (ii) knowledge > representation > >> as conceptualization to > >> provide the context for unambiguously interpreting metadata, and (iii) > >> information integration from > >> different contexts for the provision of integrated access, reuse and > >> advanced services to users. > >> > >> At the same time, there are also inter-domain efforts targeted to > >> semantically align data (research > >> data, educational data, public sector information etc.) to cultural > >> information. New challenges are > >> also emerged from the need to incorporate cultural information into the > new > >> publication paradigms, > >> where a variety of resources (data, metadata, processes, results, etc) > are > >> linked and integrated, > >> providing better shareability and reusability. Currently, Linked (Open) > >> Data, as part of the > >> Semantic Web Technology, is having a major role in modernizing cultural > >> heritage collections. > >> Providing to users the possibility to re-use and integrate data into > their > >> own systems is currently > >> more than a need, given that transparency and access to information is a > >> prerequisite. A critical > >> factor to the effectiveness of many aspects of all the above efforts is > the > >> quality of metadata, > >> as interpreted by its context and use and evaluated by the proper > measures > >> and methods. Many > >> institutions and aggregate infrastructures are dealing with the poor > >> quality of metadata that > >> inevitably results in poor integration, search and reuse, while their > >> enrichment, in terms of > >> contextualization, co-referencing, alignment, etc, is really > challenging. > >> > >> The aim of this Special Track is to maintain a dialogue where > researchers > >> and practitioners working > >> on all the aspects of the cultural information will come together and > >> exchange ideas about open issues > >> at all stages of the cultural heritage information life cycle. The track > >> also welcomes works related to > >> semantics and applications for new approaches to cultural information > >> publication and sharing, as well > >> as to interlinking to other datasets published in the Semantic Web > >> universe. > >> > >> > >> TOPICS > >> The papers in this special track should be original and of high quality, > >> addressing issues in areas > >> such as: > >> * Cultural Heritage metadata models, standards, ontologies, knowledge > >> organization and representation systems > >> * Cultural Heritage information integration, interoperability and > mappings > >> * Automated extraction of metadata, entities, and patterns from Cultural > >> Heritage resources > >> * Metadata manual or automated (Semantic) enrichment and search > >> * Metadata quality metrics, tools and services > >> * Linked Open Data approaches in the Cultural Heritage domain > >> * Publication, linking and citation of Cultural Heritage information and > >> resources > >> * Large volume content management > >> * 3D models-indexing, storage and retrieval approaches > >> * Infrastructures for sharing content > >> * Digital Curation workflows and models > >> * Provenance and preservation metadata for Cultural Heritage digital > >> resources > >> > >> SUBMISSION GUIDELINES > >> Authors can submit either full papers (12 pages) or short papers (6 > pages). > >> Submitted papers have to > >> follow the LNCS proceedings formatting style and guidelines > >> < > >> > https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines?countryChanged=true > >>> > >> . > >> > >> Submissions should be original and not previously submitted, published > and > >> under review to other > >> Conferences or Journals.The submitted papers will undergo the same peer > >> review as the submissions > >> for MTSR 2019 and accepted contributions will be published in the MTSR > 2019 > >> proceedings (Springer CCIS series <http://www.springer.com/series/7899 > >). > >> Authors of accepted papers will be asked to register to the Conference > and > >> present their work. > >> > >> Selected papers might be considered for a revised and extended version > to > >> be published in a range of > >> international journals, including the International Journal of Metadata, > >> Semantics and Ontologies > >> <https://www.inderscience.com/jhome.php?jcode=ijmso> > >> (Inderscience), and Data Technologies and Applications > >> < > >> > http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=dta > >>> > >> (previously published as Program, Emerald). > >> More information on submission can be found at the MTSR 2019 call for > >> papers web page <http://mtsr-conf.org/call-for-papers>. > >> > >> > >> IMPORTANT DATES > >> June 16th, 2019: Submission deadline > >> July 28th, 2019: Notification of decision (Acceptance/Rejection) > >> August 25th, 2019: Camera-ready papers due > >> October 28th – October 31st, 2019: Conference at the Marconi University > in > >> Rome, Italy > >> > >> > >> SPECIAL TRACK CHAIRS > >> * Michalis Sfakakis, Dept. Archives, Library Science and Museology, > Ionian > >> University, Corfu, Greece ([log in to unmask]) > >> * Lina Bountouri, Dept. Archives, Library Science and Museology, Ionian > >> University, Corfu, Greece and NATO HQ, Brussels, Belgium ( > >> [log in to unmask], > >> [log in to unmask]) > >> > >> > >> PROGRAM COMMITTEE (TBA) > >> > -- Sarah Melton Head of Digital Scholarship O'Neill Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Ave. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467 617-552-3210 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-5577>0000-0003-3780-5577 <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-5577>