Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Luki TinA*, Blei IvanaA , Basarin BiljanaA , Ivanovi Bibi LjubicaA , Miloevi DraganA , Sakulski DuanB
Received: June 15, 2014 | Revised: July 29, 2014 | Accepted: August 28, 2014
Abstract
In recent times some publishers are intensively exploiting the model of open access publishing. During
the last several years, studies have shown that there was a substantial increase in the number of fake
publishers and hijacked journals. These cyber criminals make money by stealing the identities of legiti-
mate journals and collecting the article processing charges on the papers that are submitted. This is all
accomplished by a well developed framework that includes web development steps, intensive e-mail
marketing and victim selections. This review article strives to recommend that the Bealls list of pred-
atory publishers and journals should be consulted every time when an author plans to submit scientif-
ic work to some of the journals that are indexed by Thomson Reuters/Institute for Scientific Informa-
tion-ISI and covered by the Journal Citation Report. Also, the authors are advised to be up to date
with new information regarding this controversial topic by informing themselves through various web-
sites and specialized scientific portals. The review paper itself strives to summarize the most recent in-
vestigations on predatory and spurious journals/publishers which affect the entire scientific communi-
ty, thus representing an outbreak with rising trend not only on national and regional level, but on global
level as well.
Key words: predatory, journals, publishers, hijacking, cyber criminals, scientific publishing, Bealls list
A University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Trg Dositeja Obradovia
3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
B University of the Free State, Disaster Management Training and Education Centre (DiMTEC), 205 Nelson Mandela Drive, Park
Declan Butler reported two sham journals that were Hijacked Scientific Journals
scamming authors (Butler, 2013). According to Butler a tool for cyber criminals
(2013), two print-only journals that do not offer elec-
tronic versions (only hard copy version) were hijacked Stories about fake websites that deceive people into
by cyber criminals. The hijackers set up fake websites paying for goods that are never delivered have been
and took money from authors who were attempting mentioned for many years. Today, a quality research
to publish their original research work in one of the work is only considered as such if it is published in
journals indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded journals that have an impact factor (IF), thus mak-
(SCIE), a Thomson Reuters metric product that com- ing the academic publishers shifting from a tradi-
piles impact factors (IF) for covered journals (Jalalian, tional business model to an open-access model (Jala-
Mahboobi, 2014). lian, Mahboobi, 2014). All this have made it profitable
Hijackers make money by stealing the identities of enough for scammers to add a new line in their busi-
legitimate journals and collecting the article process- ness: Real Money from Fake Journals (e.g. Beall,
ing charges on the papers that are submitted. Accord- 2012; Butler, 2013; Jalalian, Mahboobi, 2014).
ing to the recent research of Jalalian and Mahboobi As presented in the study of Jalalian and Mahboo-
(2014), the cybercriminals have cheated thousands of bi (2014), during the last several years, observations
professors and Ph.D. scholars (mostly from develop- pointed out that cyber criminals have started to im-
ing countries) and those who were in the urgent need itate the names of respectable scientific journals that
of publishing their articles in journals that are cov- publish only printed versions of articles. Such spuri-
ered by the Journal Citation Report (a Thomson Re- ous journals involved not only some relatively young
uters product). The fake scientific journals targeted journals, but also journals with long tradition in pub-
their potential victims using smart ideas both in web lishing such as Wulfenia Journal and Archives des
development steps, e-mail marketing and victim se- Sciences respectively (Figure 1).
lections, thus making themselves hard to distinguish Investigating these kinds of fake journals, Jalalian
from the authentic journals. Usually the target groups and Mahboobi (2014) found evidence of the hijack-
of the cyber criminals are journals with not so high ing of Jkull Journal from Iceland, a South African-
impact factor value (IF), because it would be difficult based journal entitled Bothalia and an old French
for the hijackers to convince the authors that a high journal Pense Journal, all of which have their im-
impact factor journal invited them to publish their pact factor compiled by Journal Citation Report (JCR)
research work, with peer review process done with- (IF varied from 0.017 to 1.067). Recent investigations
in just a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, claiming a noticed one more active spurious journal with hi-
low impact factor (> 0.0) on the fake website is good jacked website (http://scholarlyoa.com/2014/05/02/
enough for authors who are trying to get their work red-alert-polish-scholarly-journal-is-hijacked/),
published in a Thomson Reuters indexed journal in Sylwan, one of the oldest scientific journals in the
the shortest possible time (Jalalian, Mahboobi, 2013; world covering forestry topics, established in 1820 as
2014). the semi-official representative of the Royal Forestry
Also, respectable journal Science published the Corps in Poland (IF 0.295). Since 1966 it has been pub-
controversial article written by John Bohannon, a bi- lished by the Polish Forestry Society (http://sylwan.
ologist and science journalist based at Harvard Uni- ibles.waw.pl/pls/apex/f?p=SYLWAN:profil:0:::::/) (Fig-
versity. Bohannons paper addresses the research in ure 2). The hijacked version of the website purports
which author himself applied to different open-access to be the English Edition of the journal. Also, cy-
publishers by submitting a fake scientific article to a ber criminals edited the Wikipedia article to add the
large number of fee-charging open-access journals, counterfeit web address and distributed a call for pa-
revealing that less than 40% were living up to their pers to the academic public via e-mail, spamming for
promise of rigorously peer-reviewing what is pub- article submissions. Unfortunately, the indication is
lished (Bohannon, 2013). The news about this research that this number of active spurious journals will like-
quickly echoed through the entire scientific commu- ly continue to grow and expand on global level (Jala-
nity making the spotlight and posing some important lian, Mahboobi, 2014).
questions regarding the ethics in scientific publishing The most incredible thing is that cyber criminals
and quality of academic research in general. are acting in a very fast way. Only during month of
This review paper strives to summarize the most June and July 2014 the report from Dr. Mehrdad Jala-
recent investigation on this important topic which af- lian, who is actively involved in research of publica-
fects the entire scientific community, thus represent- tion ethics in academic journalism, indicated big
ing a global outbreak with rising trend. hijack of at least seven scientific journals such as:
Natura from Netherlands, Doriana from Italy,
Figure 1. Official website of the Archives des Sciences scientific journal (A) and warning message about journal hijacking
with posted internet sites addresses of the fake journal (B)
Source: http://www.unige.ch/sphn/
Cahiers Des Sciences Naturelles from Switzerland, sites of hijacked journals can be created by almost
and Mexican Journal of international studies from anyone who has even minimal knowledge of how to
Mexico. The hijackers cheated the Thomson Reuters design a website by using an open-source Content
by providing a web link to their fake website. Also, the Management Systems (CMSs). According to the Jala-
Journal of Balkan Tribological Association from Bul- lian and Mahboobi (2014), cyber criminals are defi-
garia, Ciencia e tecnica vitivinicola from Portugal nitely familiar with authors behaviors, and they know
and CADMO (Giornale italiano di Pedagogia sper- that many of authors are in urgent need of publishing
imentale/ Italian Journal of Experimental Pedagogy) a couple of ISI papers (i.e. articles published in jour-
from Italy have been hijacked by the cyber criminals nals that are indexed by Thomson Reuters/Institute
as well (http://www.mehrdadjalalian.com/). Spatial for Scientific Information-ISI) within a limited period
distribution of some recently hijacked scientific jour- of time. In the Republic of Serbia, a journal published
nals is presented in Figure 3. by the Serbian Biological Society is currently under
Paying for real, open-access publications is a rea- investigation by the Centre for Evaluation in Educa-
sonable thing to do, but the money should go to rep- tion and Science (CEON/CEES), which runs theSer-
utable, not spurious journals. The extent to which bian National Citation Index in cooperation with the
thousands of authors have incurred strong negative National Library of Serbia. The investigation follows
impacts as the result of having been duped into pub- a revelation by Scholarly Open Access blog that the
lishing in spurious journals is sad, both for those au- journal, Archives of Biological Sciences, accepted a
thors and the scientific community at large. Fake web- scientific paper within the 24 hours with no peer re-
13. Some predatory open access publishers intentional- uters/Institute for Scientific Information-ISI and cov-
ly assigned the word International or Global in ered by the Journal Citation Report. Also, academic
front of well-established and popular journals, for society in the Republic of Serbia needs to be more in-
example: International Journal of Applied Physics formed about this important issue by the competent
[IJAP], whereas the Journal of Applied Physics is institutions and working groups within the Ministry
published by IEEE (Rahman, et al., 2014). of Education, Science and Technological Development
in order to prevent possible frauds. All this efforts in
fighting and suppressing this new form of cyber crime
Conclusion and future preventive strategies within academic community can be strongly support-
Fake publishers and impact factors (IF) indicate an ed by a well organized open academic discussions on
urgent need to evaluate the methods that are current- various levels. Providing an open lecture series with
ly used to assess academic research. Doing a thor- media support can be a useful tool in this matter. The
ough retrospective assessment of journals and pub- question regarding predatory open access publishing
lishers is definitely an urgent need in todays academic represents an important issue that has to be briskly
world. Also, if author is considering publishing a re- discussed within academic scientific community on
search work in a scientific journal that is character- national, regional and global level as well.
ized as reputable journal there are few crucial things
to consider following the pre-submission process such
as: References
Have any of the colleagues from authors respective Basken, P. 2009. Open-Access Publisher Appears to
institution read, reviewed or published in that spe Have Accepted Fake Paper From Bogus Center.
cific scientific journal? The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from:
Where is the journal indexed? Can it be found via http://chronicle.com/article/Open-Access-Publish-
databases which stands as usual tool to access, use er-Appears/47717
or find specific scientific information? Beall, J. 2012. Predatory publishers are corrupting
Is it associated with a scholarly society familiar to open access. Nature 489, 179.
the author? Butler, D. 2013. Sham journals scam authors. Nature
Are there any reliable metrics associated with the 495, 421-422.
journal (traditional or alternative)? Bohannon, J. 2013. Whos afraid of peer review? Sci-
Who is the editor? Who is on the editorial board? ence 342, 60-65.
Are the members of the editorial board familiar to Garfield, E. 2006. The history and meaning of the jour-
the author itself? Is there any available information nal impact factor.JAMA: the journal of the Ameri-
about them? can Medical Association 295-1, 9093. DOI:10.1001/
Does the scientific journal come with the regular jama.295.1.90
trappings of a serial publication (e.g. ISSNs, DOIs, Gilbert, N. 2009. Editor will quit over hoax paper. Na-
etc)? (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/infor- ture News. DOI:10.1038/news.2009.571
mation-culture/2013/05/24/its-not-about-preda- Jalalian, M., Mahboobi, H. 2014. Hijacked Journals
tors-its-about-journal-quality/). and Predatory Publishers: Is There a Need to Re-
Think How to Assess the Quality of Academic Re-
The author has to make a distiction between so search? Walailak Journal of Science and Technolo-
called reputable journals and high-quality jour- gy 11-5, 389-394.
nals (Jalalian, Mahboobi, 2014) bearing in mind that Jalalian, M., Mahboobi, H. 2013. New corruption de-
scientific work which he/she tends to publish can be tected: Bogus impact factors compiled by fake or-
endangered by applying the research to some ques- ganizations. Electronic Physician 5-3, 685-686.
tionable journals. Due to the fast acting of cyber crim- Kolata, G. 2013. For Scientists, an Exploding World of
inals regarding the hijacking of the scientific journals, Pseudo-Academia. The New York Times. Retrieved
the authors are advised to act with extreme caution from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/health/
when submitting their research. They are also advised for-scientists-an-exploding-world-of-pseudo-aca-
to be up to date with new information regarding this demia.html
controversial topic by informing themselves through Larsen, P. O., von Ins, M. 2010. The rate of growth in
various websites and specialized scientific portals. It scientific publication and the decline in coverage
is highly recommended that the Bealls list of predato- provided by Science Citation Index. Scientometrics
ry publishers and journals should be consulted every 84-3, 575603. DOI:10.1007/s11192-010-0202-z
time when an author plans to submit scientific work to Rahman, J., Dexters, N., Engels, T. C. E. 2014. Preda-
some of the journals that are indexed by Thomson Re- tory open access journals in a performance-based
Appendix
Table 1. Potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access journals
International Journal
International Journal of
Asian Journal of Humanities of Interdisciplinary and
Agriculture Innovations and Journal of Bio Innovation
and Social Sciences Multidisciplinary Studies
Research (IJAIR)
(IJIMS)
Asian Journal of Business International Journal of International Journal of
Journal of Biomedical and
and Management Sciences Agricultural Management & Inventions in Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical Research
(AJBMS) Development Sciences (IJIPS)
Asian Journal of International Journal of Journal of Business
International Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Health Inventive Engineering and Management and Applied
Agronomy & Plant Production
Sciences Sciences (IJIES) Economics
International Journal of
The International Journal of Journal of Business Research
Asian Journal of Pharmacy Application or Innovation in
Knowledge, Innovation and (letme Aratrmalar
and Life Science Engineering & Management
Entreprenurship Dergisi)0
(IJAIEM)
International Journal
Asian Journal of International Journal of
of Applied Biology and Journal of Chemical and
Pharmaceutical Research and Language Learning and
Pharmaceutical Technology Pharmaceutical Sciences
Health Care (AJPRHC) Applied Linguistics World
(IJABPT)
International Journal of Latest
International Journal of Australasian Journal of
Research in Engineering and Journal of Computing
Applied Economic Studies Herpetology
Computing (IJLREC)
International Journal of International Journal of Latest International Journal of
Journal of Contemporary
Applied Linguistics & English Trends in Engineering, Science Applied Research & Studies
Issues in Business Research
Literature and Technology (IJLTEST) (iJARS)
International Journal of Law International Journal of
Journal of Coastal Life Australian Journal of Basic
and Legal Jurisprudence Applied Research & Studies
Medicine and Applied Sciences
Studies (IJllJS) (iJARS)
Australian Journal of Business International Journal of
International Journal of Life
Journal of Cosmology and Management Research Applied Sciences and
science and Pharma Research
(AJBMR) Biotechnology (IJASBT)
International Journal of Life Ayupharm: International International Journal of
Journal of Current Pharma
Sciences Biotechnology and Journal of Ayurveda and Artificial Intelligence and
Research
Pharma Research (IJLBPR) Allied Sciences Mechatronics
The International Journal of Journal of Current Trends in International Journal of Arts
Bioinformation
Management Big Data Analytics and Entrepreneurship (IJAE)
International Journal of International Journal of
Journal of ELT and Applied
Management and Business The Bioscan Ayurveda and Pharma
Linguistics (JELTAL)
Studies (IJMBS) Research
International Journal of International Journal of
Journal of Electrical
Management, Economics and Bioresearch Bulletin Basic Medical Sciences and
Engineering
Social Sciences (IJMESS) Pharmacy (IJBMSP)
International Journal of Journal of Emerging Trends in
International Journal of Bio
Management Research and Computing and Information Bioscience Discovery
(IJOBIO)
Business Strategy (IJMRBS) Sciences
International Journal of
Journal of Environmental Biosciences, Biotechnology International Journal of
Management Sciences and
Hydrology Research Asia (BBRA) Biomedical Science
Business Research (IJMSBR)
International Journal of International Journal of
Journal of Experimental
Mathematical Research & British Biomedical Bulletin Biosciences and Nanosciences
Sciences
Science (IJBSANS)
International Journal of British Journal of Economics,
Journal of Global Research in International Journal of
Mathematics and Soft Finance and Management
Computer Science (JGRCS) Business and Commerce
Computing (IJMSC) Sciences
International Journal Journal of International
The International Journal of
of Medical Science and Academic Research for British Journal of Science
Business & Management
Education (IJMSE) Multidisciplinary (JIARM)
International Journal of
International Journal of
FLUIDS: International Journal Electronics Communication
Research in Computer Research Revolution
of Medical Fluid Management and Computer Technology
Technology
(IJECCT)
International Journal of
International Journal of
FOREX Technical Journal Research in Engineering
Emerging Science and ResearchDesk
Library and Advanced Technology
Engineering (IJESE)
(IJREAT)
International Journal of
Frontiers in Aerospace International Journal of Researchers World Journal
Research in Engineering and
Engineering Emerging Sciences (IJES) of Arts Science & Commerce
Science
Galaxy: International International Journal of International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research Emerging Technology and Research in Engineering and Review of Research
Journal Advanced Engineering Technology (IJRET)
Global Journal of International Journal of
International Journal of
Management Science and Research in Medical and Reviews of Progress
Energy & Technology
Technology Dental Sciences
International Journal of International Journal of
Global Journal of Medical and Revista Iberoamericana de
Engineering and Advanced Research in Wireless Systems
Health Sciences (GJM) Ciencas
Technology (IJEAT) (IJRWS)
International Journal of
Global Journal of Medicine International Journal of Romanian Biotechnological
Engineering and Applied
and Public Health Reviews in Computing Letters
Sciences
International Journal of International Journal of
Sci-Afric Journal of Scientific
Golden Research Thoughts Engineering and Computer Science and Advanced
Issues, Research and Essays
Science (IJECS) Technology (IJSAT)
International Journal of
Hygeia: Journal for Drugs and The International Journal of
Engineering and Innovative Science International
Medicines Science & Technoledge
Technology (IJEIT)
International Journal of
Indian Journal of Applied- International Journal of
Engineering and Management Science Park
Basic Medical Sciences Science and Research
Research (IJEMR)
The IJES: The International
Indian Journal of Applied International Journal of
Journal of Engineering and Science Postprint (SPP)
Research Science and Technology
Science
Indian Journal of International Journal of International Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Biological Engineering and Science Science Commerce and Science Research Reporter
Research (IJPBR) Invention (IJESI) Humanities (IJSCH)
International Journal of International Journal of
Indian Journal of Research
Engineering Innovations and Science Innovations and Science Reuters
Anvikshiki
Research (IJEIR) Discoveries
Indian Journal of Research in
International Journal of International Journal of Scientific Research Journal
Pharmacy and Biotechnology
Engineering Inventions Sciences (IJSciences) (Scirj)
(IJRPB)
International Journal of
Indian Journal of Scientific International Journal of
Scientific & Technology Scientific World
Research (IJSR) Engineering Research
Research
International Journal of International Journal of
Indian Streams Research Seventh Sense Research
Engineering Research and Scientific and Engineering
Journal Group Journal
Applications Research (IJSER)
International Journal of International Journal of
Indo American Journal of South Asian Journal of
Engineering Research and Scientific and Research
Pharmaceutical Research Mathematics
Development (IJERD) Publications (IJSRP)
International Journal of
International Journal of Swiss Journal of Research in
Indo-Global Journal of Engineering Research and
Scientific Engineering and Business and Social Science
Pharmaceutical Sciences Science & Technology
Technology (SJRBSS)
(IJERST)