Are open access journals legit for my CV?

[EternalStudent]

The main reason I post on arXiv is so that my ideas can't be stolen if I communicate them through some other means. Even though arXiv doesn't count as publication, it gives an evidence of time when I did it, hence if someone else does it later without citing me, I can dispute it.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

The main reason I post on arXiv is so that my ideas can't be stolen if I communicate them through some other means. Even though arXiv doesn't count as publication, it gives an evidence of time when I did it, hence if someone else does it later without citing me, I can dispute it.

It's a great point that posting at arXiv establishes priority of scientific ideas.

However, in the sense that posting at arXiv makes a work public, it does "count" as publishing. It is simply that it is closer to "self-publishing" than peer-review. It's may not be as valuable on the CV, but it is just as valuable to the readers. Consider this paper where posting it at arXiv both established priority for the invention and brought it to the attention of a broad audience. It has been cited several times and is also in use in several other labs.

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1502/1502.06112.pdf

 

[EternalStudent]

It's a great point that posting at arXiv establishes priority of scientific ideas.

However, in the sense that posting at arXiv makes a work public, it does "count" as publishing. It is simply that it is closer to "self-publishing" than peer-review. It's may not be as valuable on the CV, but it is just as valuable to the readers. Consider this paper where posting it at arXiv both established priority for the invention and brought it to the attention of a broad audience. It has been cited several times and is also in use in several other labs.

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1502/1502.06112.pdf

If it counts as publishing, then what about the papers that were first posted in the arXiv and then, later, published in the journal by the same author? Does it mean they were published twice? I thought publishing twice isn't allowed -- at least its not allowed to publish the same thing in two different journals?

 

[mathwonk]

At least in mathematics, most papers are normally posted first on arxiv and then later published in a refereed journal. Since arxiv postings are not refereed, they are apparently considered in a different category from refereed publications. Hence in my opinion they do establish priority, but do not confer peer approval or verification.

 

[EternalStudent]

At least in mathematics, most papers are normally posted first on arxiv and then later published in a refereed journal. Since arxiv postings are not refereed, they are apparently considered in a different category from refereed publications. Hence in my opinion they do establish priority, but do not confer peer approval or verification.

In physics it is the same way. Maybe it is a terminology question? I use the word "publication" in reference to only one of these two categories while Dr. Courtney apparently used it for both.