This one was easy.
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, FAAD, July 1, 2024
“Dear Dr. Kathryn Schwarzenberger,
We are delighted to cordially invite you to join us and deliver a keynote speech on your latest research in the 3d World Symposium on Orthopedics…”
This polite invitation showed up in my email this month. Having never done research on anything vaguely related to orthopedics, it was easy for me to flag this as a likely predatory conference. Unfortunately, other than the “orthopedics” gaffe, this invitation was not all that different from the many other unsolicited invitations that populate my inbox every week and figuring out which invitations are real versus those which are not can be quite a challenge.
As our feature article this month on predatory conferences and journals emphasizes, even the best of us can get taken by con artists who use increasingly more sophisticated techniques to invite our participation in what turns out to be less than what we believed. The internet has made it easy for online journals, both reputable and otherwise, to flourish. As with many paradigm changes, this growth has had both good and bad consequences. Early in my career, paying to publish an article would have been very unusual and might have suggested that the work was less credible than something published in a peer-reviewed, subscriber-subsidized journal. Now it is a very accepted (although perhaps not well-liked!) practice, as the international move to make scientific knowledge accessible to all has pushed the costs of publication back from the subscriber (or advertiser) to authors. While many very esteemed and reputable medical journals now run with the open access model, the model has been co-opted by less reputable journals who actively solicit submissions from many of our members. It pays to take time to confirm the validity of a journal before agreeing to submit any work. The same, unfortunately, has happened with medical conferences, with many for-profit conferences arising, hoping to get us to take part in what sounds legitimate, but may or may not be so. We offer some tips this month on how to protect yourself from being taken. It can happen to the best of us. Trust, or not, and definitely verify.
I know many ophthalmologists who refuse to get Lasik for fear of complications; who, after all, better understands the potential risks more than those who treat them? I have often wondered if the same is true of dermatologists and tattoos. Do dermatologists have fewer tattoos than the general population? I’ve been around long enough to see some impressive tattoo reactions but must admit that my favorite to date was on a marine biologist with psoriasis whose beautiful tropical fish tattoo koebnerized. Yep, the fish grew scales. We thought it was great, but my patient was less than thrilled. Unfortunately, many other reactions I have treated have been less amusing, ranging from infections to intensely inflammatory reactions with ulceration. It would be ideal if we understood more about these reactions so we could better treat, and, ideally, prevent such reactions. Our feature article highlights the need for better regulation of tattoo inks and shows how our specialty can continue to engage with regulatory bodies to ensure that our patients have safe access to body art now and in the future.
Summer is well underway, with long days, beautiful sunny skies, baseball, and watermelon to enjoy. What’s not to love? I’ve always found July to be a relaxing month, solidly into summer, with time to breathe before gearing up for the next academic year. Enjoy some downtime (with sunscreen, of course!).
