Publication policies in engineering periodicals

A major increase has been evident in the number of published Engineering and Technical Journals issued by different engineering associations as well as academic and research institutions. The number of technical conferences that address similar subjects has increased exponentially with each issuing its own published proceeding. An ever increasing appetite of researcher for larger number of publications every year, fueled by the Publish or Parish policies adopted by most universities particularly in North America, has been the norm. This led, inevitably to the decline of the quality of published papers on average as well as appreciable increase in publishing or presenting the same or very similar material, with minor modifications, in several journals and/or conferences. Some of these activities reached the proportions of outright plagiarisms. The result is major adverse effects on the trust of researchers in the quality of material published in supposedly reputable publications, in particular if they are at the beginning of their technical career and cannot discriminate between the gold and glitter on their own. Much responsibility of this deplorable situation lays squarely on the shoulders of the publishing periodical and the review process and criteria of accepting a paper for publication. This presentation discusses publication policies followed by editorial bodies and the criteria of a publishable paper in terms of form and substance.