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

Journals with the Imaginary Dr. Szust (aka Dr. Fraud) as an Editor

The Polish word "szust" means "fraud." In this case, it meant a sting.

In 2015, researchers at the University of Wrocław "created a profile of a fictitious scientist named Anna O. Szust and applied on her behalf to the editorial boards of 360 journals." 1/ The good doctor, whse professed Ph.D. was in "Social Sciences History,"

was dismally inadequate for a role as editor. Szust's 'work' had never been indexed in the Web of Science or Scopus databases, nor did she have a single citation in any literature database. Her CV listed no articles in academic journals or any experience as a reviewer, much less an editor. The books and chapters on her CV did not exist and could not be found through any search engine. Even the publishing houses were fake.

The journals were "a mix of legitimate titles and suspected predators." One third were bona fide -- they had "an official impact factor as indexed on Journal Citation Reports" (JCR). None of these journals accepted Dr. Szust as an editor.

One-third of the journals were in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Journals on this list "must meet certain standards of quality, including ethical publishing practices [and] be fully open access." Seven percent of these journals accepted Szust.

The remainder of the journals were on Jeffrey Beall's now defunct "blacklist [of] potential predatory journals ... that, in his opinion, exploited researchers and failed to meet basic standards of scholarly publishing." A full forty (33%) of the predatory titles accepted Szust.

"At least a dozen journals appointed Szust as editor conditional on, or strongly encouraging, some form of payment or profit." One publisher wrote that "If you want to start a new journal...you will get 30% of the revenue earned thru you." Another expressed its "pleasure to add your name as our editor in chief for this journal with no responsibilities."

All the journals that accepted Szust were notified that she "kindly withdraws her application." Yet, "her name still appears on the editorial boards listed by at least 11 journals' websites. In fact, she is listed as an editor of at least one journal to which we did not apply. She is also listed as management staff [and], a member of conference organizing committees."

The researchers did not reveal any journal titles. They offered two reasons for shielding these journals: "in part because predatory publishers often choose names confusingly similar to reputable titles, and in part because we believe the problem is much larger than the journals we sampled." Could there be an additional reason? Fear of litigation?

A quick search (5/9/17) of the web turns up the fictitious Anna Szust as an editor of the following journals:

⊗ International Journal of Current Research and Review (ICJRR), Radiance Research Academy (Regd.), 148, IMSR Building, Ayurvedic Layout, Near NIT Complex, Sakkardara, Nagpur-24, Maharashtra State, India, +91-7709956456
⊗ Nova Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nova Explore Publication INC., 5453A Yonge Street, ON, Canada, info@novaexplore.com, +1-647-875-7225
⊗ International Journal of Art and Humanity Science, 13/28 Vikas Nagar, First Floor, Lucknow-226022 India, (Call us during 11 A.M - 2 P.M on Weekdays only), Mobile : +91-9451380794
⊗ Global Journal of Sociology, SciencePark Science, Organization and Counseling LTD., 13 Subat Street, No: 17, 99030, Kyrenia – Cyprus, info@sproc.org, Tel: +90 533836699
⊗ International Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Science, no address (the publisher is the mysterious "American Association for Science and Technology.

The nonexistent social sciences historian is not merely a member of the editorial board of the last journal. She is the editorial board -- there are no other members and no reviewers listed as of 5/14/17. She also is a member of the advisory board of the Jabalpur Management Association, which advertises an MBA program and international conferences (5/10/17).

NOTE

1. Piotr Sorokowski et al., Predatory Journals Recruit Fake Editor, Nature 543:481–483, Mar. 23, 2017, http://www.nature.com/news/predatory-journals-recruit-fake-editor-1.21662

The Manuscripts of MedCrave

The MedCrave Publishing Group's About Us page contains the vacuous hyperbole typical of journals that are best avoided. Here we learn that MedCrave is

dedicated to make original valuable scientific content available freely to the global population. ... amazed by science and its wonderful forms and we now bring this beauty to you too. ... a collection of ... works of pure significance. ... relevant to science ... open for all interested members around the globe ... .

Not only that,but

The manuscripts of MedCrave have overcome all the barriers that lay in the way of knowledge.

With the insight of a Chinese fortune cookie, MedCrave "considers the will to tear up your ignorance as the best price you could pay" and gushes that "there is no best price for knowledge except the will to learn." As to what one might learn, well, it could be anything "from the traditional divisions to contemporary works."

It could even be a faux study of "uromycitisis poisoning" -- a disease created for an episode of Seinfeld -- submitted by a nonexistent "Arthur Vandelay Urological Research Institute" to MedCrave's Urology & Nephrology Open Access Journal. It took three days for the journal to complete its favorable peer review of an article with a references to nonexistent sources such as a putative New York Times report that "New Public Urination Passes Approved for Uromycitisis Sufferers." The author of the uromycitis article describes the incident in The Scientist.

Medcrave considers itself "one of the finest Online Publishing Groups" and has a scrolling banner of "NIH funded and indexed articles." I clicked on three of them. None were published by MedCrave. Another journal proudly proclaims that it will not "risk your creativity for the sake of the journal’s fame or quality." It will publish "any kind of article" "in the scope of science " "in any stage of the research in any [style]."

The domain medcraveonline.org is registered to Sabrina M, Boardwalk Cir, Bartlesville Oklahoma 74006, +1.9182080288, sabrinamyers07@gmail.com.

Email

• From: Authors Journal
  Sent: Sep 15 at 7:25 AM
  Subject: Publication Rights to Authors: Authors Journal
  Greetings from MedCrave Group! Hope you are doing well. We are very glad to announce that a new journal Authors Journal is launched. The only aim of this journal is to protect your creativity. Your manuscript will not be peer reviewed. We do not risk your creativity for the sake of the journal’s fame or quality. All submissions will be published as soon as the author’s identities are checked and the content of the manuscript is in the scope of science and it does not violate the law of related countries. The quality of the papers in the journal is ensured by author’s names and affiliations.
  We kindly request you to submit any kind of article in any stage of the research in your own preferred style. Please let us know if you have any suggestions to help us to serve you better. This is the Authors Journal, your own journal.
  Best Regards, Helen White, Manager & Co-Founder, Authors Journal, Tel: +1-918-208-0288, E-mail: aj@medcraveonline.org
  *PS: For our ideologies and any concerns about the Journal, kindly contact us. We will provide you with one time password to verify our Journal strategy.

Medwin's Vaccine Journal Is Interested in My Runny Nose

The following exchange helps explain how Medwin Publishers (discussed here) "aspires to bring eminent original findings of research information across the globe into light."

Received 2/21/17:

Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
Greetings from MedWin Publishers!We have contacted you earlier through email. Since we have not received any response from you regarding your valuable manuscript submission, we are taking the liberty of resending the invitation as we are aware that you may be engaged in other activities or our message may not have successfully reached you. We are very pleased to announce that submissions for upcoming issue are now being accepted for Vaccines & Vaccination Open Access (VVOA). We have chosen eminent scientists, who have significant involvement in the advancement of research in their field and have the potential to give best quality articles for upcoming issue of our journal. We gently request you to submit any kind of article for publication and to help us in releasing the issue at the designated time. ... We hope that your articles will help us in the growth of our Journal and kindly follow the below link for online submission ... .
Also, we request you to submit your manuscript by March 15th, 2017 to enable swift process of peer review and publication. Kindly acknowledge this email receipt within 24 hours. Await your prompt response.
Kind Regards,
Monica Kathryn, Assistant Managing Editor, Vaccines & Vaccination Open Access (VVOA, MedWin Publishers

Sent 2/24/17:

Dear Monica,
Would VVOA be interested in a paper reporting that I still got some colds after being vaccinated against the flu?

From: vaccines@medwinpublishers.com, Sunday, February 26, 2017 11:26 PM

Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
Thank you for your prompt reply. We are glad with your positive response towards our journal. As time being an important factor towards the issue release. We request you to submit your valuable manuscript as soon as possible. Could you let us know your feasibility to submit your manuscript. Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Monica Kathryn, Assistant Managing Editor, Vaccines & Vaccination Open Access (VVOA, MedWin Publishers

Followed on April 15, 2017, 12:24 a.m., by this "Reminder for Manuscript Submission: VVOA" sent with "high importance" from vaccines@medwinpublishers.com:

Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
Greetings for the day!
This is a friendly reminder regarding the submission valuable manuscript as soon as possible As time being an important factor towards the issue release. We request you to submit your valuable manuscript as soon as possible. So that we can publish it in upcoming issue. Kindly let us know your feasibility to submit your manuscript.
Kind Regards
Monica Kathryn, Assistant Managing Editor, Vaccines and Vaccination Open Access (VVOA) MedWin Publishers