Flaky Journal Prices

Some flaky journals are so anxious for content that they will lower their advertised fees or publish for free. That is what some authors of spoofs have discovered after submitting absurd papers.

"Neuroskeptic" at Discover Magazine prepared a "spoof manuscript about 'midi-chlorians' – the fictional entities which live inside cells and give Jedi their powers in Star Wars." It was filled with "references to the galaxy far, far away, and submitted ... to nine journals under the names of Dr Lucas McGeorge and Dr Annette Kin." The author found that

The American Journal of Medical and Biological Research (SciEP) accepted the paper, but asked for a $360 fee, which I didn’t pay. Amazingly, three other journals not only accepted but actually published the spoof. [T]he International Journal of Molecular Biology: Open Access (MedCrave), Austin Journal of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (Austin) and American Research Journal of Biosciences (ARJ). I hadn’t expected this, as all those journals charge publication fees, but I never paid them a penny. \1/

A biologist, threatening to withdraw a paper on "What Up with Birds?" and send it to Nature, negotiated a $1,600 charge down to $1,027, to $99, and then, pleading "financial crisis," to $0. The journal manager reported that he had "done session with our Higher Authorities" to obtain this one-time waiver. \2/ The abstract of the article, which appeared this month, reads as follows:

Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted.

The paper and Iris's alleged peer review are discussed in other blog postings. \3/

UPDATE 5/9/20: On ResearchGate today, Malek Alghdeir commented that "I was invited to publish a chapter in a book by IntechOpen. Then asked me to pay 1400 £! firstly, the editor of my chapter suggests a great discount, but after that, they accepted to publish my chapter free."

NOTES

1. Neuroskeptic, Predatory Journals Hit By 'Star Wars' Sting, Discover, July 22, 2017 5:57 AM, https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/predatory-journals-hit-by-star-wars-sting
2. https://twitter.com/evornithology/status/1224775369783435264?s=20 (hilarious Twitter thread)
3. Iris Publishers Releases the World's First Quantification of the Deal with Birds, Flaky Academic Journals, Apr. 26, 2020; Ryan F. Mandelbaum, Sketchy Science Journal Publishes Article Titled 'What's the Deal With Birds?', Gizmodo, Apr. 17, 2020 4:40PM, https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936/amp

Iris Publishers Releases the World's First Quantification of the Deal with Birds

"Our curated content is original and rigorously peer-reviewed, so be assured of the premium quality information, checked and approved by highly acclaimed academic editors and subject matter experts." -- Iris Publishers, About Us

the Scientific Journal of Research and Reviews (SJRR) is part of Iris's "great podium." The lead research article in the April 2020 issue is Daniel Baldassarre's "What the Deal with Birds?" The abstract is refreshingly colloquial:

Abstract
Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted.

This tantalizing description hardly does justice to the heavily referenced work of scholarship that follows. Here is a sampling:

Introduction
Birds are very strange. Some people are like “whoa they’re flying around and stuff, what’s the deal with that?” This sentiment is shared by people across socioeconomic backgrounds. Figuring out what the deal is with birds is of the utmost scientific importance. It is now widely appreciated that the majority of socially monogamous passerine species are weird [1]. In species with moderately high extra-pair mating and paternal care, we need to understand what is going on with them [2]. In territorial species, what are they even doing [3] and they do all sorts of weird stuff [4] (but see [5]). ...
Material and Methods
Study species and general field methods
I looked at three different birds: a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. I looked really close at them, squinting and everything, to try and figure out what was up with them. ... Detailed population monitoring and paternity assignment methods are described elsewhere [10]. Briefly, I watched them really close for quite a while [13-15]. To eliminate potential confounds, I thus conducted my experiments only on animals that I knew for sure were birds, and no other things like bugs and bats. ...
Discussion
This is the first study I am aware of to attempt to quantify the deal with birds. Unfortunately, the results were ambiguous, although Bayesian approaches may prove useful in the future. This study has implications for climate change research. When presented with weird behavior, birds exhibited a multimodal response including physical aggression and duetting, both of which were repeatable across highly variable contexts. ...

I do not know whether the "highly qualified and expert Editorial committee ... indulged in scrutinizing articles with stringent peer review process" were impressed with the acknowledgments at the end of the article:

We thank Big Bird from Sesame Street for comments on the manuscript. Several trained monkeys transcribed videos.

The author asked the editor "if they were a predatory journal and he assured [him] they weren’t. He said [the] paper was reviewed by three experts" and supplied an "Article Review Form" with the following "Specific Review Comments and Suggestions: THE MATERIAL PRESENTED IS VERY INTERESTING, THE ARTICLE ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION."

SOURCES

• Ryan F. Mandelbaum, Sketchy Science Journal Publishes Article Titled 'What's the Deal With Birds?', Apr. 17, 2020 4:40PM, https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936/amp
• https://twitter.com/evornithology/status/1224775369783435264?s=20 (Twitter thread sent to me by Dr. Baldassarre)

FURTHER READING

• Iris Publishers, "your one-stop-place for latest scientific!", Flaky Academic Journals, July 12, 2018 (the first of several postings on Iris Publishers)

Research Infotext's Immense Pleasure

Research Infotext seems to be a collection of names of journals and editors in search of publications. Clicking around in the top two journals listed in the "journals catalogue" produces only the names of editors. The advertised journals have absolutely nothing in their "current issues" and "archives."

The journal that spammed me is equally empty. The email came from "John GETZ, ME." A JM Getz is a coauthor of six articles in the field of forensic pathology indexed on Google Scholar. The journal refers to "Prof. John Getz," but it gives no academic or other affiliation for him. The US members of the editorial board are said to be

• "Michael I. Schaffer, Ph.D, Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology, VP Laboratory Operations, Psychemedics Corporation, California, USA," and
• "DAVID E. MOODY, Ph.D., Center for Human Toxicology, University of Utah, United States."

The domain name researchinfotext.com is registered by proxy (with GoDaddy's help). However, at the same IP address is rinfotext.com, registered by Narendra Nalavalli of Ashburn, Virginia (narendranalavalli@gmail.com, 315-998-2964), which mostly matches the contact information on the website. However, neither Google Maps, Zillow.com, nor the US Postal service's zipcode finder recognizes "4192 Devonwood Way." (The address provided for the journal is 4192 Devonwood Way, Ashburn, VA 20148. Only large, single-family houses are situated on a Devonwood Way in Dulles, Virginia 20148.)

A Narendra Nalavalli also registered the names tlkumarcreations.com and teamkumar.com. The latter solicits donations for Kumar Prescod, a very young boxer "Full of Raw Talent and Laser Focus". The registration is now in GoDaddy's hands, but it originally came from Narendra Nalavalli, kumar_lavan(at)yahoo.co.in, 409, tilak road, tirupati, India. Although DomainBigData.com links all three, perhaps these two are the work of a different Narenda Nalavalli.

Email

• From: john_getz.ijfs@mailer.researchinfotext.com On Behalf Of John Getz
  Date: Monday, February 24, 2020 1:39 PM
  Subject: Heads Up - Require One Paper | IJFS Journal
  Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
  I would like to introduce Infotext Journal of Forensic Sciences [IJFS] which publishes high quality and novel papers please read the journal here. ... [← There are no papers in the journal. Maybe someday?]
  We greatly appreciate your recent [ten-year-old] study "The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America" [← This "recent" paper is ten years old and was never particularly impressive.] and it is our immense pleasure to bring it to your kind notice that manuscript submissions (research, review, case report, short communication, Commentary, etc.) are now open towards the upcoming issue of our Journal.
  It would be great if you could submit your article on or before 10th March 2020. The manuscript can be submitted as an email attachment to john_getz.ijfs@rinfotext.com
  Note: We make open-access available by enabling you to select an APC that is appropriate based on your funding and financial circumstances.
  Awaiting the favor of your prompt attention.
  Regards,
  John GETZ, ME
• From: john_getz.ijfs@mailer.researchinfotext.com On Behalf Of John Getz
  Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 3:39 PM
  Subject: Followup | Journal of Forensic Sciences
  Hi David H Kaye,
  When you get a minute, could you please drop me a line regarding my last email on your paper submission?
  I would like to introduce Infotext Journal of Forensic Sciences [IJFS] which publishes high quality and novel papers ... IJFS has received good responses from authors with a contribution of 4 manuscripts for the Current Issue of Volume 2020; we just require one article to release the issue. If you would contribute a short article of 1 or 2 pages such as short commentary (or) any kind of article so that we can release the issue. I would be happy to a quick review and answer any questions if you have given any additional thought to my proposal.
  I welcome you to submit the work in a word document as an attachment to this mail.
  On behalf of the Editorial Team of the IJFS, I thank you very much in advance for your submission and look forward to work with you.
  With appreciation,
  Prof. John Getz, ME
• From: editor.ijfs@mailer.researchinfotext.com On Behalf Of John Getz, ME
  Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 7:02 PM
  Subject: Followup; IJFS EOM
  Hi Dr. David H Kaye,
  Maybe it's a few days long since we have contacted you, as we have received a message to contact you in the future that showed your trust and confidence in us. [← Are they kidding? No such message came from me!] With reference to your article titled The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America found your research interests close to the scope of our Infotext Journal of Forensic Sciences [IJFS]. If you have any article for publication kindly submit on any of your interesting topics for our upcoming issue of IJFS. ... Currently, IJFS has indexed in Research Gate, Google Scholar, and Cross Ref.
  You can send your article as an attachment to this email or to submissions@resinfotext.com on/ before June 30th, 2020. We will be waiting for your reply. [← It will be a long wait.]
  With Regards,
  Prof. John Getz, ME
• From: editor.ijfs@mailer.researchinfotext.com On Behalf Of Prof. John Getz
  Sent: Friday, June 19, 2020 2:04 PM
  Subject: Final Followup; [← I wish!] IJFS Journal EOM
  Hi David H Kaye,
  With reference to your previous article “The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.”
  Infotext Journal of Forensic Sciences [IJFS] has received good responses from authors with a contribution of 4 manuscripts for the Current Issue of Volume 2020; we just require one article to release the issue. If you would contribute a short article of 1 or 2 pages such as short commentary (or) any kind of article so that we can release the issue. I would be happy to a quick review and answer any questions if you have given any additional thought to my proposal.
  Note: Discounted publication fee 299 USD only. I welcome you to submit the work in a word document as an attachment to this mail.
  I would be happy to give a quick review and answer any questions if you have given any additional thought to my proposal. Thanks & with appreciation,
  Jhon [sic] Getz, ME

IJERA Avoids Various Verticals

International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) sends spam from an unnamed "Editor in Chief." That makes sense considering that no editor in chief is listed on the website. Indeed, the six "editorial board members" have names and (no) positions such as "Dr.Eugen Axinte, Romanian," "Dr. Aknuas William, Australia," and the untraceable "Dr.Rao, P.hd, USA." But "IJERA is UGC Approved Journal" that "aims to cover the scientific research in a broader sense and not publishing a niche area of research facilitating researchers from various verticals to publish their papers." Moreover, it is "for the researchers to publish in a shorter of time, enabling them to continue further."

Some of IJERA claims
⊘ IJERA accepts only and only high qualities paper. Its Average acceptance publication percentage is 26.09 %
⊘ IJERA is non profit non loss organization.
⊘ Review process takes only 4-6 days because of IJERA strong peer review team.
⊘ IJERA Conferred with “Outstanding Engineering Journal” Award by Jour Rank on 11th December 2011.
⊘ IJERA Publishes only and only quality papers.
⊘ IJERA secured maximum score 11.66 by Science Central march 2012 report.
⊘ IJERA is index in world top indexing database like Nasa Ads, ArXiv.org, ANED (American National Engineering Database), NCBI (US National Library).

In addition to these bizarre claims, the journal maintains that it is affiliated with Harvard, Cornell, and other universities. It proudly displays the logo of the National Library of Medicine's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on its website. The logo is ironic, considering that National Library of Medicine (NLM) excludes the journal from the NLM collection and the Medline index.

Speedy publication free from the various verticals is a promise that IJERA keeps. Researchers working with ZBW Mediatalk used the random paper generator, SCIgen, to fabricate a paper, “Decoupling IPv7 from the Transistor in Operating Systems.” IJERA accepted the garbage within 24 hours. The "strong peer review team['s]" assessment took the following form (in the "Reviewers Comments"):

1. Briefly, they have gone through your article, it was good.
2. No comments in peer review side.

Payment to the State Bank of India would guarantee publication.

Although the website behind this "outstanding journal" has no contact information other than gmail, the individual name behind the domain name ijera.com is Chetan Sharma (presumably not the former Indian cricketer and politician). The same name (sometimes in the url chetan.journals@gmail.com) is associated with domain names for other flaky journals such as American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) and International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR) Publishing.

Email

• From: add paper [entary56data@all.bg]
  Date: Thu 2/20/2020 12:50 AM
  But Subject: Author Articles
  IJERA JOURNAL
  Dear Researcher,
  International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) is an open access and peer reviewed refereed international Journal. More than 3100 IJERA published articles are indexed in DOAJ
  International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) provides certificate free of cost to all author after publication paper.
  Impact Factor of IJERA: 5.179
  INDEXING : NASA Ads, ArXiv, ANED (American National Engineering Database), EBSCO Host, Cabell’s Directory, DOAJ, NCBI (US National Library) etc.
  Call For Paper: Important Dates
  Last date for paper submission: 25th February 2020 Acceptance Notification: Within 4-6 days Publication Date: 05th March 2020 ...
  EMAIL ID - ijera.submit@rediffmail.com
  Regards
  Editor-In-Chief
  International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications
  --
  ALL.BG Mail

Raft Publications "aspire to publish"

Janine Paynter, a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, called my attention to Raft Publications. Raft's motto is "reciprocal approach for transformation." The About Us page explains Raft's vision in these terms: "To asset international benchmark by encouraging distinguished research work, through use our best technology, resources and our dedication to research community." In addition, the Our Journals page explains that "RAFT publications aspire to publish manuscripts ... with 40+ international peer reviewed journals. ... Our passion ... droves us to publish our journals through open access mode ... ."

Raft accurately remarks that "We accept all types of manuscripts ... ." Janine notes that Raft's content includes papers "such as 'Prostate cancer cured in a week by machine without side effects.'"

The address for the US editorial office (19645 N 31st Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85027) seems to be an apartment house in Arizona. A tenant wrote to Yelp that "I have paper towels in the cracks and towels on the bottom of the doors to keep the bees out. ...Please look else where before coming here!!!! ... HORRIBLE! Zero care for their residents. Do not put your child at risk." Oddly, Raft's phone number for "any queries" has a San Diego prefix (+1 858 376 7260). The domain was registered by Contact Privacy, Inc., of Canada. Searching Google for the website returns the following blurb after the domain name: "Country: Iran, Islamic Republic of. You can also send us an email ... ."

From Science PG's Science Journal of Education

A discussion of SciencePG and several of its journals is in a posting from January 2017. The following email is from its Science Journal of Education:

• From: J Editor [editor@cnnjournal.org]
  Date: December 25, 2019 10:29 PM ET
  Subject: Dear Kaye, DH: A Special Issue: A Collection of Ideas in the Field of Special education
  Dear Kaye, DH, Greetings. The special issue named Inclusion of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Laboral Activities: A Work Customization Program under Science Journal of Education was proposed with the joint efforts of the lead guest editor Annie Redig and guest editors. This is a good open platform for the academic community to disseminate research achievements and accomplishments. With this special issue, they intend to bring academic peers together to exchange and share their academic experience and research findings on all aspects of Special education. As a member of the academic community, if you have any new discovery, be sure to convey your ideas and experiences to more academic peers. Your dedication will have significant meaning to the scientific community.
  Submit Your Article
  New insights as well as basic research and analysis on the topics below are welcome. Some of the topics of interest are: Laboral Activities ... .
  Deadline for contribution: November 25, 2019.[← Submitting on time will require time travel] ... We expect to receive your submission. [← Not very likely]
  Yours cordially,
  Amelia Ford

Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research Is for the Craving Readers

Although the ISSN entry for the Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research identifies it as a US publication, its mangled management of the English language suggests otherwise. The website describes the goal of this journal's "publishers" as follows:

The only motto of Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) Publishers is accelerating the scientific and technical research papers, considering the importance of technology and the human health in the advanced levels and several emergency medical and clinical issues associated with it, the key attention is given towards biomedical research. Thus, asserting the requirement of a common evoked and enriched information sharing platform for the craving readers.

BJSTR is such a unique platform to accumulate and publicize scientific knowledge on science and related discipline. This multidisciplinary open access publisher is rendering a global podium for the professors, academicians, researchers and students of the relevant disciplines to share their scientific excellence in the form of an original research article, review article, case reports, short communication, e-books, video articles, etc.

BJSTR Publishers are self supporting, with no dependency on any other external sources (like universities, centers) for funds and strives for the best and enhanced quality publications competes the world wide open access publishing market.

We always rely on the support from the members of our BJSTR family that is relevantly our Authors, Editorial Committee members, advisory board, Reviewers Board and all the technical support teams all over the globe. We trust in the reciprocated coordination and cooperation in terms of sharing the scientific knowledge of individuals and Groups of Research centers/areas will in turn educates and provokes in advanced researches. In this case we would like to act as a media that anchors in the transformation of information in the form of global online publication.

With writing like this, the absence of "dependency on any ... external sources (like universities, centers) for fund" is understandable. So is the fact that the journal is not in the National Library of Medicine collection and not indexed for Medline.

When one researcher "submitted a string of machine-generated nonsense" entitled "The Expression of the Proper-Name Effect Reinforces the Disarticulation ofCommunicative [sic] Rationality," the article was "quickly accepted after scrupulous peer review." Evidently, the editors did not notice that the author was Harold E. Potter of the Institute of Improbabilistics, University of Bogus, UK. An author posting on Researchgate reports that when he declined to pay the $600 fee, the journal dropped the price to $99.

Wisely, the publishers do not reveal their identities. The domain name biomed-res.org in the email is registered to a privacy service. The contact information on the website is Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, 1 Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 300, one Westchester, IL 60154, USA +1 (720) 414-3554 Fax - (720) 367-5187 info@biomedres.us angelaroy@biomedres.us. The registrant of biomedres.us provides the same physical address along with the name Biomedical Research Network + LLC and email URL of openaccessnetworks@gmail.com. The Westbrook Corporate Center is a property with "virtual office" space on sale for as little as $2 a day.

UPDATE (5/24/21)

Today saw two emails from Angela Roy within four minutes of each other. A call to the telephone number was answered by an editorial assistant. When I asked for the editor, he requested me to email him and promised to contact the editor while I remained on the line. I emailed the address he provided (finance@biomedres.us) as follows:

Dear Sir,
We talked a few minutes ago. I was trying to find the name and contact information for your the journal's editor in chief. I could not find that on the website and wanted to include it in a list of journals that I compiling. I do not need to take up his or her time. You can simply send the information by replying to this email.
Thanks for your help,

I am still waiting for a reply. Nevertheless, as Angela recommends, I still start each day with a great smile.

Email

• From the Editorial office [laceydickson@biomed-res.org]
  Sent: Friday, November 8, 2019 2:35 AM
  Subject: Eminent Article Dear Dr. DH Kaye
  Dear Dr. DH Kaye,
  Start each day with a grateful heart.
  The purpose of this email is to inform you that we need your support for releasing our upcoming issue by submitting one article to our Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research with (ISSN: 2574-1241) Impact Factor 0.548.
  Can we expect your article before 19th November? ← I don't think so.
  If this is a short notice please do send an opinion or mini review or case report by next weekend, we hope that a minimum of 2-page article isnt time taken for an eminent author like you.
  Await your promising response.
  Lacey Dickson
• Subject: February Issue Dear Dr. David H Kaye
  From: Biomedical Resources and Biosensors [biosensors@biomedresearch-nl.com]
  Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2021 23:01:52 +0530 (IST)
  Dear Dr. David H Kaye,
  Hope you have a great day.
  We need one article for successful release of Volume 33 Issue 4 in our Journal Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research with ISSN 2574-1241 Impact Factor 0.548.
  Please submit us your Manuscript for this issue release before 16th February 2021, if this is a short notice in your busy schedule, please do send an Short article, we hope 2 page article isnt time taken for an eminent author like you.
  Kindly let me know your feasibility for submitting any of your unpublished paper to our journal.
  Can we expect this from you before the dead line?
  Await your submissions.
  Angela Roy
  Biomedical Journal (BJSTR)
  biomedres.us
  Address: One Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 300, Westchester, IL 60154, USA
  Ph. No: +1 (502) 904-2126
• From: Pediatrics and Child Care [pediatrics@scientificpublisher.net]
  Sent: Monday, May 24, 2021 12:24 PM
  To: Kaye, David
  Subject: Submit your Manuscript Dear Professor
  Dear Professor,
  Good wishes for a day. [← And after that?]
  Can we have your article for successful release of Volume 36- Issue 1in Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) (ISSN: 2574 -1241) Impact Factor: 1.095.
  In fact, we need one article to accomplish our next issue; we hope that the single manuscript should be yours. If this is a short notice, please do send an Opinion or Mini review/ Short Communication, we hope 2-page article isnt time taken for an eminent author like you.
  Submission Last Date: 04th June, 2021
  Review Time: 8-10 Days
  Anticipate your promising response.
  Angela Roy
  Biomedical Journal (BJSTR)
  biomedres.us
  Address: One Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 300 one Westchester, IL 60154 USA Ph. No +1 (502) 904-2126
• From: Pediatrics and Child Care [pediatrics@scientificpublisher.net]
  Sent: Monday, May 24, 2021 12:20 PM
  Subject: Manuscript Submission Dear Professor
  Dear Professor,
  Start each day with a great smile.
  In support of the rejoicing release of Volume 36- Issue 1, we need one article towards new issue of our Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (ISSN: 2574 -1241) Impact Factor: 1.095. Can we expect an article from your end prior to 04thJune?
  If this is a short notice, please do send an opinion or mini review or case report, we hope a minimum of 2-page article isnt time taken for an eminent author like you.
  Please join your hands with us for this instigate. We desire to receive your manuscript.
  Anticipate for your promising response.
  Angela Roy
  Biomedical Journal (BJSTR)
  biomedres.us
  Address: One Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 300 one Westchester, IL 60154 USA Ph. No +1 (502) 904-2126