How to edit an academic book in less than an hour

How open-access allows anyone to publish edited volumes of scholarly studies without having to involve authors

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Keith S. Taber

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A disreputable publisher, wishing to make a 'quick buck', could simply collect a set of freely available studies from open-access journals, make them up into a book, and charge good money for it.

I should warn readers at the outset that I have edited a number of books, and in each case the workload involved was, well, vastly more than one hour! However, people cleverer than me seemed to have found a way for someone to edit an academic volume with almost no effort at all. (And this does not even require AI.)

An example of such a book seems to be a volume called 'Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia' and supposedly edited by a Martha Pratt.

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Contrasting models of academic publishing

Before explaining how you can be an editor of a published book without doing any substantive work, I will just set out briefly for comparison the more traditional model for academic editorship. Typically, the editor will (if not in a strict order):

• devise the general idea for the book;
• write a book proposal to persuade a publisher the book has a logic and a potential market;
• respond to publisher/reviewer comments on, and criticisms of, the proposal;
• engage with potential chapter authors and negotiate contributions that are on theme, and that the authors are interested in writing;
• set out a timeline for the production of the book;
• liaise between authors and publisher about such matters as house style, file formats, publishing agreements;
• remind authors of deadlines for drafts and 'chase up' those who miss them;
• perhaps find substitute contributors when some colleagues drop out of the project because of health concerns, additional family responsibilities, pressure of work, or significant changes in career direction;
• read drafts and comment on any issues or changes needed – or sometimes even arrange a formal process of peer review from other experts;
• remind authors of deadlines for final submission of chapters and 'chase up' those who miss them;
• finalise the order of the material;
• prepare various front matter such as lists of contributors, acknowledgements, contents list, etc.;
• collate contact details of all authors for the publisher (at least for those publishers who still bother to send authors a copy of the book – not all do!)
• write the editorial material (typically including an introduction; sometimes also a synoptic conclusion; sometimes section introductions, or commentaries on particular contributions);
• check and collate all the files for submission to the publisher;
• deal with production queries, perhaps liaising with authors over these;
• respond to marketing questionnaires or other publisher requests.

This overall process may take, perhaps, two years. Or longer. It is usually a lot less work that writing a monograph (a book with a single author), but the work involved is still substantial – and requires some specialist subject knowledge and some organisational and inter-personal skills. This is why being an editor of a scholarly tome is seen as credit-worthy in academia.

But I recently bought a copy of 'Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia' and after spending a very little time with the book suspected that I (or anyone else) could have done the editor's job in less than an hour. Perhaps I am unfairly maligning Pratt, but if she spent a substantial time on this volume, it is not clear what she did during this time.

This book seems to reflect a very different model of editorship:

• someone (probably not the editor) decides on a theme for a book (here anaemia) ;
• someone (not the editor) identifies a number of existing (already published) open-access papers on that topic;
• the publisher collates them in some (apparently arbitrary) order;
• the 'editor' writes a preface of a few paragraphs;
• the book is printed, and sold for around a hundred pounds.

The key point here is that the chapters are already published open access (with the license conditions reproduced in the image below).

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That means that anyone can legally re-publish them, subject to these very undemanding conditions:

• the original authors are credited (the Pratt volume includes these details in each chapter – of course, stating the authors and their affiliation lends authority to the edited collection)
• the copyright owners are credited (there is no mention of copyright in the separate chapters as normally found in edited academic books, but a sentence included on the book's own copyright page states that copyright is retained by the original authors) ¹
• the original publication is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice (the Pratt volume fails to meet this condition – I have reproduced the original journal publisher's citations at the foot of this article)

The publisher does not have to persuade anyone to write anything. They do not even have to contact authors and get their agreement – the authors have already agreed that anyone could reproduce their work when they signed the license for open-access journal publication. This clearly saves all that unnecessary hassle with negotiating with authors, and persuading them to write – instead one simply re-publishes material that has already been written, and is available freely for anyone to copy. In principle, the whole process of deciding to publish a volume, to identifying and downloading relevant open access papers, and so being ready for production, need not take a whole day.

So, anyone can re-publish journal papers, without paying a fee, and without even asking the authors?

Funding councils prefer (indeed, often mandate) open-access publication for reporting research that is funded by the public purse because it means the work is not published behind a pay-wall, but can be found in journals where anyone with an internet connection can freely access and download them.

Authors may like open-access as it means a wider readership can access work, and the authors can freely post and share their published work without the restrictions sometimes imposed in other types publishing agreements. (On my publications page, I offer downloads of many of my own works. But for most I offer the manuscript version before it was finalised and formatted by the publisher as often I am not allowed to post the published 'version of record' of my own works on my website.)

What some authors may not appreciate, is that in signing an open-access agreement for publication, they are giving consent to anyone who wants to re-publish that paper. It could be posted on any website: it seems unlikely an organisation with an extreme ideology would want to post most academic papers, but they legally could when they have been published open-access. A disreputable publisher, wishing to make a 'quick buck', could simply collect a set of studies from open-access journals, make them up into a book, and charge good money for it. 'Could', and it appears in the case of States Academic Press, 'does'.

But why would readers pay for what is already available for free?

A key question here is why any idiot is going to pay, let's say, for instance, perhaps £85.04, for a set of, say, perhaps 24, research studies that can all be freely downloaded from the web by anyone. This is certainly the question I asked myself when I realised what I had bought. The answer of course, is that the publisher takes care not to make it too obvious that people will be buying recycled, freely available, material – rather than something new. And here Pratt the editor did have a critical role.

I was looking for a book on anaemia which would go beyond the information readily found on websites or in self-help books. Something authoritative, that would discuss the different causes of anaemia, how these are diagnosed from the array of blood tests used, and best practices related to treatments for the different diseases. I wanted something that was technical but introductory – perhaps the level of text that might be used by a medical undergraduate or a nurse practitioner looking to specialise in this area.

I readily found two books that seemed to meet my criteria on a well-known rainforest-referencing website which, from the details provided, seemed to be what I was after. In the end, I went for Pratt because it was published in 2023 and so seemed likely to be up to date. ²

The book blurb on the seller's site was:

"Anemia is a blood disorder, where the capability of the blood to carry oxygen is decreased due to a low blood count, or due to low levels of hemoglobin. Chronic anemia has symptoms such as weakness, headaches, tiredness and short breath, while acute anemia shows symptoms like loss of consciousness, confusion, dizziness and increased thirst. The causes of anemia include loss of blood, fluid overload, impaired production of red blood cells, and increased reduction of red blood cells. Anemia is diagnosed on the basis of complete blood count. A blood test is utilized generally for determining the platelets and count of red blood cells and white blood cells. Tests such as serum ferritin, serum vitamin B12, and sample of bone marrow can help in determining the type of anemia and its cause. Treatment of anemia is dependent on its severity and cause, and includes iron supplementation in oral and injectable form, blood transfusions, intramuscular injections of vitamin B12, hyperbaric oxygen, and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. This book aims to understand the diagnosis and treatment of anemia. It will serve as a reference to a broad spectrum of readers."

I thought this description boded well for a book that would surely have distinct sections on etiology, diagnosis and treatment, and would offer sufficient detail to provide a broad background in the topic. Although the blurb did not tell me anything much that I did not already know, it did seem to set out the agenda for a more detailed account in the book.

Perhaps a reader might imagine what the contents list of such a book would be

Unfortunately the contents were not published on the seller's website (nor I later found on the publisher's own website), and nor was any sample material provide. (These points should have been red flags!) The actual contents, I reproduce below:

• Preface
• Chapter 1. Red Blood Cell Homeostasis and Altered Vesicle Formation in Patients With Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
• Chapter 2. The Spectrum of SPTA1-Associated Hereditary Spherocytosis
• Chapter 3. Clinical Diagnosis of Red Cell Membrane Disorders: Comparison of Osmotic Gradient Ektacytometry and Eosin Maleimide (EMA) Fluorescence Test for Red Cell Band 3 (AE1, SLC4A1) Content for Clinical Diagnosis
• Chapter 4. The Pleiotropic Effects of GATA1 and KLF1 in Physiological Erythropoiesis and in Dyserythropoietic Disorders
• Chapter 5. Characterization of Two Cases of Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia Type I Shed Light on the Uncharacterized C15orf41 Protein
• Chapter 6. CoDysAn: A Telemedicine Tool to Improve Awareness and Diagnosis for Patients With Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia
• Chapter 7. The EPO-FGF23 Signaling Pathway in Erythroid Progenitor Cells: Opening a New Area of Research
• Chapter 8. Clinical and Molecular Spectrum of Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase Deficiency. Report of 12 New Cases
• Chapter 9. Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products Antagonism Blunts Kidney Damage in Transgenic Townes Sickle Mice
• Chapter 10. Glutaraldehyde – A Subtle Tool in the Investigation of Healthy and Pathologic Red Blood Cells
• Chapter 11. PIEZO1 Hypomorphic Variants in Congenital Lymphatic Dysplasia Cause Shape and Hydration Alterations of Red Blood Cells
• Chapter 12. Red Blood Cell Membrane Conductance in Hereditary Haemolytic Anaemias
• Chapter 13. Oral vitamin B12 Replacement for the Treatment of Pernicious Anemia
• Chapter 14. Predict Postoperative Anemia of Patients: Nomogram Construction and Validation
• Chapter 15. Type-I Interferon Signaling in Fanconi Anemia
• Chapter 16. Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Risk Factors Among 6-Months-Old Infants in Beijing
• Chapter 17. Mild Anemia May Affect Thyroid Function in Pregnant Chinese Women During the First Trimester
• Chapter 18. Hepcidin and Anemia: A Tight Relationship
• Chapter 19. Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease: From Pathophysiology and Current Treatments, to Future Agents
• Chapter 20. Iron Deficiency Anemia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: What Do We Know?
• Chapter 21. Anemia Increases Oxygen Extraction Fraction in Deep Brain Structures but Not in the Cerebral Cortex
• Chapter 22. Magnitudes of Anemia and Its Determinant Factors Among Lactating Mothers in East African Countries: Using the Generalized Mixed-Effect Model
• Chapter 23. Reducing Anemia Among School-Aged Children in China by Eliminating the Geographic Disparity and Ameliorating Stunting: Evidence From a National Survey
• Chapter 24. The Prognostic Significance of Anemia in Patients With Heart Failure
• Permissions
• List of contributors [not arranged alphabetically as is most common]
• Index

Primary and secondary literature

Now this is a list of academic studies of the kind found in any research journal. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. Publishing reports in academic journals is the main way of sharing research between investigators, and is essential for the development of an academic field. But each study is usually very focused, dealing with a very specific research question, addressed from a particular viewpoint. Over time, these studies critique and build on each other, and lead to the recognition of robust and trustworthy findings; but each has to be seen individually as a somewhat speculative step forward – a set of evidence claims, open to challenge and development by the normal processes of science.

This 'primary' literature is written for others working in the same field – and accordingly it uses the technical language of that specialist research programme into which those working in the field (but few others) will have been inducted, and often takes for granted commonly held assumptions, and accepted specialist techniques, that other workers in that field will already be familiar with. Therefore, such studies are often of little interest to the non-specialist; which is fine as that is not whom they are intended for.

Secondary forms of literature, such as textbooks, offer more accessible accounts which explain the basics, and do not assume a specialist understanding. I was looking for something like a textbook (something matching the book's blurb), but had been sold a set of specialist studies that I could have downloaded for free.

Where is the editing?

Missing from the contents list is an editorial introduction. So, there is no explicit rationale for this choice of this particular set of 24 studies. They are not set into any framework, or contextualised in anyway. There is no logic to their sequencing (and indeed I suspect there was no intellectual basis for this ordering). They are just there.

There is a preface written by Pratt. (Well, perhaps I am naive. It is signed 'Editor', and Pratt is named as the editor on the book's cover!) This comprises of three paragraphs, two of them very short:

"The purpose of the book is to provide a glimpse into the dynamics and to present opinions and studies of some of the scientists engaged in the development of new ideas in the field from very different standpoints. The book will prove useful to students and researchers owing to its high content quality…

…

At the end, I would like to appreciate all the efforts made by the authors in completing their chapters professionally. I express my deepest gratitude to all of them for contributing to this book by sharing their valuable works. A special thanks to my family and friends for their constant support in this journey."

I omit the central, and most substantive paragraph here, as I have already reproduced it above: it is used as the publisher's blurb in marketing.

Now although these two paragraphs do not say very much they are interesting. The first sentence does indicate that the book is just a collection of different workers' studies – which is not at all clear from the book description on-line.

The final paragraph makes two points of interest. Firstly, Pratt "would like to appreciate all the efforts made by the authors…" – which seems odd wording. (We might wonder, 'well, why doesn't she, then?') But she obviously knows that the authors made no efforts at all in 'completing their chapters' as they were not asked to write any chapters, as the 'chapters' were just lifted from already published work without their knowledge.

She also thanks family and friends for 'constant support in this journey'. Preparing a book, can seem like a long journey, but, so far, all Pratt seems to have done is write three paragraphs (if she did actually pen them) which surely cannot have taken very long. (Indeed, a little research suggested that Pratt already had ready templates for these paragraphs, as she was {as discussed below} on a somewhat more extended editorial journey – so she was probably not even starting from scratch.)

But surely the editor selects the contributions?

Now, it might seem I am being unfair to Pratt, as, surely, as well as writing the preface, someone had to come up with the book title ('Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia'- so, being generous, ten seconds work?), and, more importantly, carefully select the studies which would be presented as 'chapters'. Surely that is the editor's job?

At the end of the book is a page called 'Permissions' which claims that in preparing the book "a matchless editorial board was set up" and that its members "went through rigorous rounds of assessment to prove their worth". The existence of a (non-smoking?) editorial board made up of experts in the field would certainly add some credence to the book being more than an arbitrary collection of papers (i.e., not just asking some editorial assistant to go on-line and search for 24 open-access papers that mention anaemia).

However, the failure to list the membership of this editorial board undermines these claims: if the board (if there even was one) really contained academic experts they would expect to be named. Publishers are usually very keen on naming the members of such boards to show they have input from top people in a field. (Indeed, some predatory publishers will dishonestly list people on editorial boards without their knowledge to use their names: see What, if anything, does an Editorial Board actually do?)

Supposedly, the (secret) board members spent "a large part of their time researching and compiling the most relevant data" and by their involvement have "passed on their knowledge of decades". They were supposedly supported in this by a team of assistant editors.

So, not just finding 24 previously published studies related to anaemia that could be re-published at no cost to the publisher?

Had there really been an expert board who had spent so much time agonising over the content of the book, then the absence of any editorial content which introduced and contextualised the chosen studies would seem bizarre. It is easier for a sceptic (and all scientists are meant to be sceptical) to believe there is no editorial content in the book because

• no one involved had the expertise to produce the material,
• the studies selected for inclusion, while all relevant to anaemia, do not collectively support a coherent or comprehensive narrative, and
• the Publisher's aim is to produce books that can be priced at the level of genuine academic volumes with as little expenditure of resource as possible. If that was the intention, then States Academic Press succeeded in this case.

Am I being unfair in not believing what the publisher claims?

The (non)invovlement of the study authors

The 'Permissions' page suggests that the authors of the chapters "played a crucial role in the development of the book". I was suspicious of that claim as I suspected genuine and serious researchers would not want to have been associated with such a sloppy book. I wrote to each of the corresponding authors.

Some of the published email addresses were no longer active. Seven authors got back to me. None of them had had any role in the development of the book. Most were pretty sure they had never heard of the book, and had not been contacted about it prior to publication. A couple of them seemed genuinely surprised that a publisher could re-publish their work in this way without needing their permission.

So, States Academic Press not only produces poor-quality product at a high price, but deliberately misrepresents its products to give the impression that there is an extensive process of book development involving editorial experts and the chapter authors. As far as the last point is concerned, at least, this is simply a lie.

Copying published work without adding value

Although the chapters are (re)published without any adjacent notes to explain their original publication, the book's copyright page (the page that gives the address of the publisher and so forth) acknowledges that the chapters were published "with permission" under the creative Common Attribution License or equivalent. Here it is claimed that "Permission and sources are indicated" and refers readers to the 'Permissions' page at the back of the book. That page only tells readers that "All chapters in this book were first published by Frontiers." There is no information on when, or in which journal.

In order to find that information someone would have to search for the original papers (which I did, and I have listed the original publications in my list of sources below). Most of the papers (14/24) were from a journal called Frontiers in Physiology; but three came from Frontiers in Medicine; two from Frontiers in Pediatrics; and one each from Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Frontiers in Endocrinology, Frontiers in Nutrition, and Frontiers in Surgery.

But this seems odd, given that each contribution had (supposedly) been 'scrutinised by experts' and had its significance 'extensively debated'. For, despite this supposed careful selection process, they arrived at a set of studies from a single publisher.

Perhaps all the most important research related to anaemia is published in Frontiers journals – it is not my field, but that does not seem very likely. Perhaps when the secret editorial board had (supposedly) carefully deliberated on the most important 24 studies to include in the book, by pure coincidence, they all happened to be published by the same journal publisher. That rather stretches credibility.

One cannot help suspecting a more mundane explanation. So, perhaps Frontiers and State Academic Press are parts of the same larger publishing organisation? Or, perhaps, to save having to 'capture' the text and images from the published studies, States Academic Press paid Frontiers for the press-ready materials that had already been set up for the original publications. As (according to their website) Frontiers only charges authors 1950 Swiss Francs to publish their research reports, one can imagine they would appreciate additional income streams.⁴

States Academic Press marketing

The book publisher has a website which lists 'Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia'. It retails the book at $ 159.95. It gives the blurb reproduced above as a description, but gives no indication of the contents. It does not refer to original authors, and lists Martha Pratt as 'author' of the book. The site lists 578 book titles. It has a search facility allowing readers to search by topic.

If one selects 'Artificial Intelligence' the site lists 290 books, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. If one selects 'Mathematics and Statistics – Differential Equations' it presents a list of 292 titles, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. Selecting 'Sociology – Anthropology' leads to a list of 291 titles, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. If one selects 'Physics – Thermodynamics' it presents a list of 290 books, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. If one selects 'Civil Engineering – Earthquake Engineering' one is presented with 291 titles, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. 'Philosophy and Religion – Religion' gives a list of 291 titles, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell. (I found the slight variation in list length quite intriguing, and could carry on, but I suspect readers have got the point).

It is also possible to search by 'Author' and selecting Martha Pratt led to a list of 290 books, the first being 'Amino Acids: Structure and Properties' by Richard Maxwell.

I found a contact form on the site and sent a short message:

"I recently bought a copy of 'Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia' in good faith, not realising that you are running a scam re-selling freely available material. I am writing a blog article about this poor publishing practice and wondered if States Academic Press (or the supposed editor Martha Pratt) would like an opportunity to respond to my criticisms?"

Although I was informed that the "Form has been successfully submitted", I never got the emailed copy of my message which the site promised, so I was not entirely convinced it had been submitted anywhere. In any case, no response to date.

Martha Pratt's long journey into night

The website does not offer any details of Pratt's qualifications for the role, and nor did the seller's site. However the back of the book itself suggests that Pratt has completed an MSc by research in Haematology from the University of Nottingham, and that she was actively engaged in research with a team of senior professors and students. It did not specify where she was working (as would be the usual practice for an academic author/editor) not what her role in the team was. It said she has presented over 15 papers at international conferences. Now that is worthy (if they were not predatory conferences that accept any contributions for a fee), but one would expect the editor of an academic book to be a lead author on published studies, if not an author of monographs on her specialist area.

I struggled to find any work by Pratt in Google Scholar – nothing was returned for 'Martha Pratt' and either 'anemia' or anaemia'. One paper was returned using 'Martha Pratt' and 'heamatology' as search terms, where the authors thanked "Mrs. Martha Pratt for technical assistance" (Latimer & Holmes Eubanks, 1962), but given this was published over sixty years ago, it seems this is unlikely to be our Pratt. Nor could I readily find her in a general Google search. I had intended to email her to invite her to respond to my concerns if I had found her details on-line. (Assuming she really exists.) Yet 'Diagnosis and Treatment of Anemia' is not Pratt's only book on anaemia. I found several other similar titles listed on my seller's site.

As well as my 2023 book, Pratt had 'edited' three volumes published the year before, in 2022!

• Anemia: Clinical Aspects (Published by hayle medical)
• Anemia: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment (published by Americal Medical Publishers)
• Causes, Symptoms and Management of Anemia (published by Americal Medical Publishers)

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Three Pratt 'edited' volumes published in 2022

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Each of these had a promising blurb suggesting a general but serious account to the subject:

Anemia: Clinical Aspects	Anemia: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment	Causes, Symptoms and Management of Anemia
"The absolute decrease in red blood cell mass resulting in the lowered ability of the blood to carry oxygen is known as anemia. The major causes of anemia include blood loss from trauma or surgery, decreased red blood cell production and increased red blood cell destruction. The most common signs and symptoms of anemia include weakness, poor concentration, fatigue, pallor, shortness of breath and symptoms of a heart failure. It is diagnosed through testing the complete blood count, red blood cells and hemoglobin level. The treatment of anemia varies according to its cause and severity. Vitamin supplements such as folic acid and vitamin B12 are often used to replace certain deficiencies. The topics covered in this extensive book deal with the core aspects of anemia. It presents researches and studies performed by experts across the globe. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by this book."	"The decrease in the total amount of red blood cells in the blood is known as anemia. The blood of an anemic person has a lower ability to carry oxygen which leads to various problems such as weakness, fatigue and shortened breath. The symptoms of anemia depend on its cause. In severe anemia, the body fulfills the lack of oxygen by an increase in cardiac output which causes symptoms such as palpitations, angina and intermittent claudication of the legs. The causes of anemia are classified into various groups that are impaired red blood cell production, increased RBC destruction, blood loss and fluid overload. Its treatment includes blood transfusions and providing oral and injectable iron to the person. The topics covered in this extensive book deal with the core aspects of anemia. It presents researches and studies performed by experts across the globe. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by this book."	"Anemia is a disease that occurs due to the decreased amount of total red blood cells in the blood. Due to the deficiency of hemoglobin which carries oxygen, the person often experiences shortness of breath on exertion. It can also exhibit symptoms of a heart failure. The most common cause of anemia is blood loss. Several reasons can lead to blood loss such as severe trauma or surgery, menstruation, and gynecological disturbances. Other causes of anemia include fluid overload, which decreases the hemoglobin concentration, and certain gastrointestinal disorders. The common treatment of anemia includes oral and injectable iron, blood transfusions, erythropoiesis-stimulating agent and hyperbaric oxygen. This book discusses the fundamentals as well as modern approaches for management of anemia. It presents researches and studies performed by experts across the globe. It will serve as a valuable source of reference for graduate and post graduate students."

Although from seveeral publishers, these books have a very similar look to my purchase, making me suspect they were also just recycling freely published studies. I also found a 2019 title supposedly edited by Pratt: 'Anemia: Clinical Progress', and decided to test this idea.

The expression 'once bitten, twice shy' should mean that someone who has been suckered into buying a substandard product would be wary of repeating their mistake. But by some freak of timing, a copy of 'Anemia: Clinical Progress' was being heavily discounted (by over 90%) allowing me to buy a copy for £8.69.

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This book was published by hayle medical ⁵, but has a familiar structure, despite only including 10 chapters (in a much larger font size, so my two books are of the same dimensions). Again the chapters are presented without acknowledgement of being from journals – which only becomes clear by reading the copyright page or the Permissions page. Again, no full citations to the original publications are given. Again, the material presented was originally published under creative commons license, so is freely available elsewhere and anyone can reproduce it. Again, all contributions were originally published by one publisher (this time, InTech Open). Again, there is the three paragraph Preface signed 'editor', including the book blurb, a variation on the familiar theme implying the book is something other than simply a collection of published studies,

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"The decrease in the amount of red blood cells in the blood or a lowered ability of the blood to carry oxygen is known as anemia. The common symptoms of anemia include tiredness, weakness, confusion, shortness of breath, poor concentration and poor ability to exercise. Blood loss, impaired red blood cell production, increased red blood cell destruction and fluid overload are some of the causes of anemia. Microcytic anemia, macrocytic anemia and normocytic anemia are the main types of anemia based on the size of the red blood cells along with the amount of hemoglobin in them. Assessment of the number of red blood cells and the hemoglobin level is required to diagnose anemia. This book unravels the recent studies in this medical condition. It explores all the important aspects of anemia in the present day scenario. This book is an essential guide for clinicians, doctors and medical students."

Again, the book lacks any editorial introduction, or any commentary on the contributions. So, the book does not "unravel the recent studies", it just collates some: another dishonest claim. Again the 'Permissions' page at the end of the volume claims the authors have been involved in developing the book.⁶ (More likely: they do not even know it exists.) Again there is a claim that an editorial board (of rigorously assessed and selected, but strangely unacknowledged, experts) that "invested a large part of their time researching and compiling the most relevant data", and that was supported by a team of assistant editors.

There is a pattern here:

• In 2019 Prat supposedly edited a book of pre-existing material that was supposedly selected for its importance by a secret editorial board supported by a team of assistant editors (i.e., not by the editor). She did not write any editorial material for the volume. She may have written the three paragraphs of the Preface signed 'editor', for which she gets her name on the cover as Editor.
• In 2023 Pratt supposedly edited a book of pre-existing material that was supposedly selected for its importance by a secret editorial board supported by a team of assistant editors (i.e., not by the editor). She did not write any editorial material for the volume. She may have written the three paragraphs of the Preface signed 'editor' – but that would have been made easier as it is very similar to the three paragraph Preface in her 2019 book.

I have not seen the three 2022 volumes (they are still being priced at around £90 each, and my curiosity is not that great) but I would be amazed if they were not part of the same editorial 'journey', and fitting the same pattern.

I do not know if Pratt gets paid a royalty on these books (editors traditionally do, but then editors traditionally do something to earn it), but claiming editorship on titles where no academic editing has been undertaken clearly falls short of expected academic standards – much like plagiarism. This is a kind of ghost editing. I have been offered, but have declined, editorship by publishers compiling books who were already collating the material from authors – no reputable academic would accept an editorship where they have no editorial control over the final product.

Perhaps Pratt does not actually exist. Predatory publishers are not beyond inventing editors and their biographies to give the impression that are working with genuine academics (see, for example 'Earning a higher doctorate without doing any research?') If Pratt is a real person, she must know that she is part of a scam, where books are sold that are presented as scholarly contributions, but which have no academic value.

That is not in any way suggesting the individual studies that have been re-published in such books do not themselves have value – but they can be freely downloaded from journal websites, and indeed printed out if hard copy is needed. The question is what scholarly value is added over and above that of the already available studies that are collated. I would argue Pratt adds no value, as she make no intellectual contribution in 'editing' the books. These books are presented as serious academic contributions, but are no more than a money-making scam for the publishers. Predatory publishers, that is – working with a predatory (or fictitious) editor.

I suspect Pratt is not alone, and wonder just how widespread this dubious practice has become.

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Right of reply:

Am I being unfair?

• Are you are a representative of one of the publishers involved in publishing these books?
• Do you work in the field of haemotology or anaemia medicine, and know that Martha Pratt is a real researcher in the field?
• Are you Martha Pratt?
• Or have you, like me, spent good money on an academic book only to find that you been scammed in this way?

Any responses may be entered in the form below.

I publish all pertinent comments submitted as long as they are not abusive or potentially libelous, and do not include foul language.

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Work cited:

• Abay A, Simionato G, Chachanidze R, Bogdanova A, Hertz L, Bianchi P, van den Akker E, von Lindern M, Leonetti M, Minetti G, Wagner C and Kaestner L (2019) Glutaraldehyde – A Subtle Tool in the Investigation of Healthy and Pathologic Red Blood Cells. Front. Physiol. 10:514. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00514
• Andolfo I, De Rosa G, Errichiello E, Manna F, Rosato BE, Gambale A, Vetro A, Calcaterra V, Pelizzo G, De Franceschi L, Zuffardi O, Russo R and Iolascon A (2019) PIEZO1 Hypomorphic Variants in Congenital Lymphatic Dysplasia Cause Shape and Hydration Alterations of Red Blood Cells. Front. Physiol. 10:258. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00258
• Barbarani G, Fugazza C, Strouboulis J and Ronchi AE (2019) The Pleiotropic Effects of GATA1 and KLF1 in Physiological Erythropoiesis and in Dyserythropoietic Disorders. Front. Physiol. 10:91. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00091
• Chan CQH, Low LL and Lee KH (2016) Oral Vitamin B12 Replacement for the Treatment of Pernicious Anemia. Front. Med. 3:38. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2016.00038
• Charrin E, Faes C, Sotiaux A, Skinner S, Pialoux V, Joly P, Connes P and Martin C (2019) Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products Antagonism Blunts Kidney Damage in Transgenic Townes Sickle Mice. Front. Physiol. 10:880. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00880
• Chonat S, Risinger M, Sakthivel H, Niss O, Rothman JA, Hsieh L, Chou ST, Kwiatkowski JL, Khandros E, Gorman MF, Wells DT, Maghathe T, Dagaonkar N, Seu KG, Zhang K, Zhang W and Kalfa TA (2019) The Spectrum of SPTA1-Associated Hereditary Spherocytosis. Front. Physiol. 10:815. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00815
• Dai Y, Han C and Weng X (2022) Predict Postoperative Anemia of Patients: Nomogram Construction and Validation. Front. Surg. 9:849761. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.849761
• Fermo E, Vercellati C, Marcello AP, Zaninoni A, Aytac S, Cetin M, Capolsini I, Casale M, Paci S, Zanella A, Barcellini W and Bianchi P (2019) Clinical and Molecular Spectrum of Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase Deficiency. Report of 12 New Cases. Front. Physiol. 10:467. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00467
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• Landelouci K, Sinha S and Pépin G (2022) Type-I Interferon Signaling in Fanconi Anemia. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 12:820273. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.820273
• Latimer, P, & Holmes Eubanks,C.A.(1962) Absorption spectrophotometry of turbid suspensions: A method of correcting for large systematic distortions, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 98 (2), 274-285.
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Notes:

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1. It might seem that if the authors retain copyright in their work, they should have a say in whether and where it might be published. That was their original position as authors of a copyright work, but in signing the open-access license to allow original journal publication they are giving permission for anyone, anywhere, and at any time, to re-use their work and distribute it – including re-publishing it in any other journal or as part of a book.

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² I have since purchased Anemia: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management (2018) by Benz, Berliner and Schiffman – which is just the kind of book I had thought I was getting with the Pratt.

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³ The acknowledgement is rather unusual, in that book authors or editors thanking family usually specify their partner and/or children by name. Similarly, any friends or colleagues that have been especially helpful normally deserve being named. Wording of the form "A special thanks to my family and friends for their constant support…" has the sense of a 'boiler-plate' ⁶ statement that can be inserted in any volume by a publisher.

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⁴ Because the Frontiers journals are open access, the company cannot charge readers or libraries for them. Authors (or, in practice, usually their institutions) are therefore expected to pay hundreds of pounds for publication. Despite paying, they still have no control over what later happens to their work once it is published.

That is fair enough, as the authors sign an agreement to say their work can be reproduced. Importantly, the work has to be re-published as is, or any changes made must be acknowledged. By contrast many book publishers are now giving authors publishing agreements to sign that would allow work to be later re-published with any editing and changes the publishers wished, without needed to get permission from, or even inform, the original authors. I rejected a request to write for Oxford University Press because they would not shift on this aspect of their agreement (read Protect the integrity of scholarly writing); and for several recent chapters for Springer books, I have had to amend the offered publishing agreement to remove such clauses before signing.

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⁵ The hayle medical website only 'features' 7 books, and Pratt's volume is not among them. Searching for titles related to anemia or anaemia returned no volumes. Pratt is included on a list of authors provided on the site – indeed she is one of over 40 listed on the 'M' page (below left)- but her name returns no books. As with States Academic Press (below right), the website (either deliberately or due to incompetence) does not allow visitors to effectively search for books by topics or authors – either failing to return the author's (i.e., editor's) books (hayle medical) or returning a long list of books by different authors (States Academic).

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⁶ Despite Pratt's 2019 and 2023 volumes being from different publishers, the permissions pages seem to have identical wording.

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