Saturday, December 30, 2017

Ivertis Journals "Wishing You With Mighty Heart"

Invertis University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, 243123, India, is spamming for a couple of subscription-fee journals.
Email
From: IJRE Invertis [mailto:ijre2011@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2017 3:23 AM
Subject: Happy New Year 2018
Dear All,
All of us at “Invertis Journal of Renewable Energy and Invertis Journal of Science and Technology” would like to wish you, your colleagues and family.
To End Something Old,
Will Start Something New,
Wishing You With Mighty Heart,
Though The Words Are Very Few!
Happy New Year 2018
Thanks and Regards
Editors
Invertis Journal of Renewable Energy,
Invertis Journal of Science and Technology.
Ph No- 011-42430358,9811193210.
Email -ijre2011@gmail.com, zh_zaidi@rediffmail.com
Sent with Mailtrack

Monday, December 25, 2017

Immense Pleasure from Open Access Text (OAT)

Open Access Text (OAT) seems to another collection of manuscripts from India. Why do I say that? 
⊗ 113 journals at www.oatext.com/journals with titles ranging from "Mouth and Teeth" to "Translational Brain Rhythmicity".
⊗ A known spammer (see http://www.scientificspam.net/?p=139) that takes "immense pleasure contact an eminent person" like me to publish in a radiology journal, even though I am neither an MD, a radiologist, or anything else connected with the field.
⊗ A lot of blather on the website, such as "OA Text galvanizes a community of scientists that collaboratively advances and communicates science and its power to ensure a sustainable future."
⊗ Journals publish trivial articles. E.g., Zięba-Palus J (2017) Forensic examinations of micro-traces. Forensic Sci Criminol 2, doi: 10.15761/FSC.1000113.
⊗ Email omitted an address for the journal, but it came from an Indian server.
⊗ The domain oatext.com is registered to Ranjith Donthi, 114A Billet Road, Romford, Essex RM6 5PR, UK, +44.7734963575, Ranjithdonthi@gmail.com. The email address is also connected to oatext.org, oatext.info, openaccesstext.info, openaccesstext.org, telanganareddysociety.com, telanganareddysociety.org, telanganareddyassociation.com, telanganareddyassociation.org.
⊗ The domain oatextjournals.com is registered to Journals Directory, Gachibowli, Hyderabad Telangana 500032 India, +91.7799886448, journals.directory@yahoo.com.
⊗ The domain oatext-news.com is registered to Camp RW, Gachibowli, Hyderabad Telangana 500089 Indica, +91.7799886448, camprw@yahoo.com.
Email
  • From: Mia Ashley [mailto:editor@oatext-news.net]
    Date: Thursday, December 7, 2017 2:29 AM
    Subject: Pediatric Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology - Radiology, and Diagnostic Imaging
    It is an immense pleasure to contact an eminent person like you. Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging Journal is an international peer-reviewed journal; it publishes high quality open access research articles with a special emphasis on Medical imaging, Radiotherapy, Musculoskeletal Radiology, Pediatric Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Abdominal Radiology, Cardiovascular Radiology, Chest Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology, Surgical Radiology and spreads the knowledge to everyone across the globe. You can submit your article from any discipline related to Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging in our upcoming issue of the journal. You are welcome to contribute your article to radiology@oatextjournals.com on or before 15th December 2017. Anticipating your quick response. ...
    Regards,
    Mia Ashley
    Editorial Assistant, Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging
    You are receiving this email because of your relationship with the sender [← which is to say none]

    Note: The journal's editor-in-chief is said to be "Yi-Hwa Liu, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist/Scholar in Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, Associate Professor (Adjunct) of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences at National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, and Professor (Adjunct) of Biomedical Engineering at Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan."
  • From: Mia Lucas [editor@oatextjournals.info]
    Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 9:11 am
    Subject: Waiver on publication fee | GMT
    Dear Researcher,
    Authors are cordially invited to submit papers for publication in Global Medicine and Therapeutics (GMT). We are requesting you to please give it a wider publicity by circulating it to Faculty member, Research scholars and encourage their active participation and submissions. Kindly submit your valuable research work by mailing us at editor.gmt@oatext.com on or before July 30th, 2018 or let us know your feasible time can avail 50% discount on the publication fee.
    Thanking you,
    Mia Lucas [← Has Mia changed her name, or are there multiple Mias?]
    Editorial Assistant

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Is Frontiers Media a Predatory Publisher?

Frontiers Media (frontiersin.org) is an open access publisher in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded by serious neuroscientists. I looked around to learn what people were saying about it after receiving a request to review a manuscript for Frontiers in Genetics. The associate editor who wrote me as well most of the large board of "chief editors" seem to be published researchers, but I do not know what to make of the journal's claim to have 5,689 editors. Zooming in on the field of "ELSI in Science and Genetics" yielded a list of 131 "associate editors." Frontiers notes the number of articles these editors have written; 27 had no publications of their own (or if they did, Frontiers neglected to mention them).

Naturally, Frontiers claims that all of its 59 journals covering more than 460 specialties conduct transparent and rigorous peer review. It also states that "We publish all papers that are scientifically correct." (Emphasis in webpage). This asservation is hardly transparent. What is a "scientifically correct" paper? One that reports true results? No journal can guarantee that. Does it mean that every article that meets some methodological criteria will be published? What about those that do not meet these criteria? How many of the 65,000 papers published in the profusion of journals are not only incorrect, but reflect poorly conceived or executed research?

Wikipedia lists various controversies about Frontiers articles and resignations of editors. Individuals have complained about the shallowness of the review process (e.g., 1, 2) and allegedly heavy-handed or unscrupulous tactics by Frontiers to shut down Beall's list of predatory journals (e.g., 3, 4). One Frontier editor wrote an interesting description of "How to create a top journal by accepting (almost) everything" (5). 

I do not like to label journals "predatory" on this blog, and some thoughtful, albeit anonymous, comments appear below in defense of Frontiers. Given the nonscientific polling and anecdotal reports that abound (6), however, it seems doubtful that publishing in these journals generally would be regarded as a coup.

Email

Frontiers in Genetics

  • From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Monday, April 19, 2021 5:26 AM
    Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    A quick follow-up to my previous emails, offering you the opportunity to guest edit a new article collection with a leading Frontiers journal. Leading an article collection - or Research Topic - with us is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the research you care about. As a guest editor you would set the scope for the new collection, then invite other experts in your field to collaborate by joining you as co-editors, or by submitting their own research.
    If you’d like to find out more about what’s involved, please do get in touch. My team and I will be happy to discuss it further with you.
    Best regards,
    Antonella Tesoro,
    Journal Manager
    Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
    Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
    Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you.
    Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field. If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.
  • From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com>]
    Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 5:24 AM
    Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit with a leading Frontiers journal.
    Based on your article, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference [← which was not an article, but rather a chapter in a book, and which had almost nothing in particular to do with genetics], we would like to work with you to develop a new article collection with us, shining a light on your field of research.
    If you’d like to take up the opportunity, please reply to let us know. My team and I will be back in touch shortly to discuss it further with you and let you know what’s involved.
    Best regards,
    Antonella Tesoro,
    Journal Manager
    Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
    Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
    Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you. Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field.
    If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.

Frontiers in Psychology

  • From: Marcelo Saad (Via FrontiersIn) [noreply@frontiersin.org]
    Date: Thu, Aug 26 at 12:38 PM
    Subject: Invitation to Review a Manuscript
    Dear Dr David H. Kaye ,
    I am writing to ask whether you would be able to review the manuscript "Development of an instrument to assess spirituality: reliability and validation of the Attitudes Related to Spirituality Scale (ARES)", by Camilla Casaletti Braghetta, Clarice Gorenstein, Yuan-Pang Wang, Camila Bertini Martins, Frederico Camelo Leão, Mario Peres, Giancarlo Lucchetti and Homero Vallada, submitted for consideration in Frontiers in Psychology, section Health Psychology.
    Please read below for details concerning the submission and inform us of your interest using the hyperlinks enclosed. In agreeing to review this manuscript, we trust that its subject matter falls within your area of expertise [← I am neither a psychologist nor an expert in developing scales] and that you are available to review the paper within 7 days. [← Are you kidding?]
    Before accepting this invitation, verify whether you have any potential conflicts of interest with the authors, including past collaborations or shared affiliation (see policy at [link deleted] ).
    Please note that should you participate in the review process and endorse publication of the paper, you are agreeing to the disclosure of your name on the published article. You may read below for more information. It is also important that you familiarize yourself with the Frontiers Collaborative Review Guidelines, accessible at ... . Briefly, the Frontiers review mandate is to evaluate the manuscript based on objective criteria, including the validity and rigor of the work.
    To ACCEPT this review invitation, please click on the link below. If you are not registered with Frontiers yet, you will be first asked to register. [link deleted]
    To DECLINE this review invitation, preventing further reminders, please click on the link below: [link deleted]
    Thank you for considering to review this manuscript.
    With best regards,
    Marcelo Saad
    Associate Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
    https://www.frontiersin.org/
    ***
    Frontiers Review Guidelines
    The Frontiers peer-review is a collaborative process with a focus on objective criteria, efficiency and transparency. A review questionnaire is provided in the online review forum to assist you in reviewing the manuscript.
    Reviewers identities are revealed at the end of the review process and you will be acknowledged for your work and contribution on the publication. Please note that you will remain anonymous throughout the entire review process. If irresolvable conflicts arise you may choose to withdraw from the review process and in such case you will remain anonymous. However, if the paper gets accepted for publication and no conflicts arose that led to your withdrawal, your contribution will be acknowledged on the publication.
    The Frontiers review process has unique features, including an interactive review stage, and a focus on objective criteria. To ensure an efficient review process please familiarize yourself with the Frontiers review guidelines: [link deleted]
    Reviewers are obliged to keep all manuscript files confidential and to delete all records after completing the review process. The review reports are also confidential and may only be shared with the authors and the handling editor of the manuscript in the review forum. Posting of the review report publicly is prohibited.
  • From: psychology.topics@frontiersin.com
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    Given the prominence of your research in the field, I wonder if you would be interested in discussing the possibility of editing a collection of articles with Frontiers in Psychology. As one of the newest and most innovative open-access journals, we help researchers to bring together new developments in their field through Frontiers' Research Topics, which are online collections of peer reviewed articles, developed and managed by leading researchers. The editorial team and I would be happy to discuss potential themes, and provide you with additional information about the project. Please let me know if you have any questions
    With an Impact Factor of 2.089, Frontiers in Psychology is the largest and most cited multidisciplinary psychology journal in the world, led by Chief Editor Prof. Axel Cleeremans of the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. We have published several article collections to date, such as: Towards an embodied science of intersubjectivity: Widening the scope of social understanding research, edited by Prof. Ezequiel Di Paolo and Prof. Hanne De Jaegher.
    If you would like to discuss this please let us know!
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin
    Research Topic Manager
  • From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Date: Fri Mar 30 2019 5:11 AM
    Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I am wondering if you received our earlier email (found below my signature)? I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create an editorial project around this (called Research Topics). In my first email I included links to our journal and examples of Research Topics.
    Please let me know if you would like to discuss this further. I would be happy to send you some more information, or we could schedule a phone call at a time that is convenient for you.
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin Research Topic Manager
    Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15
    You have received this message because you have previously been in contact with Frontiers or because, due to your profile and expertise, it was thought likely that it would be of interest to you. ...
  • From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Date: Apr. 5, 2019 5:13 AM
    Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I am wondering if you received our earlier email?.
    I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create a special issue around this (called Research Topics).
    I would be happy to provide you with information on how to get started with this project.
    Best regards,
    Kirsten Martin
    Research Topic Manager
    Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
    Frontiers Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15 Meet the Frontiers Team Frontiers journals lead in citations in their fields and rank in the top Impact Factor percentiles. Read the full analysis here.

Frontiers in Sociology

  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 4:20 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    While we all deal with the effects of COVID-19, making science open has never been more essential to global well-being. At Frontiers we’re still working to connect scientists and increase the visibility of their work. I noticed that you’ve collaborated with Prof. Susan Pope on the article "A comment on the PCAST report: Skip the "match"/"non-match" stage.". Prof. Susan Pope also led an editorial project with Frontiers, entitled "The Dialogue Between Forensic Scientists, Statisticians and Lawyers about Complex Scientific Issues for Court". Read more about this project here.
    I’m currently looking for guest editors who:
    • are working on exciting new areas that might benefit from an article collection
    • want to drive the direction of advancements in their field
    • want to collaborate with international peers across disciplines
    • want to make research available to anyone by publishing open access.
    Given your past collaboration and your own research activities I wonder whether you would be interested in discussing the possibilities of working with us on such a project.
    Would you have time next week to discuss this further by phone?
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers in Sociology has published several Research Topics including Immigration in the Global Era: Migrants and the People and Laws at Origin and Destination edited by Guillermina Jasso and Moshe Semyonov.
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 4:29 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you previously about an opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Please let me know if you would like to hear more.
    If you’re unable to be involved at this time, please feel free to suggest a time in the future when this might fit better with your schedule and commitments.
    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  • From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 4:27 AM
    Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Have you had a chance to consider this?
    If you have any questions, I’m happy to send you more information about what’s involved, or to discuss it further by phone. Would you be interested in setting up a call?
    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Best Regards,
    Mirjam Eckert, PHD
    Publishing Director
    Frontiers
    www.frontiersin.org
    Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
    1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
    Office T +41 21 510 17 15

Sunday, November 26, 2017

SciHuβ's "American Journal of ..."

Sci-Hub is best known as a pirate site for scientific papers. Articles on its spectacular success in this regard -- and the lawsuits against it by Elsevier and ACS -- have appeared in Nature, Atlantic, Wikipedia, the blog TorrentFreak, and elsewhere. The site co-opts university library servers to reach behind "paywalls." There is a Robin Hood quality to the site's founder and function that has garnered support, the blatant illegality notwithstanding.

In the original version of this posting, I wrote that
It also has six online journals of its own, named "American Journal of ... " The American Journal of Biotechnology and Molecular Sciences has no editorial board (11/26/17). Ditto for the American Journal of Medical and Dental Sciences. Its "current issue" is from 2013. The American Journal of Social and Management Sciences has more than 50 editors and no editor-in-chief. Only a handful are in America. They are
Stan Weeber, Ph.D., McNeese State University, (There is such a Professor of Sociology at McNeese State U., which proudly reports that "he received a Certificate in Social Justice Studies from the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University." The Oxford Roundtable is not affilated with Oxford University and apparently awards certificates to anyone who will come to its conferences.)
Tetsuji Yamada, Ph.D., Rutgers University (an economist who is an editor-in-chief of journals for OMICS and Sciforschen as well).
⊗ Dr. Sohail Mahmood, Independent Political Analyst (the author of at least six books on Pakistan),
Moustafa Abu EL Fadl, Ph. D., Old Dominion University (not listed in the university directory, but he received his Ph.D. there and is a visiting assistant professor at Clark University).
A reader pointed out that these journals are not associated with Sci-Hub -- that they are run by someone else using the name Science Huβ (for the homepage at https://scihub.org). The domain name is registered to Science Hub, LLC, P. O. Box 3423, Milford, Connecticut 06460, with the phone number (724)909-0482 and email url email@scihub.org.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Predatory Publishers Doing Well But Not Good, Reports Nature

Excerpts from a Comment in Nature (notes omitted) follow. The full comment is well worth reading.
... Frequent, aggressive solicitations from predatory publishers are generally considered merely a nuisance for scientists from rich countries, not a threat to scholarly integrity. [¶] Our evidence disputes this view. We spent 12 months rigorously characterizing nearly 2,000 biomedical articles from more than 200 journals thought likely to be predatory. More than half of the corresponding authors hailed from high- and upper-middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank


Of the 17% of sampled articles that reported a funding source, the most frequently named funder was the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The United States produced more articles in our sample than all other countries save India. Harvard University (with 9 articles) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of Texas (with 11 articles across all campuses) were among the eight institutions with the most articles. ...

Articles in our sample consistently failed to report key information necessary for readers to assess, reproduce and build on the findings. ...

Just the subset of articles that we examined contained data from more than 2 million individuals and over 8,000 animals. By extrapolation, we estimate that at least 18,000 funded biomedical-research studies are tucked away in poorly indexed, scientifically questionable journals. Little of this work will advance science. It is too dodgily reported (and possibly badly conducted) and too hard to find.

In our view, publishing in predatory journals is unethical. Individuals who agree to be studied expect that their participation could benefit future patients. Use of animals in biomedical research is rationalized on the assumption that experiments will contribute valuable information. ...
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota (7 papers), sent a note to Nature that articles in predatory journals are not considered for academic advancement. D. Y. Patil University in India, which, with 20 papers, had the most in our sample, did not reply. Nor did the University of Tehran ...
Our experience with these journals is that they provide both poor vetting and poor access. Their websites and archiving systems are unstable. Although some articles appear in PubMed (often after a delay), the titles are not indexed by Medline and are difficult to find. ...

Even without Beall's list, savvy authors should know when to suspect that a journal is predatory. Our research group has identified 13 characteristics of predatory journals; these include low article-processing fees (less than US$150); spelling and grammar errors on the website; an overly broad scope; language that targets authors rather than readers; promises of rapid publication; and a lack of information about retraction policies, manuscript handling or digital preservation. Manuscript submissions by e-mail and the inclusion of distorted images are also common.
However, predatory journals are becoming increasingly adept at appearing legitimate, and little is being done to warn authors away from them. Just one of the ten most common funders reported in our study, the University Grants Commission, India, provides guidance about journal selection on its website. ...

Funders and research institutions should increase the funds that they make available towards open-access publication; prohibit the use of funds to support predatory journal publications; make sure that researchers are trained in how to select appropriate journals when submitting their work; and audit where grantees, faculty members and research staff publish. When seeking promotion or funding, researchers should include a declaration that their CV is free of predatory publications. Publication lists could be checked against lists such as the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or the Journal Citation Reports. Developing automated tools to facilitate the proposed audits would also be valuable. ...

Substandard publications have permeated authentic electronic databases. A problem largely unknown a decade ago, there are now a roughly estimated 8,000 predatory titles that collectively 'publish' more than 400,000 items a year.
Source: David Moher, Larissa Shamseer, Kelly D. Cobey, Manoj M. Lalu, James Galipeau, Marc T. Avey, Nadera Ahmadzai, Mostafa Alabousi, Pauline Barbeau, Andrew Beck, Raymond Daniel, Robert Frank, Mona Ghannad, Candyce Hamel, Mona Hersi, Brian Hutton, Inga Isupov, Trevor A. McGrath, Matthew D. F. McInnes, Matthew J. Page, Misty Pratt, Kusala Pussegoda, Beverley Shea, Anubhav Srivastava, Adrienne Stevens, Kednapa Thavorn, Sasha van Katwyk, Roxanne Ward, Dianna Wolfe, Fatemeh Yazdi, Ashley M. Yu and Hedyeh Ziai, Stop This Waste of People, Animals and Money, 549 Nature 23 (2017), http://www.nature.com/news/stop-this-waste-of-people-animals-and-money-1.22554

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Spring Journals, An Academic Caterer

The journal that spammed me does not seem to exist. As of 11/23/17, it is not listed among the journals on the website for Spring Journals. It came from an "Editorial Officer" named "OE" and gave no physical address. The domain registration for springjournals.net lists Francis Ekevere, 2 Idahor St. Off Iyobo Off Uwelu, Benin, Nigeria, +234.7034247920, email@gmail.com, as a contact

The website offers the following description of the publisher: "Spring Journals is an International Academic Research Institute where all research issues are catered for ... ." Nothing beats a good academic caterer. The editorial boards of the two journals I clicked on had names only -- no titles or affiliations.
Email
From: Spring Journals  (articles@springjournal.net)
Sent: Nov 12 at 4:06 PM
Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS
Dear Colleague,
Spring Journal of Agricultural Biological Sciences invites Scientists, Academicians and Researchers to submit their original research/review articles for publication after a thorough review with eminent professionals in the same field. All articles published by Spring Journals will be peer-reviewed. Our goal is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within two weeks of submission. We invite you to kindly support this initiative by:
♦ Sending us your paper
♦ Joining as a member of editorial team (send your cv to review@springjournals.net)or,
♦ By telling a colleague about us. ...
Best regards,
Francis OE
Editorial Officer
Spring Journals (SJ)
E-mail: springjournals@live.com , sj@springjournals.net, www.springjournals.net

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Sryahwa Publications Hordes Journals

This Hyderabad publisher triple spammed me in one day. Its website announces (11/19/17) that "We horde internationally-recognized, peer-reviewed journals ... ." The horde includes articles on such topics as "the Dynamics Faced by Females as they Transition ... into the Abyss of Entrepreneurship." Checking out an article on "The New Universe Model" in the Open Access Journal of Physics (1:1, 2017), I learned that

[T]here is tardyonic centrifugal force and tachyonic centripetal force coexistence. It is the universe foundations. All matter has the tachyonic gravity. We should establish new cosmological theory and new particle physics theory. ... The Einstein field equations are wrong..Dark matter, dark energy, observable gravitational waves and black holes do not exist. Multiverse and inflation are mistake.

Because "Sryahwa Publications strictly opposes the plagiarism," it requires "author’s to submit a signed statement that ... no part ... are not copied ... ." That'll do it.

The physical address on the website (16192 Coastal Highway, Lews, Delaware 19958) is that of a single family residential house apparently used by Harvard Business Services, which describes itself as "the leading provider of Delaware business formations, [offering] the lowest Registered Agent Fee in the industry."

The domain sryahwapublications.com is registered to Jagadesh Babu, Madhuranagar, Hyderabad Other 500016 India, +91.995144340, jagdeshbabus@gmail.com. The domain spjournals.com is registered to Rakesh Tripathy, Ram Nagar, Delhi Bihar 558899 India, +91.9898989898, spjournals.com@mail.com.

UPDATES
1/14/19: Sryahwa is connected to the newer and questionable Syntax Publishers.
5/26/21: Windows Defender flagged the website for IJRHSS as possibly malicious.

Email
International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies (IJRHSS)
  • From: Editor_IJRHSS [info@sciconfs.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 6:56 PM
    Subject: Boost your Article Quality-IJRHSS
    International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies (IJRHSS)
    E-ISSN : 2394-6296 P-ISSN : 2394-6288 DOI Prefix : 10.22259/ijrhss
    Dear Professor,
    IJRHSS requires few more manuscripts to release its Current issue and we need your support in this regard.
    In the spotlight of your previous publications & research interests, we are humbly requesting you to submit your Research, Review, Case reports, Editorial, Clinical Images, Opinions, Short Commentaries or Letter to Editor to help in releasing the issue of our journal.
    Planning for Current Issue:
    Submission Date: 30th of May 2021
    Review Process Duration: 10 to 15 days
    Releasing Date: Mid of June 2021
    There is no specific topic for this issue; you can submit articles on any area of study as per your interest.
    We invite you to submit your articles/papers to editor@ijrhss.org
    Kindly submit your manuscript as soon as possible. We believe that you will definitely help in releasing the issue.
    Best Regards
    Christiana Lawrence [← She seems to manage every journal.]
    Journal Manager
    If you are not comfortable with our emails, please unsubscribe
Journal of Banking and Finance Management
  • From: Banking and Finance Management [info@confmeetings.com]
    Sent: Wed 10/28/2020 7:13 AM
    Subject: Requesting to submit your paper - Journal of Banking and Finance Management
    Dear Professor,
    Greetings from Sryahwa Publications!!!
    It is our immense pleasure to invite you and your research allies to submit a manuscript for the Journal of Banking and Finance Management. This is focused to publish quality research work in the fields of Banking and Finance Management. [← That's a surprise.]
    We publish all kinds of Original, Research, Review Articles, Short Communications, Letter to Editor [← only one?] etc.
    We Wholeheartedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to jbfm@sryahwapublications.com. No Publication fee (Free of Cost) for the articles which is received on or before November 10, 2020. For any queries feel free to contact us.
    Thank you
    Best Regards
    Christiana Lawrence [← She seems to manage every journal.]
    Journal Manager JBFM
  • From: Banking and Finance Management [info@confmeetings.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 10:17 AM
    Subject: Requesting to submit your paper - Journal of Banking and Finance Management
    Journal of Banking and Finance Management ISSN 2642-9144
    [Same content]
Journal of Law and Judicial System
  • From: Journal of Law and Judicial System [info@eurooa.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2020 7:09 PM
    Subject: Call for Papers - JLJS 2020
    Dear Professor,
    Greetings from Sryahwa Publications!!!
    It is our immense pleasure to invite you and your research allies to submit manuscript for Journal of Law and Judicial System. which is focused to publish the quality research work in the fields of Journal of Law and Judical System
    We publish all kind of original, research articles, review articles, short communications, Letter to Editor Etc.
    We whole heatedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to jljs@sryahwapublications.com
    We request you to submit the manuscripts on or before September 8, 2020.
    For any queries feel free to contact us.
    Thank you
    Best Regards
    Christiana Lawrence
    Journal Manager
    Journal of Law and Judicial System
  • From: Sindhu B (newsletter@spjournals.com)
    Sent: Mon 5/14/2018 7:46 AM (and again 7:56 AM; also 5/30/18 8:33 am, with a submission date of the next day, 5/31)
    Subject: Article Submission- Journal of Law and Judicial System
    Dear Esteemed Professor,
    Greetings from Sryahwa Publications. It is our immense pleasure to invite you to submit your articles towards Journal of Law and Judicial System is an open access; peer-reviewed academic journal serves as a worldwide forum to publish original and internationally significant contributions from all fields of Research Journal of Library and Information Science We would like to invite you to submit your valuable articles such as research articles, review articles, short communications etc., towards our journal. We assure you quick response and quality publication.
    We wholeheartedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to our journal. ... Papers may be submitted from any discipline related to suggested topics which include but are not limited. ... Article processing charges are waived of for this Issue. So we request you to submit your articles on or before May 10, 2018.
    Thank you
    With Best Regards
    Sryahwa Publications
  • From: Editor (newsletter@spjournals.com)
    Sent: Thu 11/16/2017 5:43 AM
    Subject: Requesting Free Articles - Law and Judicial Systems
    Esteemed Researcher,
    Journal of Law and Judicial System is an international journal that intends to publish most quality research papers in the fields of socio-legal studies and the psychology of law, criminology and social justice studies. We expect all the articles or papers to be original which are not published previously or submitted to any journal for the consideration for publication. We Wholeheartedly invites you to submit your articles/papers through jljs@sryahwapublications.com Here we can mentioned the scope of our journal which is included but not limited.
    Administration in Criminal Justice | Advanced Taxation: International Taxation | Advocacy | Animals, Culture and the Law | Bioethics, Personhood and the Law | Business Association | Business Law Clinic | Children and the Law | Civil Liberties and the Charter | Crime and Delinquency | Criminology | Environmental Law Centre Clinic
    Article processing charges are waived off for this issue. We request you to submit your papers on or before November 30, 2017. Kindly inform about our journal to your Friends / Students/ Colleagues / Associates and Fellow Researchers who may utilize this opportunity as a platform for their new research inventions.
    Thanking you
    Best Regards
    Editorial Office, Sryahwa Publications
Journal of Philosophy and Ethics
  • From: Editor JPE (jpe@sryahwapublications.com)
    Date: 5 August 2019 7:37 AM
    Subject: Article requests - Journal of Philosophy and Ethics
    Dear Professor,
    Greetings of the day!!! On behalf of the Editorial team, we invite you to submit your research articles for upcoming issue.We request you to submit your research articles on or before August 15th, 2019. For more information please visit at: Journal Home Page
    Best regards
    Journal Manager
    Christiana Lawrence
    Journal of Philosophy and Ethics

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Six Publishers with a Pit Bull on Their Editorial Boards

Dr. Olivia Doll has ample academic credentials on her C.V. She holds a doctorate in Canine Studies from the Subiaco College of Veterinary Science (Dissertation: Canine Responses to Avian Proximity); a master’s degree in Early Canine Studies from Shenton Park Institute for Canine Refuge Studies; and a bachelor’s degree from the Staffordshire College of Territorial Science. Her research includes such topics as the relationships between Doberman Pinschers and Staffordshire Terriers in domestic environments, the role of domestic canines in promoting optimal mental health in ageing males, the impact of skateboards on canine ambulation, and the benefits of abdominal massage for medium-sized canines.

However, the Shenton Park “Institute” is the animal shelter in which she lived as a pup, and there is no College of Veterinary Science in Subiaco. Her expertise in canine studies comes strictly from her skill, experience, and training (not to mention her instincts) as a five-year-old Staffordshire Terrier, AKA Ollie.

Nevertheless, this tongue-in-jowl record was sufficient to induce the following flaky academic journals to add the pit bull from Perth to their editorial boards:
■ *EC Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Echronicon Open Access
■ Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Care, Herald Scholarly Open Access
■ Journal of Tobacco Stimulated Diseases, Peertechz
■ Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, SMGroup
■ Alzheimer’s and Parkinsonism: Research and Therapy, SMGroup
■ *Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Disorders, Austin Publishing Group
■ *Global Journal of Addiction and Rehabilitation Medicine (Associate Editor), Juniper Publishers
■ Austin Addiction Sciences, Austin Publishing Group
Ollie's exploits received international coverage in newspapers and in Science in May. Yet, Dr. Doll remains on the websites of the journals marked with an asterisk (accessed November 18, 2017). I do not know if she is still reviewing papers for the Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Care, for that journal does not list names of editors or reviewers.

UPDATE (6/25/20)
The SMGroup journals now are presented as coming from JSMCentral (discussed on this blog), which "was initiated as an independent, peer reviewed, Open Access publishing organization with a mission ... to top a revolution in research education among the global scientific community."

REFERENCES

Friday, November 10, 2017

Siya Publishing House "assures you of taking the onus"

Siya Publishing House has one positive features. It does not pretend to have offices in the US or Europe. It lists no journals as yet, but does "Welcome proposals for authors/ institutes/ societies for publication of books/e-books/ Journals /e-journals/ proceedings in all subjects ranges" and does "all type of publishing work National International level."
Email
  • Sent: Fri 11/10/2017 5:06 AM
    From: Siya Publishing House, Delhi (India) [editorial@siyapub.in]
    Re: Publishing Your Book/Thesis/Manual with Us
    Respected Authors,
    Greeting from Siya Publishing House-Delhi, We invite you for publishing your manuscript with us. We firmly believe that authors build the pillars for our organization. We offer attractive terms, compensation for your time and efforts contributed by you. We appreciate and value quality in content and the presentation of the books we produce. On our part, we assure you of quality production, wider distribution and publicity. ... All work completes under supervision of expert panel. We assure you of taking the onus, having the readiness of our expert panel of editors, of giving the utmost justice to your work. In the process we aim at providing you with the best terms, the best possible quality, timely production and wide circulation.
    Looking forward to your kind reply.
    Thanking you
    with best regards, Team, Siya Publishing House, B-311, Block-B, Street No. 9, Near Tyagi Farm House
    Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi-110084, Mobile & Whatsup No.: +91-9654906121, Email: info@siyapub.com

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) expect you reply

The website of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute states (10/25/17) that

MDPI.com is a platform for peer-reviewed, scientific open-access journals operated by MDPI AG, based in Basel, Switzerland. Additional offices are located in Beijing and Wuhan (China) as well as in Barcelona (Spain).

However, the domain mdpi.com is registered to Perfect Privacy, LLC, of Jacksonville, Florida, making it hard to know who is really behind this megapublisher.

MDPI crows that

Our publishing activities are supported by more than 15,700 active scientists and academic editors on our journals' international editorial boards, including several Nobelists. More than 263,500 individual authors have already published with MDPI.

I guess it is better to have active rather than passive scientists working for you.The journals that attract these Nobelists have names such as Actuators, Algorithms, Axioms, Atoms, Animals, and Ads. Those are just a few of the ones that start with A. Alas, there are no entries for K, X, Y, and Z. W is for Water, and U is for Universe (and Urban Science). There is a Toxins and a Toxics, a Pharmaceuticals and a Pharmaceutics. Nevertheless, some MDPI journals may be sincere efforts to publish meaningful work. From 2010-2016, the editor in chief of Laws was Larry Gostin, a preeminent scholar of global public health law, and the journal includes some articles from mainstream law faculty, particularly in the health-law field.

If the emails to me are any indication, MDPI is scrounging for material by writing authors of articles appearing in bona fide journals whose titles suggest that they could prepare some related article for one of their journals. Indeed, they are even offering to waive publication charges for the recipients of their personalized spam.

UPDATE of 5 Oct 2022: The following discussions of MDPI are revealing. Some contain additional links:

Email

Mathematics

  • From: Nemo Guan [nemo.guan@mdpi.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 9:16 AM
    Subject: Call for Paper Reminder: [Mathematics] (IF: 1.747, ISSN: 2227-7390) — Special Issue "Mathematical Modelling and Hybrid Strategies for Risk and Uncertainty Management"
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    We contacted you on 31st of March, regarding a Special Issue entitled "Mathematical Modelling and Hybrid Strategies for Risk and Uncertainty Management", to be published in the journal Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390, IF 1.747). Prof. Dr. Svajonė Bekešienė and Prof. Dr. Ieva Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė are serving as Guest Editors for this issue. Based on your expertise in this field, we think you could make an excellent contribution.
    This Special Issue focuses on the characterization of uncertainties and the development of risk assessment models for the essential infrastructures in different areas of life. Both practical applications for reliability-based design code calibration and quantitative risk assessment, and novel methodological developments, including emerging areas, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, are included to provide a reliable method for multifaceted risk assessment. We invite you to contribute and submit your latest research work.
    For further reading, please follow the link to the Special Issue Website at: ...
    The submission deadline is 31 December 2021. You may send your manuscript now or up until the deadline. Submitted papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. We also encourage authors to send a short abstract or tentative title to the Editorial Office in advance (mathematics@mdpi.com).
    Mathematics is fully open access. Open access (unlimited and free access by readers) increases publicity and promotes more frequent citations, as indicated by several studies. Open access is supported by the authors and their institutes. An Article Processing Charge (APC) of CHF 1600 currently applies to all accepted papers.
    For further details on the submission process, please see the instructions for authors at the journal website ...
    We also invite you to post an early version of your paper on our free preprint platform, Preprints, allowing you to receive feedback from your peers and make your early results citable. For more information or to submit your preprint, visit ...
    We look forward to hearing from you.
    Kind regards,
    Nemo Guan
    Assistant Editor
    Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390; is a journal published by MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Mathematics maintains rigorous peer-review and a rapid publication process. All articles are published with a CC BY 4.0 license. For more information on the CC BY license, please see: ...
    To submit to the journal click here:
    Unsubscribe: ...
    Manage your subscriptions: ...
    MDPI
    St. Alban-Anlage 66
    4052 Basel Switzerland
    Tel. +41 61 683 77 34 Fax +41 61 302 89 18
    Disclaimer: MDPI recognizes the importance of data privacy and protection. We treat personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and with what the community expects of us. The information contained in this message is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this message in error, please notify me and delete this message from your system. You may not copy this message in its entirety or in part, or disclose its contents to anyone. [What community" thinks spam is confidential?]

Risk

  • From: Risks Editorial Office
    Subject: [Risks] Invitation to Publish a Paper Free of Charge in Risks (ESCI - Web of Science) - expect you reply
    Sent: Oct 24 at 9:30 PM
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    We noticed you published the following outstanding manuscript: Beyond uniqueness: the birthday paradox, source attribution and individualization in forensic science testimony. Law Probab. Risk 2013, 12, 3-11.
    On behalf of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen, of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), we would like to invite you to contribute a research article or review article for publication in our journal Risks. If you could submit an article by the end of 2017, the article processing charges (APCs) will be fully waived. Your submission will be paid high priority during processing. Please visit the Instructions for Authors before submitting a manuscript: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/risks/instructions/. Once your manuscript is ready, please submit it through our online submission system at http://www.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload/.
    *About Risks* ...*Rapid publication*: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 41 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 9 days (median values for papers published in this journal in 2016).
    In order for us to plan for the whole project, please kindly inform us within 3 weeks as to whether you would be willing to accept our offer. We look forward to hearing from you.
    Kind regards, Daria Shi, Assistant Managing Editor, Email: daria.shi@mdpi.com
    On behalf of Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
    --MDPI Branch Office, Beijing, Risks Editorial Office, Tel. +86 10 6193 4609, Fax +86 10 6193 4609, E-mail: risks@mdpi.com, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/risks/
    MDPI AG, Postfach, CH-4020 Basel, Switzerland, Office: St. Alban-Anlage 66, 4052 Basel, Tel.: +41 61 683 77 34; Fax: +41 61 302 89 18
  • From: Risks Editorial Office [risks@mdpi.com]
    Sent: 11/10/2017 1:46 AM
    Re: Gentle Reminder: [Risks] Invitation to Publish a Paper Free of Charge in Risks (ESCI - Web of Science) - expect you reply
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    We invited you to submit a free Paper to the journal Risks in October 2017. In case you missed our previous email, we would like to renew our invitation for you. We noticed you published the following outstanding manuscript: Deadly statistics: quantifying an 'unacceptable risk' in capital punishment. Law Probab. Risk 2017, 16, 7-34. On behalf of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), we would like to invite you to contribute a research article or review article for publication in our journal Risks. If you could submit an article by the end of 2017, the article processing charges (APCs) will be fully waived. Your submission will be paid high priority ...We look forward to hearing from you.
    Kind regards, Janine Li, Assistant Managing Editor, Email: janine.li@mdpi.com On behalf of Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
    --MDPI Branch Office, Beijing, Risks Editorial Office,Tel. +86 10 6193 4609, Fax +86 10 6193 4609, E-mail: risks@mdpi.com, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/risks/
    --MDPI AG, Postfach, CH-4020 Basel, Switzerland, Office: St. Alban-Anlage 66, 4052 Basel, Tel.: +41 61 683 77 34; Fax: +41 61 302 89 18
  • From: Risks Editorial Office (risks@mdpi.com)
    Sent: 11/2617, 10:46:19 PM
    Subject: Gentle Reminder: [Risks] Invitation to Publish a Paper Free of Charge in Risks (ESCI - - Web of Science) - expect you reply
    Dear Dr. Kaye,
    We invited you to submit a free Paper to the journal Risks in October 2017. In case you missed our previous email, we would like to renew our invitation for you. We noticed you published the following outstanding manuscript: Beyond uniqueness: the birthday paradox, source attribution and individualization in forensic science testimony. Law Probab. Risk 2013, 12, 3-11.
    On behalf of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), we would like to invite you to contribute a research article or review article for publication in our journal Risks. If you could submit an article by the end of 2017, the article processing charges (APCs) will be fully waived. Your submission will be paid high priority during processing. Please visit the Instructions for Authors before submitting a manuscript: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/risks/instructions/. Once your manuscript is ready, please submit it through our online submission system at http://www.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload/.
    *About Risks* ...
    *Rapid publication*: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 41 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 9 days (median values for papers published in this journal in 2016).
    In order for us to plan for the whole project, please kindly inform us within 3 weeks as to whether you would be willing to accept our offer. We look forward to hearing from you.
    Kind regards, Daria Shi, Managing Editor, Email: daria.shi@mdpi.com
    On behalf of Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Mogens Steffensen, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
    -- MDPI Branch Office, Beijing, Risks Editorial Office, Tel. +86 10 6193 4609, Fax +86 10 6193 4609, E-mail: risks@mdpi.com, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/risks/
    -- MDPI AG, Postfach, CH-4020 Basel, Switzerland, Office: St. Alban-Anlage 66, 4052 Basel, Tel.: +41 61 683 77 34; Fax: +41 61 302 89 18

Monday, October 23, 2017

Journal Publishers Attack ResearchGate

Although ResearchGate is not a journal publisher, and hence not within the usual scope of this blog, it does send a lot of spam to induce authors to post reprints or verify their authorship of previously published articles. It also sends a ton of poorly matched job announcements, but these are balanced to some extent by some useful notices of new papers citing one's work.

Apparently, ResearchGate has been quite successful in amassing a digital depository of publications. A Science news article of October 6, 2017, reports that
Scholarly publishing giants Elsevier and the American Chemical Society (ACS) have filed a lawsuit in Germany against ResearchGate, a popular academic networking site, alleging copyright infringement on a mass scale. The move comes after a larger group of publishers became dissatisfied with ResearchGate’s response to a request to alter its article-sharing practices.

ResearchGate, a for-profit firm based in Berlin that was founded in 2008, is one of the largest social networking sites aimed at the academic community. It claims more than 13 million users, who can use their personal pages to upload and share a wide range of material, including published papers, book chapters, and meeting presentations. Science funders and investors have put substantial funds into the firm; it has raised more than $87 million from the Wellcome Trust charity, Goldman Sachs, and Bill Gates personally.
An article in the news section of Nature provides more background on the publishers' concerns.

OMICS Journal of Forensic Psychology: "It is merely an extrasensory perception"

OMICS has long been criticized for aggressively and deceptively promoting conferences and journals of dubious quality. In 2012, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that although OMICS began publishing in 2008, "only about 60 percent of [its 200] journals have actually published anything."  In that year, NIH informed OMICS that PubMed Central would not accept any OMICS Publishing Group journals because the "[National Library of Medicine's] selection group has raised serious concerns about the publishing practices of your organization." A letter demanded "that you cease and desist from employing our name or the name of any of our agencies institutes or employees on your website for other than true factual statements."

The Journal of Forensic Psychology (visited 10/23/17) "publishes a wide range of article in this discipline covering all modern trends in ... Legal Psychology, Organizational Psychology, ... Paranormal activity, ... and creates a platform for the authors to contribute towards the journal. ... The editorial office promises to peer review the submitted manuscripts and ensures quality." Such quality comes from review that takes no more than two weeks and publication days later. Ironically (considering the diction in the email), the journal's email touts "language correction services for authors from non-English speaking regions."

The website's page on paranormal activity is definitely beyond the normal. It explains that
The paranormal Activity refers to as the beyond the range of normal experience of or pertaining to the events or perceptions occurring without any scientific explanation. It is merely an extrasensory perception. It is used to describe a variety of activity and phenomenon. It is also referred to as the phenomenon that in one or more prospects exceeds the limit of what is physically impossible according to scientific assumptions.
The page lists "Expert PPTs" and "Speaker PPTs" on topics ranging from "Development of a new predisposition SNP-panel focused on customized diet and physical activity setting" to "Emotional reactivity."

The journal has no editor-in-chief -- at least, the link to that position leads to a blank page. The US members of the editorial board are said to be
Scott A. Johnson, American College of Forensic Examiners International
Jonathan K. Appel, Professor, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Tiffin University
Gordon Arthur Crews, Tiffin University
Sheila Jane Foley, Assistant Professor, Bay Path University Longmeadow
Bryanna Hahn Fox, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, University of South Florida
Christophe Le Dantec, Assistant Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychology , La Sierra University
Robert A. Leark, Professor, Alliant International University
Gordon E. Taub, Licensed Psychologist, Licensed School Psychologist, University of Central Florida
Clicking on the word "biography next to the names pops open a bubble that says "biography."And the email even has a "disclaimer" cautioning against relying on its content.

The emails do not make the fact the fact that the journal is part of Omics very clear. The registrant contact information for the domain "neurologyinsights.org" used in the journal's email is "Whois Agent, Domain Protection Services, Inc., PO Box 1769, Denver, CO 80201." However, the name servers are in India, and "omicsonline.org" is part of another email address that is included.
E-mail
  • From: Journal of Forensic Psychology
    Sent: October 23, 2017, 5:44 AM
    Subject: Forensic Psychology Research Submission
    Dear Dr David H. Kaye,
    Greetings! “Journal of Forensic Psychology” (ISSN: 2475-319X) aims to provide an Open Access platform for the researchers to share their expert knowledge in basic, clinical and applied studies related to Forensic Psychology. We have chosen selective scientists who have contributed excellent work in related field, your contribution help us release best quality articles.
    As we celebrate Open access week from October 23-29. Considerable Discount will be given on the publication fee for articles submitted in between this stipulated period (October). ... Article submitted on or before 31 October, 2017 will be highly appreciated. Submit your manuscript by e-mail at editor.jfps@omicsonline.org Or forensicpsy@neurologyinsights.org ... If it is not feasible for you to submit paper in this month, then kindly let us know your feasible time for contribution for further issue submissions. ... Hope to receive a positive reply and submission.
    With kind regards, Ahamed Bilal M, Journal Editor and Coordinator, Journal of Forensic Psychology, Kemp House, 152 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, Fax: +1-650-618-1414, Phone: +44-2035-1423-46/ +1-650-268-9744,Phone: +1-702-714-7001(ext: 9040)
    Disclaimer: This message is confidential. It may also be privileged or otherwise protected by work product immunity or other legal rules. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received it by mistake, please let us know by e-mail reply and delete it from your system; you may not copy this message or disclose its contents to anyone. The views, opinions, conclusions and other information’s expressed in this electronic mail are not given or endorsed by the company unless otherwise indicated by an authorized representative independent of this message.
  • From: Journal of Forensic Psychology (forensicpsy@neurologyinsights.org)
    Sent: Fri 1/12/2018 5:04 AM
    Subject: Experts in Forensic Psychology
    Hearty Wishes and Greetings from Journal of Forensic Psychology (ISSN: 2475-319X)
    We have chosen selective scientists who have contributed excellent work, to help us release best quality articles. Your published papers has appended value to the existing literature, thus I kindly request you to contribute any kind of article (Research, Review, Short Commentaries, Case reports, Mini Review, etc.)
    If possible we would appreciate receiving by on or before 28th January 2018.
    If it is not feasible for you to submit paper in this month, then kindly let us know your feasible time for contribution for further issue submissions.
    You may submit your manuscript by e-mail at forensicpsy@neurologyinsights.org or editor.jfps@omicsonline.org or submit the manuscript to the journal online at: Sexual Offenders [http://www.editorialmanager.com/medicalsciences/default.aspx]
    Publication Benefits:
    • 14 days rapid review process.
    • Publication within 7 days of acceptance.
    • Fast, fair and constructive peer-review.
    Language-correction services for authors from non-English speaking regions.
    To visit our Current issue page
    Hope to receive a positive reply and submission.
    With kind regards, Ahamed Bilal M, Journal Coordinator, Journal of Forensic Psychology
    Kemp House, 152 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, Phone: +44-2035-1423-46/+1-650-268-9744
    [Same inane disclaimer]
    Please ignore if you have received this mail previously.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Crimson Publishers and Purple Prose: "what you read here could change life, as we know it"

You've got to love 'em. They are active

♥ keep[ing] the knowledge flowing
♥ ensuring the quality by reputed editors
♥ striv[ing] towards betterment of societal conditions benefitting global humanity
♥ nurturing the essential temper
♥ chang[ing] life, as we know it..

They do all this from the peculiar address of "Third Avenue, 2nd floor, New York - 10016, USA." (The website may be referring to 600 Third Ave, which houses "virtual offices and addresses."). Their domain, crimsonpublishers.com, is registered to Perfect Privacy, LLC," a Florida company.

The journal that spammed me -- based on my "innovative profile which would apt to our Journal proficiency" -- is named Forensic Science & Addiction Research. It "aims to showcase advanced research in the field of forensic science, addiction research and other related areas."Apparently,  "related" is construed liberally. The "latest articles" have such titles as "Effect of Strength Training on Physical Variable of College Men Cricket Players," "Lack of Job Satisfaction Among Nurses," and (my favorite) "Pedagogy Integrated with Information Technology to Promote Its Effectiveness Should be Keen on Humanities." The US members of the editorial board are said to be

Richard H Martin, Mercer University
David P Keys, New Mexico State University
Robert L Clegg, California Health Sciences University
Ronn Johnson, Creighton University
Alireza Heidari, California Southern University

UPDATES

6/19/18: The logo on the Crimson website is "Wings to the Research," but this does not mean that they are about to fly away. Today's spam came from a biomedical journal with no apparent connection to Crimson. The email used a different domain, as did the journal's website. Neither identified Crimson as the publisher. However, the telephone number leads to two publishers (or is it one?) at the same fake address -- Crimson and Lupine Publishing. Of the two websites, only Crimson's lists the journal.

2/10/19: Some insights into these related endeavors come from the company information database Buzzfile, which reports that Crimson, Lupine, and Biomedical Research Network share the address of 7865 S Grand Baker St, Aurora, CO 80016. The building at the address could be the home of Sudheer Kaku. The file on Crimson Publishers includes these questions and answers:

Q. How big is Crimson Publishers?
A. ... estimated to generate $39,834 in annual revenues, employs approximately 1 people [sic] at this location
Q. How long has Crimson Publishers been in business?
A. ... approximately 2 years.
Q. Is there a key contact at Crimson Publishers?
A. Sudheer Kaku is the Member at Crimson Publishers. You can contact Sudheer at (502) 432-6936.
Email
Forensic Science and Addiction Research
  • From: Forensic Science and Addiction Research
    Date: 10/17/17
    Subject: Intervention in Review
    Good Morning! Your time is my preference to confer about our Journal’s concern. While I was in process of framing the review panel, I found your innovative profile which would apt to our Journal proficiency, so I request you to be a part of our Forensic Science & Addiction Research. I am confident that your association with us will be an asset to our Journal. If you wish to fulfill our journal requirements, Drop your CV, Short biography and recent photograph at addiction@crimsonpublishers.com. Hope you won’t disappoint us. #fff2cc;">Kindly acknowledge to this email for further queries.
    Best Regards,
    Christina Fern
  • From: Kaye, David
    Date: Wed 10/18/2017 10:49 AM
    Subject: Re: Intervention in Review
    Dear Ms. Fern,
    Why don’t I stop by when I am in New York? What is the street number of the office building?
    Best,
    DHK
    [Note: Wisely, perhaps, Fern never replied.[
  • From: Forensic Science & Addiction Research [addiction@crimsonpublisher.com]
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2020 10:45 AM
    To: Kaye, Miranda P
    Subject: Research Article/Case report Dear Professor
    Dear Professor,
    Hope you are doing well during this pandemic situation.
    We are in need of articles for successful release of Volume 5 Issue 3 by 10th December? Is it possible for you to support us with your 2-page opinion/case report or mini review, we hope 2-page article isn't time taken for eminent people like you.
    We hope you won't disappoint us.
    Acknowledge this email within 24hrs.
    Christina Fern
    Forensic Science & Addiction Research (ISSN: 2578-0042)
    Crimson Publishers LLC, 555 Madison Avenue, 5th floor, New York, NY 10022, USA, Tel: +1 (929) 600-8049
Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research
  • From: nutri@openaccessjournal.us
    Date: Tue 6/19/2018 8:48 AM [and 6/25, from the sender biosensors@openaccessjournal.us and with the title "In shortfall of one Article"]
    Subject: Request for one Article
    Good Morning! Can we have your article for successful release of Volume 5 Issue 4 in our Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) (ISSN: 2574 -1241) Impact Factor: 0.548. In fact, we need one article to accomplish the Issue prior 28th June; we hope that the single manuscript should be yours. If this is a short notice please do send 2 page opinion/mini review/case report, we hope 2 page article isn’t time taken for eminent people like you. Your trust in my efforts is the highest form of our motivation, I believe in you that your eminent manuscript brings out the best citation to our Journal. We do hope you will feel able to respond positively to this invitation, and we look forward to hearing from you shortly. Anticipate for your promising response.
    Best Regards,
    Angela Roy [emphasis and color in original]

Friday, October 6, 2017

Scientific Federation Wants You To "avail this opportunity to share your scientific excellences"

Scientific Federation is "taking the step to transform the technology" that is "now-a-days ... growing in rapid way in all aspects of medical, physics, clinical and pharma." How? Primarily through "proficient and international scientific conferences worldwide with associating the world class researchers." (For more on Scientific Federation's conference business, see https://flakyc.blogspot.com/2017/01/scientific-federation-sf-wants-you-to.html and http://flakyc.blogspot.com/2017/04/greetings-from-forensic-science.html.) Operating out of Hyderabad (judging by the domain registration), this "abode for researchers" also publishes some journals (or wants to).

UPDATE 1/4/22: Comments posted below indicate that Scientific Federation was founded in 2011 and that it is headquartered in Hyderabad with Reddy Sekhar as director of business operations. See https://www.easyleadz.com/people/reddy-sekhar-1101214. A Zoom Info page on him states that he was a manger at OMICS International from 2012-2016 and that Scientific Federation is based at 10114 Century Dr., Ellicott City, Maryland. OMICS is notorious for its fraudulent practices. According to several real estate websites, the US address belongs to a three or four-bedroom home.

SciFed Journal of Forensics
Among SciFed's laundry list of journals is the SciFed Journal of Forensics. The journal "encourages genuine, non-plagiarized ... submissions [that's good to know!] such as research article, ... image article, videos & graphical presentations ... ." If you like to write papers that drag on and on, it may be the place for you, as it "aims in publishing enormous esteemed manuscripts."
The editor-in-chief is Lawrence A. Presley of Liberty University. Mr. Presley is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice. He also works for Juniper Publishers' Journal of Forensic Sciences and Criminal Investigation, another flaky journal. The 27-member editorial board has no US members. One member is a Nigerian graduate student who is "an editor to handful of journals." Another is a cancer researcher with no forensic science (or other) publications mentioned, but he "has peer-reviewed many journals."

The undesired email  includes
  • Sent: Friday, November 3, 2017, 7:31:11 AM EDT
    From: Journal of Forensics
    Re: Call for Papers -- Forensics
    Dear Dr. David H. Kaye,
    Thank you for your valuable time in reading this mail! Based on your expertise in “Forensics”, we warmly solicit your participation in the Inaugural Edition for SciFed Journal of Forensics, which we are planning to release on December 2017. Being impressed, by your quality work, we are contacting you to know if you can associate with us by submitting your upcoming research work. Last date for submission: November 30th 2017. If a need arises, we will extend the date of submission as per your convenience.
    Publication Fee: In order to meet rigorous academic standards, articles needs graphics, formatting, and the editing services for which we charge a minimal amount of 649 US Dollars as a publication fee for Scientists and for students we charge 299US Dollars for this Inaugural Issue. Please do not hesitate to mail us for any queries.
    Best Regards,
    Paul Stephen,
    Assistant Scientific Editor, E: editorial.sfjof@scifed.com, T: +44-20-3477-8009
SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights
The US members of the editorial board are said to be
⊗ Brij Mohan, Louisiana State University
⊗ James A Mitchell, California State University
⊗ Paul Brace, Rice University
⊗ Khaled Abou El Fadl, University of California Los Angeles
⊗ Ann Bartow, University of New Hampshire
⊗ Malinda Wilson G, Alabama A&M University
⊗ Jeff D Dailey, Angelo State University
⊗ Xuebing Yang, Penn State Altoona
⊗ Jon R Cavicchi, University of New Hampshire School of Law
⊗ Steven D Roper, Florida Atlantic University
The undesired email includes
  • From: SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights
    Sent: 10/6/17, 10/20/17
    Subject: Reminder : SciFed Intellectual Property Rights-Call for Papers
    Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
    Greetings from SciFed. Recognizing your very busy schedule, As we haven't received your response yet, We are sending you this note as a reminder to remind you that, We ... invites you to submit a paper in the area of your research, academic or professional interest related to any of the topics included in the Journal of Intellectual Property Rights.
    Kindly avail this opportunity to share your scientific excellences and be a part of our esteemed organization. Would you please have your assistant drop us a note. If you require further information. We are sincerely looking forward to receiving your acceptance.
    Best Regards,
    John Anthony
    Assistant Scientific Editor, SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, Scientific Federation, editorial.sjipr@scifed.com, T: +44-20-3477-8009
  • From: SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights [editorial.sjipr@scifedgroup.net]
    Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 8:47 AM
    Subject: Reg: SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights - Call for Papers
    Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
    Greetings of the day..!! SciFed Group cordially invites you for the submission of manuscripts in the SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights for Volume 2 Issue 1. Our Eminent Editorial Board Members will process all the articles submitted, in an unbiased manner.
    Publication fee: In order to meet rigorous academic standards, articles needs graphics, formatting, and the editing services for which we charge a minimal amount 299 USD for this issue.
    Kindly let us know your opinion regarding submission of your valuable work. We will be glad to assist you, if you have any concerns. Finally, we appreciate your patience in reading this mail.
    Kind Regards,
    Maisie Jayne
    SciFed Journal of Intellectual Property Rights
    SciFed Publishers, E: editorial.sjipr@scifedgroup.net T: +1-302-549-2192
Other Email
See the entry for Scientific Federation on Flaky Academic Conferences

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Lambert Academic Journals: OmniScriptum, OmniWaste

Lambert Academic Publishers (LAP) is "an imprint of OmniScriptum." It seeks to publish as many of the "invaluable" "5,000,000 theses [that] are written worldwide in the research industry" that it can get its hands on. According to an article in Slate, with the aid of Amazon.com, it also sells collections of Wikipedia articles as its own books. For additional adverse reports, see
⊡ Warning from Bond University Library about "Your Thesis and the Predatory Publisher"
⊡ Blog reporting use of stock photos as pictures of editors
⊡ Same blogger claiming LAP is "a company based in Mauritius and Eastern Europe" rather than Germany, as advertised
Email
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing (d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com)
    Sent: Sep 7, 2017 at 5:42 AM
    To: Kaye D
    Re: Kaye D’s work at the Penn State University
    Dear Kaye D,
    I am Dyviah Ramnatsing from Lambert Academic Publishing. Your work « KINSHIP MATCHING WITH DNA DATABASES (AKA “FAMILIAL SEARCHING”): LEGAL AND ETHICAL ARGUMENTS » from Penn State University would be of interest to an international audience, and that is why I am writing to you. We know it is not conventional for a publisher to pro-actively reach out to authors, but we are not a conventional publisher. ... We are looking for authors in the field you have researched and your work has caught our interest. We are interested to publish it as a printed book. Let me know how this sounds to you and I can get back to you with a detailed brochure.
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor, e: d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com
    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is managed by: OmniScriptum AraPers GmbH, Bahnhofstraße 28, D-66111 Saarbrücken, Germany
    Managing Directors: Dr. Wolfgang Philipp Müller
    Toufic El Hajji
    Benoit Novel, Amtsgericht Saarbrücken · HRA 18918
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing [d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com]
    Sent: September 14, 2017, 6:09:35 AM EDT
    Re: Inquiry regarding Kaye D’s work at the Penn State University
    Dear Kaye D,
    I wanted to confirm if you received my previous email about the free-of-charge publishing of your work « KINSHIP MATCHING WITH DNA DATABASES (AKA “FAMILIAL SEARCHING”): LEGAL AND ETHICAL ARGUMENTS » [an obscure 2011 talk that never was reduced to writing]. Just in case you need additional information to decide – here is an overview of what we do and who our authors are - http://brochure.omniscriptum.com/info-lap/0537275001445433253. Please give me a short feedback if you are interested in getting your work published. We would surely be sad to see your work's full potential go un-explored, and you would give us a hard time finding something similar in your field of research, so please take a moment to consider before blindly saying no. Thank you in advance!
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing [d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com]
    Sent: Oct 7 at 6:08 AM
    Dear Kaye D,
    I hope you are doing well! I wanted to ask if you had a look at our brochure? If you have some questions (and I am sure you do because publishing your work is a major achievement), let me know if we can arrange a phone call to discuss further. If publishing your work is not interesting for you, just drop me a short reply.
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor
    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is managed by: OmniScriptum AraPers GmbH, Haroldstraße 14, D-40217 Düsseldorf, Germany, Managing Directors: Dr. Wolfgang Philipp Müller, Toufic El Hajji, Benoit Nove
  • From: Tatiana Melnic [mailto:t.melnic@lap-publishing.com]
    Date: Monday, November 6, 2017 7:10 AM
    Subject: Publication of your book based on "Deadly statistics: quantifying an ‘unacceptable risk’ in capital punishment"
    I am Tatiana Melnic from OmniScriptum Publishing Group. We would be interested to publish a printed book based on your research entitled "Deadly statistics: quantifying an ‘unacceptable risk’ in capital punishment". In brief, OmniScriptum is dedicated to scientific works written in English. Our books are distributed worldwide through well known shops such as Amazon, Morebooks, Barnes & Nobles. In addition, we bear all costs related to the production, marketing and distribution of our books. David H. Kaye, would you agree to receive more information? I am looking forward to your reply.
    Sincere regards,
    Tatiana Melnic
    Editor, e: t.melnic@lap-publishing.com
  • From: Tatiana Melnic [mailto:t.melnic@lap-publishing.com]
    Date: Monday, November 13, 2017 9:36 AM
    Subject: "Deadly statistics: quantifying an ‘unacceptable risk’ in capital punishment"
    One week ago I sent you an email regarding the free-of-charge publication of your work. Are you interested in pursuing this opportunity? The topic of your research is of current interest to us and we will be glad to consider publishing it in book format. For more details about our Publishing House, feel free to access our website, Facebook page and the following e-brochure: http://brochure.omniscriptum.com/info-lap/0537275001445433253
    Thank you!
    Sincere regards,
    Tatiana Melnic
    Editor
    e: t.melnic@lap-publishing.com
    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, is managed by: OmniScriptum AraPers GmbH, Haroldstraße 14, D-40217 Düsseldorf, Germany Managing Directors: Dr. Wolfgang Philipp Müller, Toufic El Hajji, Benoit Novel Amtsgericht Düsseldorf · HRB 81623
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing [d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com]
    Date: Tue 9/18/2018 6:29 AM
    Subject: David Kaye’s work at the Arizona State University
    I am Dyviah Ramnatsing from Lambert Academic Publishing. Our attention has been caught by your research «Forensic Statistics: Intelligence, Evidence, and Law». We would be interested in publications on this topic with you. In case you have other unpublished research works (thesis, monograph) in this field, would you be interested to publish it with us?
    Here is what we offer you: - free of charge publishing - simplified and fast publishing process - worldwide sales of your work - no commitments - you and only you remain the copyright holder of your work - access to eco-friendly Print-on-Demand technology
    Would you agree to receive more information?
    I am looking forward to your reply.
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor
    e: d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com
    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is in cooperation with: MoreBooks! Marketing SRL, Balti, 4 Industriala street, Moldova, Europe Management: Ina Bordeainu, Registration No. 1011602004108
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing [d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com]
    Date: Tue 9/25/2018 9:24 AM
    Subject: Inquiry regarding David Kaye’s work at the Arizona State University
    I wanted to confirm if you received my previous email about the free-of-charge publishing of your work « Forensic Statistics: Intelligence, Evidence, and Law »? Just in case you need additional information to decide – here is an overview of what we do and who our authors are - http://brochure.omniscriptum.com/info-lap/0537275001445433253
    Please give me a short feedback if you are interested in getting your work published. We would surely be sad to see your work's full potential go un-explored, and you would give us a hard time finding something similar in your field of research, so please take a moment to consider before blindly saying no.
    Thank you in advance!
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor
    e: d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is in cooperation with: MoreBooks! Marketing SRL Balti, 4 Industriala street, Moldova, Europe Management: Ina Bordeainu Registration No. 1011602004108
  • From: Dyviah Ramnatsing [d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com]
    Date: Thu 10/18/2018 9:57 AM
    Subject: Publishing inquiry for David Kaye’s work - Phone Call Appointment
    I hope you are doing well!
    I wanted to ask if you had a look at our brochure? If you have some questions (and I am sure you do because publishing your work is a major achievement), let me know if we can arrange a phone call to discuss further.
    If publishing your work is not interesting for you, just drop me a short reply.
    Sincere regards,
    Dyviah Ramnatsing
    Editor
    e: d.ramnatsing@lap-publishing.com LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is in cooperation with: MoreBooks! Marketing SRL Balti, 4 Industriala street, Moldova, Europe Management: Ina Bordeainu Registration No. 1011602004108