More information about “predatory online open-access journals

Thanks, Ken, for your remark.

Beall’s List (although removed) can still be found online (and “last updated Feb 16, 2o18”). The list includes nowhere near 15,000 but it is quite a long list.

https://beallslist.weebly.com/standalone-journals.html

I do not see any “Journal of Cell”, or “Journal of Nature”, or “Journal of Science.” Also, no International Journal of Cell or Nature.

“Internatinal Journal of Science and Research” is perhaps the closest.

In the meantime –– just to give non-scientists on the GEITP List a “flavor” of what many scientists must endure each day –– here are two emails (of more than 35 during the past 48 h), parts of which are pasted below. Note the, um, interesting English grammar:

Honorable Dr. Daniel W Nebert,

Hope you are doing fine!

At first, I feel happy if you could spare 2 minutes of your valuable time to concern on my request.

I am pleased to inform you that “SL Cell Science & Report” is planning to release Special Issue “Embryonic Stem Cells” by the 03rd of May’2018 and we are in need of valuable articles. Hence I have chosen some illubrious people like you to support us for launching this issue. So will you please help us by submitting any type of article (Case Report, Research, Review and Short communication) and help us in achieving our goal for time.

Hope you will not disappoint me and comeback with your email within 24 hours will boost a hope to me.

Await your rapid comeback.

Dear Dr.Daniel W Nebert,

Greetings of the day!!!

We cordially invite you to be Editorial Board Member of our newly launched journal – United Journal of Pharmacology. In view of your past contributions and also as this is your field of expertise, we are inviting you to our organization – United Prime Publications.

The scope of the journal Pharmacology is “Pharmaceutics, Toxicology, Therapeutics, Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmaco-genetics and Drug Research, everything, etc “. We will be very much honorable to be associated to you, and we see a successful future of our journal with your valuable suggestions and contributions.

Kindly send us your latest CV and Passport size photograph as an email attachment to confirm that you are willing to be an Editorial Board Member.

We will provide a Candidacy Certificate for being our Editorial Member.

We are looking forward for your positive response.

Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 12:27 PM
To: Nebert, Daniel
Subject: RE: More information about “predatory online open-access journals”

I particularly like the predatory journal with the prestigious title, Journal of Nature and Science. Any scientist that publishes in there can tell his/her colleagues that “I’ve published all my work in ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’.” It’s just a matter of time before some predatory publishing house will come out with a journal having the title, Journal of Cell, Nature and Science.

[For those non-scientists sharing this GEITP List, among the most prestigious of all journals – in which to have an article accepted – include Cell, Nature and Science.]

Ken

From: Nebert, Daniel (nebertdw)
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 2:28 PM
Subject: More information about “predatory online open-access journals”

Today I was directed to this web site College & Research Libraries News, where an interesting 4-page Dec 2o17 article had recently appeared [see attached]. The topic concerns all the “predatory online open-access journals” –– which these GEITP pages have often shared.

As most of you know, around 2oo8–2o1o some (not-so-trustworthy) publishing companies began setting up pseudo-scientific journals –– often with fictitious names of editors and members of the editorial board. Their advertised claims were “Send your articles to us, 2 pages or 50 pages, anything, on any topic, as soon as possible; we’ll have it ‘reviewed by our experts’ within 2-3 days, following which we’ll publish it online. Oh, by the way, did I tell you we have page charges of $600 per page?” This became so successful (financially) that we now have at least 15,000 such journals.

Many have incredibly complicated and comprehensive names (usually with “International”, “Global”, “World”, “National” and/or “American” in the name) –– to make it sound important and all-inclusive. Although there are addresses and phone numbers in the U.S., the “editor-in-chief” is usually located in India or Southeast Asia. In fact, many of us receive 15-30 of these annoying email invitations EVERY DAY –– inviting us to “contribute an article to our new journal.” (If these emails arrive in our laptop at 11 pm or 3 am in the U.S., you KNOW it is very likely that they are originating from Asia.)

A librarian at University of Colorado, Jeffrey Beall, began (in 2oo8) a very popular web site –– attempting to distinguish between REAL scientific journals and these prediatory online open-access journals by LISTING what he thought were the shady publishing companies. Also, credible journals such as Nature and Science have published stories about “sting operations”, designed to expose the predatory nature of these shady journals. However, as is true with everything in Life, all is not black-and-white; what we see is always a gradient. Some legitimate journals were trying to start up, during these past 10 years (preferably being sponsored by a legitimate established professional society). Consequently, there were complaints (by some editors claiming to be credible) about Beall’s judgment.

In Jan 2o17, Jeffrey Beall removed his web site and all of its contents (probably developing a stress ulcer and perhaps fearing for his life). Beall claimed he was “pressured” by his boss and higher-up authorities, but this interesting article [attached] denies any such pressure.

C&RL News Dec 2o17; pp 603–606

https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/16837/18435

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