The Ubiquitous Alireza Heidari at the Fake California South University

Alireza Heidari of California South University is a very busy academic -- so accomplished in such a short time that one might question whether he is a real person. The university website describes "Prof. Dr. Alireza Heidari, Ph.D., D.Sc." as

a Full Distinguished Professor and Academic Tenure of Chemistry at California South University (CSU), Irvine, California, USA. He has got his Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees from California South University (CSU), Irvine, California, USA.

This biographical note strains credulity (and continues to butcher English), bragging that

Syne, he has been awarded more than one thousand reputed international awards, prizes, scholarships and honors. Heretofore, he has multiple editorial duties in many reputed international and peer–reviewed journals, books and publishers. Hitherward, he is a member of more than four hundreds reputed international academic–scientific–research institutes around the world."

"Reputed peer-reviewed journals" is an apt phrase. This eminent Cal South graduate is on the editorial boards of journals from such flaky, deceptive, or predatory publishers as OMICS (which downgrades him to "a Postdoctoral Research Fellow," albeit with "double postdocs"), Allied Academies, ReDelve, Scitechnol, and Peertechz (where he is an editor-in-chief).

I had never heard of the university before, but it has an amazing website. There, we learn that "[t]he university ranks among the top five universities in the United States and among the top public research universities worldwide." The Reputation page concludes with the forthright admission that "The university has been the subject of several recent scandals. In 2011, the school’s dean of medicine resigned after plagiarizing much of his graduation address. In 2012, the University’s Psychiatry department chair was placed on leave before officially beginning his duties after allegations emerged of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient."

Although these unfortunate events might place CSU among the top five universities -- for recent scandals -- the school does not even exist. It is a website that sells diplomas (with higher prices for higher GPAs).

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

• Cathy O'Leary, The Perth Dog That's Probably Smarter than You, Perth Now Sunday Times, May 21, 2017, https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/the-perth-dog-thats-probably-smarter-than-you-ng-a4de0d201ce420e0302c69532a399419
• Meet Ollie, the Australian Dog Now Peer Reviewing Academic Papers for International Journals, Business Insider Australia, May 30, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-ollie-the-australian-dog-now-peer-reviewing-academic-papers-for-international-journals-2017-5
• Australian Dog Serves on the Editorial Boards of Seven Medical Journals, Science, May 24, 2017, http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/australian-dog-serves-editorial-boards-seven-medical-journals?utm_campaign=news_daily_2017-05-30&et_rid=79446963&et_cid=1355679

Peertechz Journals

Peertechz's "vision is ... to promote qualitative research publications for Science ... with an un-restricted access." The "about us" page explains that "We operate from Hyderabad, India. Over the years, Peertechz has evolved into one of forerunner in the publishing industry around the world." As the name would suggest, Peertechz is serious about peer review:

[W]e have more than 100 scholarly journals with broaden scope to publish high-quality original research papers, case reports and other manuscripts. We promote scientific research with the help of stringent Peer-Review process. We are empowered by eminent group of editors and reviewers. The Editorial Board oversee the stringent multi-level Peer-Review process including evaluating submissions, selecting reviewers and assessing their comments and making editorial decisions.

The stringent process resulted in a five-year-old dog on an editorial board.

UPDATE: Scientific Spam reported (2/7/19) that Peertechz has been using "IP ranges to send their mail that had already been listed on our list as belonging exclusively to OMICS."

Email

• 9/23/16: Dear Dr. David H Kaye, We pray for your prosperity. ... Forensic Science and Technology journal credits all the authors for their dedication and commitment they have rendered ... . [W]e have decided to offer substantial waive off on the publication fees for the journal. You are requested to pay processing fee of just $159 (One Hundred and Fifty-Nine Dollars). The authors are suggested to take advantage of this offer and publish their articles in subsidized rates. [T]he offer is valid only on the articles submitted in Peer- Review Week (15th September -23rd September). Submit your valuable works immediately and avail the huge discount offer. Please revert for any further query. Best regards, Hitesh P, Journal Managing Editor, Editorial Office, Tel: +91 40 23833479, Email #202, NVS Central, Hi-tech City, R.R District, Hyderabad-500018, TS, India
• 3/1/16: Special Greetings! We are pleased to announce a regular issue entitled "Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy" and we would like to invite you to submit a manuscript to the regular issue for possible publication in the Archives of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy. The idea is to present originally contributed research, review, case reports papers, mini review, short communication or any perspective from leading researchers in the field of Archives of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy Focus. ... aims to publish high quality basic and clinical research in all the disciplines related.