OMICS Journal of Forensic Research

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." As of 2012, 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 website of its Journal of Forensic Medicine includes such morsels as "Forensic Medicine is a multidisciplinary subject ... used to for the scientific assessment of DNA, blood samples, and so on. Forensic plays an important role in criminal investigations and it is equally used in archeology, Anthropology, Astronomy, Biology, Geology and Victimology." Lo and behold, the description of the Journal of Forensic Research is generated from the same mold:  "Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject ... used to for the scientific assessment of DNA, blood samples, bones and so on. Forensic plays an important role in criminal investigations and it is equally used in archeology, Anthropology, Astronomy, Biology, Geology and Victimology." All OMICS journals advertise a "21 day rapid review process."

Who edits such journals, and what researchers will fork over $3,019 (or $1,719 as of 4/30/17) to avail themselves of its "platform for the authors to make their contribution towards the journal and the editorial office promises a peer review process for the submitted manuscripts for the quality of scholarly publishing"? The three editors-in-chief of the Journal of Forensic Research are said to be

▸ Jian Tie, Nihon University School of Medicine, Oyaguchi, Japan
▸ Jianye Ge, Institute of Applied Genetics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, and
▸ Sheila M Willis, Director, Forensic Science Laboratory, Ireland

The names given for editors include

▸ Rick Wyant, CRT Less Lethal Inc, and
▸ Peter Gill, Professor of Forensic Genetics, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Oslo.

A "special issue" on "Criminology Forensic," edited by Thomas Holt and Jianye Ge, consisted of a grand total of four articles such as Modern Trend of Country Made /Improvised Pistols Used in the Capital of India. Other letters or articles in various issues are

▸ The Usage of Polygraph Method in Bulgaria, by Todor Todorov (noting that "Participating in a 10 week course with APA standards in Sofia is a lot cheaper and easier than to apply for a USA visa, paying expenses for accommodation and travel costs");
▸ Reality Bites Demystifying Crime, by Gurveen Gill (noting that "Some scientist recommends that thorough analysis of the size, position and other features of bite marks be completed before any comparison with a suspect’s dentition is made."); and
▸ When Good DNA Goes Bad, by Mark Perlin (maintaining that "TrueAllele computer mixture interpretation is thorough, objective, sensitive, specific, and reproducible; human review methods are not.").

UPDATE (26 Sept 2018)

The Journal of Forensic Research has a fourth editor-in-chief listed -- "Dr. Mohammed Nasimul Islam, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia." But the list cannot be trusted. Jianye Ge told me that he never authorized the use of his name and that repeated demands for its removal have been ignored.

UPDATE (26 Jan 2021)

Another online publisher and conference organizer -- Hilaris SRL -- is now identified as the publisher of this journal. Jianye Ge's name remains as an editor-in-chief. Sheila Willis has been promoted to editor-in-chief, and Dr. Islam no longer holds this title.

Scientists and administrators from the U.S. Department of Justice have found the Journal of Forensic Research a convenient outlet for their work. See Gregory J. Dutton, Gerald M. LaPorte, Iris R. Wagstaff, and H.R. Spivak, Cultivating the Next Generation of Forensic Scientists Through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), J. Forensic Res. 2017, 8:4. Whether the publication fee was paid with taxpayer dollars I cannot say.