After the resignation of Paranjoy Guha Thakurta from the post of editor of the peer-reviewed academic journal, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), members of the journal’s academic staff have written a letter to the trustees of the Sameeksha Trust.
In the letter, published on a Meghalaya-based webzine, Raiot, the editorial staff demand answers from the Trust on why the article “Modi Government’s ₹500 Crore Bonanza to Adani Group Company ” (EPW , 19 June 2017) was deleted from the EPW website and raise questions over Guha Thakurta’s behavior as an editor.
According to the letter, Guha Thakurta would ‘undermine the review process’ for publication of essays, would promise ‘higher payments to certain authors (usually his old associates)’ and make ‘inappropriate, sexual and sexist comments.’ Here are excerpts from the letter.
Why Was the Article on Adani Deleted?
“We wish to understand the circumstances under which the article “Modi Government’s ₹500 Crore Bonanza to Adani Group Company ” (EPW , 19 June 2017) was asked to be deleted from our website (only one article was taken down, not two as has been widely misreported). The deletion of the article from our website is tantamount to the retraction of a published article. This is a serious matter, and editorially, to our knowledge, EPW has not had to resort to such a drastic step in recent times (except in one case of substantial plagiarism). Mr Paranjoy Guha Thakurta instructed us via a phone call, during a Trustee meeting on the afternoon of 18 July 2017, to delete the article from our website. We followed the then editor’s instructions, as is expected of us, even as we were apprehensive. He also cancelled a “Corporate Investigations” special issue of 39 pages (which included the said article, among four other investigations) scheduled for the 22 July 2017 issue. The week’s issue was planned afresh immediately by the staff. We are disturbed by these decisions all the more because the Sameeksha Trust is not known to interfere with EPW’s day-to-day editorial functioning.”
(Source: Raiot.in)
‘Guha Thakurta Promised Higher Payments to Certain Authors’
“Mr Guha Thakurta also promised higher payments to certain authors (usually his old associates), which would have been 20 times higher than the token amounts paid to our contributors. These higher payments were resisted by EPW’s manager. These payments would probably have been made if Mr Guha Thakurta had continued as editor. This is yet another instance of unequal treatment of authors, and favouring of associates; all serious ethical concerns.”
(Source: Raiot.in)
‘Sexual and Sexist Comments’
“There has been a grave assault on the work culture in the EPW office, with many of us on staff being made to feel uncomfortable by inappropriate, sexual and sexist comments made by Mr Guha Thakurta. In all, the egalitarian culture of the office had been compromised.”
(Source: Raiot.in)
Unilateral Decisions to Publish Self-Authored Article
“The other great challenge to the editorial team was about ensuring editorial oversight when the editor of the publication is himself an author. This was an odd situation (indeed, unprecedented for EPW) where the power and responsibility of editorial decisions (and the liability) lies with the editor-author, but the capacity for independent, unbiased judgement does not rest with the editor-author. In fact, on Mr Guha Thakurta’s very first day in office, he ensured the publication of his own article titled, “How Over-Invoicing of Imported Coal has Increased Power Tariffs” (EPW, 4 April 2016), which was a unilateral decision.”
You can read the full letter here.
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