Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/11/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My son (***** *******) submitted his paper for review and publication in a Journal. There was communication that the paper was accepted with an option to pay an expedite fee. We have overall paid $550 (including the expedite fee of $300) to JSR. However, there has been absolutely no communication from the journal in spite of multiple requests over email and on their website. Please help us obtain resolution (preferred resolution is to get the paper published ASAP, but if that is not possible, to refund our entire amount in addition to payment for our grief). This has caused an immense amount of stress to our family since it impacted my son's undergraduate college application. We have been counting on *** publication to communicate to the colleges, and per procedures we have not been able to submit to other journals as well, and so have been locked up with JSR. We expected better response from ***

  Business Response

  Date: 03/27/2024

  ***** ********* paper has already been published. The fast-track info email states that the fast-track is in place to first notify the authors whether they have been accepted for publication but not the publication itself. With this notice students can let universities know that they have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Student Research. Many high school students are publishing for the first time and are not familiar with the publication process. They think that they can get published as soon as they submit. Most of them submit because their advisors have asked them to do so. Added to this are the parents who do not have a research and publication background and they want their children's research to be published. Journal of Student Research cannot publish papers without following due process of a quality review. Unless we receive a positive response from the professors that the paper is sound for publication, we cannot jump ahead and tell student authors just because they have paid. While review takes time, we have many professors who teach and do research and summer camps and classes and since they voluntarily review for us, they often ask for extensions on the time in lieu of their busy schedule. We grant them extensions because we do not want to compromise on the quality of the papers that are published. In all this, the authors and parents get anxious and start bombarding us with emails inquiring why their child is not published. Because we receive such inquiries, we notify them in advance. As they do not read the entire email, there is where the confusion starts and we see this as a most common pattern. Lately, parents and students treat academic publishing like retail industry and feel that since they paid they should get the service and if they don't, they will go and complaint to social media and such organizations. We take full pride in doing things the correct way as we have been doing since 2010. This 2024 and all we have done is published very high quality research without compromise. Hope BBB will take this into consideration and consider this explanation sufficient for such type of complaints.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/27/2024

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  
  
  I do think JSR's customer support was woefully inadequate and is understaffed. *** should feel responsible to provide accurate updates to anxious student authors and parents on a semi-regular basis on status of their paper. Even if it is that "there has been delay in professor review of paper" or "if approvals come by xx/xx, we expect to publish your paper in vol. **, no. yy" or something like that. The fact that voicemails + emails + website requests for updates were not responded to at all was very unprofessional. 

  That said, I am fully satisfied with the resolution of the case, and thank JSR and BBB for helping reach this conclusion. My suggestions above are only meant to improve future student experience which will ultimately help *** brand and reputation. 

  Thank you,

  *********