I was recently invited to propose a Frontiers Research Topic citing a paper that I had published 3 years ago. This invitation came from the “molecular biosciences Editorial Project Manager”, a topic that has absolutely nothing (yes zero) to do with the content of my paper. The paper I published is a photonics and physics oriented study.
The email was worded very much like a form email (text follows below). There was no mention of relevance or insight shown on part of the “editor”. This is a clear example of a “mining”-like practice on part of Frontiers. In addition, they seem to be trying to milk their link to the Nature Publishing Group, with bold text to emphasize, which I find to be a bit tacky.
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Dear Dr. ,
I believe that the subject of your article ” “, published in “ ”, highlights content that would be ideal to serve as a foundation for a Frontiers Research Topic. I would be happy to discuss related themes with you that could be proposed for such a Research Topic at Frontiers.
These community-driven collections create a comprehensive open-access resource for the research community, provide a forum to highlight recent developments in areas of novelty or debate, and can be updated yearly to remain relevant for the scientific community.
Here you can find an example of a completed Research Topic published as an E-Book.
All articles are freely available upon publication, and while they are subject to a publishing fee, Research Topics are cost-effective, high-impact vehicles for the dissemination of research results.
As you may know, Frontiers has recently partnered with Nature Publishing Group who shares our vision of a researcher-driven open science platform. As a result, all articles from Frontiers publications will soon be available on nature.com.
I would also like to invite you to register on our Frontiers website, where you can keep up to date with current research.
I look forward to learning if you are interested in proposing a Research Topic at Frontiers. Please, do contact me by phone or email should you have any questions.
Best regards,
Carina Paraiso
Editorial Project Manager
Frontiers
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