Why did Beall’s List of potential predatory publishers go dark?

Jeffrey Beall, the University of Colorado Denver librarian who has since 2008 chronicled “potential, possible, or probable” predatory publishers, has — at least for now — pulled the plug on his influential, and at times controversial, site.

The decision to take down the site — and Beall’s faculty page at the Auraria Library, where he remains a tenured associate professor — was his own, the University of Colorado Denver tells Retraction Watch.

The site, scholarlyoa.com, which just earlier this month included a list of more than 1,000 such publishers, now contains no information. The sudden change was noted Sunday on Twitter, where questions about the move — catalogued, along with some answers, by Emil Karlsson — swirled for two days. Beall’s faculty page was also taken down.

Some of the speculation surrounded Cabell’s, a publishing services company that had earlier announced it would house a publisher blacklist beginning sometime this year. Cabell’s, however, said it was not involved in the closure, and that it supported Beall. Cabell’s tweets also hinted at legal threats, which Beall has faced in the past.

Beall has not responded to a request for comment from Retraction Watch about why he decided to take down the site.

For more on Beall, see this mini-documentary from the CBC, which also includes segments on Retraction Watch and BMJ editor Fiona Godlee.

Update 1/17/17 6:05 p.m. Eastern: We’ve received a statement from the University of Colorado Denver:

Jeffrey Beall, associate professor and librarian at the University of Colorado Denver, has decided to no longer maintain or publish his research or blog on open access journals and “predatory publishers.” CU Denver supports and recognizes the important work Professor Beall has contributed to the field and to scholars worldwide.  CU Denver also understands and respects his decision to take down his website scholarlyoa.com at this time. Professor Beall remains on the faculty at the university and will be pursuing new areas of research.

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