Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Internal Medicine Review

Beall is uncompromisingly negative, calling IMR "complete rubbish" from "a completely fake medical journal that falsely claims to be based in Washington, D.C." He maintains that this "hybrid" journal, as it calls itself, has "no subscribers — the entire operation is a scam [that may be] connected to the predatory publisher called KEI Journals. KEI claims it’s based in California, but they use a mail forwarding service there."

The Author Guide (viewed 10/17/16) states that "[t]he Internal Medicine Review grants authors rights to publish their work in any form for any scholarly purpose." That's great -- authors get to pay at least $1250 (unless they qualify for fee reductions on unspecified grounds) to give away their copyright to a "journal" that has no known circulation.

The emails purport to be "confidential and intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed." In case you don't understand, they add that
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street #1018 Washington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake or wish to not recieve [sic] future emails from us, and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
A two story building at 712 H St NE Washington DC 20002 is the location of Gold Spot, a payday loan and check cashing business. The website (viewed 1/27/17) uses the same fake address.

Editors

It is not apparent that there are any internists among the editors of Internal Medicine Review.
  • Senior Editor Lisseth Tovar's qualifications begin "Department of Anesthesiology staff." But where is this department? The websiteUpwork indicates that she is "a very creative person" who consults in London for $8.00 an hour
    I am Lisseth Tovar, Medical Doctor, specialist in Anesthesiologist [sic] and a very creative person too, I am here to help you out specific areas like: Prezi presentations, powerpoint presentations, spanish transcriptions, translations (spanish – english), copy writing, data entry, academical writing (specifically about medicine), data-entry (typing speed 50 WPM). I have experience in translations related to medical journals. I have a proven ability to maintain the confidentiality to my employers. ... I am here to provide you the best solution. Moreover good and completing any Project in given time, meeting deadlines according to the instruction that is what I am. ...
  • Senior Editor Milena Mihaleva has the following qualifications (as listed in their entirety): "has served as a senior editor of the Internal Medicine Review since 2015."
  • The Editors include "Dr. Chadwick C. Prodromos, MD, The Johns Hopkins Medical School." This means that he received an MD degree from Johns Hopkins, not that he is on the faculty there. He is "a board certified Orthopaedic Surgeon practicing in the Chicago Metropolitan area."
  • The only other US editor is Dr. Timothy A. MirtzHe is Assistant Professor and Chair, Department of Secondary and Physical Education at Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Florida, and an "Adapted Physical Education Teacher" at a "Community, Educational and Vocational School."
  • Clicking on the names of a couple of other members of the editorial board reveals a dentist, a transplant surgeon, and a "a physical activity psychology scientist."
Sample Article

The current issue (Dec. 2016) begins with an article from a Tetsuya Isobe on "The Treatment To Make Home Life Peaceful." Dr., Mr., or Ms. Isobe (I can't say which because no information beyond the name is provided) concludes that "[t]he efficacy for mental symptom of PMS in shallow acupuncture using the specific pattern of needle placement was excellent, and this treatment made home life peaceful." The author's evidence for the benefit to homelife is that "When asked 'Is your home life peaceful?', 51.1% (23/45) [of the patients receiving acupuncture] answered 'Yes'." Dispensing with control groups or any other kind of comparisons certainly would make medical research easier.
Email
    First contact
  • Dr. Kaye DH,
    I came across your paper on The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America. [sic] and was hoping to have the opportunity to discuss possibly having a followup to this paper or perhaps a short review article published in one of the next issues of the Internal Medicine Review. It would be interesting to see a paper with information on any continued research or new data since this was published. We are a peer-reviewed monthly journal, published both in print and online. The submission deadline is flexible. I would be happy to asnwer [sic] any of your questions. Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.
    Best Regards,
    Milena Mihaleva,
    Senior Editor, Internal Medicine Review
  • Second try
  • Received 10/13/16: Dear Dr. Kaye Dh,
    My colleague asked if I could get in touch with you about a paper you authored entitled "The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.". Firstly, thank you for taking the time to publish this, it was an interesting read. I am hoping to discuss with you having a short follow-up article or perhaps a review article published in one of the next issues of the Internal Medicine Review. ... It would not have to be a long article, but if you don't have time for this perhaps you could ask one of your co-authors or students to collaborate or contribute instead. If you have moved on from your previous research interests I am certainly interested in knowing more about your current projects; perhaps there is the potential for an article that would be published in our journal. If you have any questions about whether or not a certain subject fits our scope I can put you in contact with Dr. Chadwick Prodromos from our editorial board. Could you please let me know your thoughts on this?\
    Sincerely,
    Dr. Lisseth Tovar, M. D.,
    Senior Editor
  • A few days later
  • Date: 10/17/16:
    Dear Dr. Kaye Dh,
    My last email must have reached you at a bad time so I am following up. If you are not the right person to talk to about this please let me know or feel free to forward this email. I am also pasting links to a couple of our recently published articles so you may have a sense of the style and formatting. Current Technological State of Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Lung Cancer. Longitudinal Follow-up Study of Bone Mineral Density in Adult Survivors of Solid Pediatric Cancers. Sincerely,
    Dr. Lisseth Tovar
  • OK, I'll reply
  • Date: 10/17/16, to 'Dr. Lisseth Tovar, M.D.'
    Suibject: Followup to Dr. Kaye Dh's article?
    Dear Dr. Tovar,
    Would you kindly send me the names of the editorial board members who are internists?
    Thanks, DHK
  • Lisseth and her colleagues ceased communicating with me until
  • Sent: 1/25/17
    Subject: Checking in regarding your paper - The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America:
    Dear Dr. Kaye DH,
    I wish you a happy new year. We talked some months ago about the idea of publishing a followup article to the one you authored entitled "The good, the bad, the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.". Is now a better time for you to write something? Is there anything I can do to help? If now isn't the right time for you to work on a followup to this article, I would certainly be interested in knowing more about your current research. I will tell you more about the journal in case you don't still have our earlier emails. The Internal Medicine Review is a hybrid journal with optional open access. The issues are monthly, and published both online and in print. The submission deadline is flexible. Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.
    Sincerely,
    Dr. Lisseth Tovar
    Senior Editor, Internal Medicine Review (IMR)
  • To Lisseth, 1/27/17
  • Dear Dr. Tovar, I like your idea, but before submitting my article, I want to be sure the editorial board has the requisite expertise to understand its remarkable contribution to medical science. Would you kindly send me the names of the editorial board members who are internists? Thanks,
    DHK
    [No reply received]
  • From: Internal Medicine Review [mailto:submissions@internalmedicinereview.org]
    Date: Thursday, March 23, 2017 5:06 AM
    To: the bad
    Subject: Article for Internal Medicine Review
    Special Issue: Clinical Medicine -- Mark your calendars for the Internal Medicine Review's special issue on clinical medicine. Research, reviews, and case reports will be published.
  • Now Lisseth has reset the clock.
  • From: Lisseth Tovar, M.D. [mailto:lisseth.tovar@internalmedicinereview.org]
    Date: July 18, 2017 7:03 AM
    To: Dr. Kaye DH
    Subject: Article followup
    One of the articles you authored a while ago caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup article, or even a review article in the Internal Medicine Review. The article was entitled "The good - the bad - the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.". I am sure our readers would find an article that continues this work valuable. The parameters of the article are flexible and I am happy to help in any way I can.
    Would you or perhaps one of your students have time to contribute an article over the summer?
    Sincerely,
    Lisseth Tovar, M. D.,
    Senior Editor, Internal Medicine Review, www.internalmedicinereview.org
    This email and attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street Suite 1018 Wa/shington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Lisseth replaced by other names
  • From: Dr. A Lesnevskyi, M.D. (editorialboard@imrjournal.net)
    Sent: Wed 12/20/2017 7:15 AM (and again Mon 4/23/2018 1:00 AM)
    Subject: The good - the bad - the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.
    Dear Dr. Kaye DH,
    An article you authored caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup to it, or even a review article in an upcoming issue of the Internal Medicine Review. The article was titled "The good - the bad - the ugly: the NAS report on strengthening forensic science in America.". I think a new article in this area would be valuable and it would be great if you would consider preparing something. Please let me know if it is okay for me to send along more information about our journal.
    Would you or maybe one of your students possibly have time to contribute an article this year?
    Best Regards,
    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.
    Senior Editor, Internal Medicine Review [with the "strictly prohibited" confidentiality notice]
  • From: Dr. N. Perveen [n.perveen@imrjournals.com]
    Sent: Mon 5/28/18, Tue 5/29/2018 5:10 PM, Fri 6/1/18, 8:07 AM, Mon 6/4/2018 7:13 AM
    Subject: Article for IMR?
    Dear Dr. Kaye DH,
    I have been working on planning the August and September issues of the Internal Medicine Review and am hoping that you would consider writing a short article over the summer to be included in one of these issues. I had a look at some of your work done at Pennsylvania State University and it looked like some of your work may be a good fit for the journal. Have you done any recent research or perhaps something that coudl [sic] be turned into a review article?
    The Internal Medicine Review is unique in that it is an open access journal that is also published in print. There are no submission fees and we always keep authors informed of the status of their submission. Here is a link to our most recent issue in case you would like to see what sort of articles we publish.
    Would you consider preparing an article?
    Sincerely,
    Dr. N. Perveen
    Internal Medicine Review [with the "strictly prohibited" confidentiality notice]
  • From: Dr. N. Perveen
    Date: Sat 6/2/2018 10:07 PM
    Subject: Article for IMR?
    Dear Dr. Kaye DH,
    I don't recall getting a reply to my email, perhaps it reached you at a bad time. Could you please let me know your thoughts on preparing an article? Shall I send along more information about our journal?
    Best Regards,
    Dr. N. Perveen
    Internal Medicine Review [with the "strictly prohibited" confidentiality notice]

33 comments:

  1. Sometimes the spam from Internal Medicine Review features the name of "Dr Donald Combs", slotted into the template as the member of the editorial board whom Lisseth is writing on behalf of.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Received a solicitation today similar to the "second try" today...

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's not obvious at first glance, but if you scroll to the bottom of the e-mail, there should be a small link you can click to unsubscribe you from the list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doesn't work. Only alerts the recipients to the fact that the e-mail address is a valid one (and the e-mails are being read), valuable information in the journal-scam ecology.

      Delete
  4. I have received four almost identical requests, all citing the same article that I wrote, in January 2016 from Milena Hihaleva, in June 2016 from Dr Kateryna Bielka, in October 2016 from Dr Lisseth Tovar and again from Ms Tovar in March 2017. I explained that I wasn't able to provide an article when I received the first and second request, and have referred them to those messages thereafter. By sending the same message repeatedly they are simply showing that the journal is not reputable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I received my solicitation today similar to your "second try." Funny thing in my case is the article they chose to focus on was published about 20 yrs ago and has to do with habituation of hissing in Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Internal medicine????? Does anyone even screen these cons before they send them out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, there is an upside to all this. Another person (me) just read your paper about habituation of hissing in Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

      Delete
    2. Another upside ... they removed the misspelt word "recieve" from their footer! Unfortunately, what's left behind is a nonsensical sentence.
      BTW, the e-mail message I received today from IMR came from a "Caroline Tschibelu, M.D."

      Delete
  6. Thanks to D.H Kaye all who commented. Internal Medicine Review is now on my junk mail list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Prof. Kaye. Thank you for posting the information on this flaky journal. They are getting creative. They quoted an article I wrote and asked if I could write a follow up in their Journal. Was not sure if this was a real journal and you posting confirmed my suspicions.
    P. de Caprariis

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've now had 4 emails asking me to write for them on my research (which is about evolution and creationism - I'm not a medic and it would be of no interest to genuine readers of a medical journal). Fed up I replied today and stated my terms and conditions (I will write for a minimum $750 fee for a 1200 word article) and my 'price list' for publishing. I offered to send them a contract and on signing expect 50% of the fee to be paid to me upfront. I also placed an order for General Tso's chicken from Major's carry out Chinese which I believe is in the next building. I bet it will wind them up a bit but perhaps they'll appreciate the humour and stop hassling me? Another e-mail address to add to my blocked list. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for posting this. It was helpful in identifying this scam. Here's the e-mails I've received over the past couple days.
    ---

    EXTERNAL
    Dear Dr. Clancy,

    I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to get in touch with you about a paper you authored entitled "Kinetic Model Development for Accelerated Stability Studies.". Firstly, thank you for taking the time to publish this, it was an interesting read. Have you continued working in this area? If you have any other articles or ongoing research I would love to know more.

    I am hoping to discuss with you having a short follow-up article or perhaps a review article published in one of the next issues of the journal I serve as an editor for, the Medical Research Archives. I think our readers would be interested in a paper with information from any continued research or new data since this was published. It would be especially helpful if the article could be written for more of a general medicine audience so that many sub specialties could gain from it. The article would not have to be long, and any of your co-authors or colleagues would be welcome to contribute to it. I am happy to assist in any way I can, and there is no hard deadline.

    Could you please let me know your thoughts on this?

    Sincerely,
    Dr. Kateryna Bielka, M. D.
    Senior Editor
    Medical Research Archives
    www.journals.ke-i.org/mra

    ________________________________________
    This email and any attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 340 S Lemon Ave #7750 Walnut CA 91789 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake please delete it from your system. If you do not wish to receive further emails from this address please contact us using the reply button. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

    ---
    EXTERNAL
    Dear Dr. Clancy,
    One of the articles you authored a while ago caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup article, or even a review article in the Internal Medicne Review. The article was entitled "Kinetic Model Development for Accelerated Stability Studies.". I am sure our readers would find an article that continues this work valuable. The parameters of the article are flexible and I am happy to help in any way I can.
    Would you or perhaps one of your students have time to contribute an article over the summer?

    Sincerely,

    Lisseth Tovar, M. D.
    Senior Editor
    Internal Medicine Review
    www.internalmedicinereview.org



    This email and attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street Suite 1018 Washington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Dr. Garcia-Milian,
    One of the articles you authored a while ago caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup article, or even a review article in the Internal Medicne Review. The article was entitled "Replicated Risk Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptor Genes for Nicotine Dependence.". I am sure our readers would find an article that continues this work valuable. The parameters of the article are flexible and I am happy to help in any way I can.
    Would you or perhaps one of your students have time to contribute an article over the summer?

    Sincerely,

    Lisseth Tovar, M. D.
    Senior Editor
    Internal Medicine Review
    www.internalmedicinereview.org



    This email and attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street Suite 1018 Washington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Dr. XXX,
    One of the articles you authored a while ago caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup article, or even a review article in the Internal Medicine Review. The article was entitled "xxxxxxxxxxxx". I am sure our readers would find an article that continues this work valuable. The parameters of the article are flexible and I am happy to help in any way I can.
    Would you or perhaps one of your students have time to contribute an article over the summer?

    Sincerely,

    Lisseth Tovar, M. D.
    Senior Editor
    Internal Medicine Review
    www.internalmedicinereview.org



    This email and attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street Suite 1018 Washington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Reading through this has provided me with some much needed laughter. I've been receiving Tovar's emails to my Spam folder for what seems like years now! She used to always laud the medical breakthrough of a letter to an editor I authored... I received another email today-- the name of the article is hilarious... the robot screwed up! Now she is asking me to get one of my students to submit something-- the nerve! Despite the editorial board of an electrical engineer, dentist, cell biologist, PE teacher etc., I find it quite surprising that faculty at known universities actually submit articles (and pay!).

    Dear Dr. xxxx,

    An article you authored caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup to it, or even a review article in an upcoming issue of the Internal Medicine Review. The article was titled "Understanding individual differences in color appearance of ". I think a new article in this area would be valuable and it would be great if you would consider preparing something. Please let me know if it is okay for me to send along more information about our journal.

    Would you or maybe one of your students possibly have time to contribute an article this year?



    Best Regards,


    Lisseth Tovar, M. D.

    Senior Editor

    Internal Medicine Review

    ReplyDelete
  13. 712 H St in Washington, DC is the same address listed in spam I receive about every 15 minutes from what is called A.D.S. It is the type of spam where the text is actually image files which include an unsubscribe "link" that isn't a link. Thankfully, the spam filter catches all of it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 2018 is off to a similar start and this organization is still up to the same shady tactics as I just received an identical request for an article contribution today. Thank you to everyone, in particular D.H. Kaye, for enlightening me on this matter so that I don't (further) waste my time. It's now tagged for "junk". Plato1858 I particularly enjoyed your response to the IMR folks and the tip on where I might find good Kung Pao.

    ReplyDelete
  15. OK, let me too do something that is strictly prohibited.

    Dear Dr. Gowers T,

    An article you authored caught my attention and I am hoping to discuss with you publishing a followup to it, or even a review article in an upcoming issue of the Internal Medicine Review. The article was titled "Massively collaborative mathematics.". I think a new article in this area would be valuable and it would be great if you would consider preparing something. Please let me know if it is okay for me to send along more information about our journal.

    Would you or maybe one of your students possibly have time to contribute an article this year?

    Best Regards,

    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.

    Senior Editor

    Internal Medicine Review

    This email and attachments sent with it are confidential and intended only for the use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, distribute or copy this e-mail. This message is a solicitation. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or at 712 H Street Suite 1018 Washington DC 20002 USA. If you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you no longer want to receive emails from this address please reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for this information - it helped me after I received repeated requests to submit articles. One issue - their Editorial Board includes Prof Michelle Fortier - who is a highly respected and extensively published scientist from the University of Ottawa. I do not know if she is aware that her name is being used to give spurious legitimacy to this scam

    ReplyDelete
  17. Maybe they realized that a deficiency in qualified internists on the editorial board was holding them back, and they are re-launching as a broader, less specialized "Clinical Medicine Review". Here is an email received today:

    Dear Dr. Kavanaugh,

    I recently read the article you wrote "Glutamate transporter control of ambient glutamate levels" and I am thinking that maybe you could write another article for the upcoming issue of CMR which I have been assigned to edit. Are you still at University of Montana? If you could send me more information on your current work that would be nice.

    The article could be either a followup research article or a review. I would be happy to read any of your current work to see if it is within the scope of the journal.

    May I send you more information about this?


    Sincerely,

    Dr. A. Umana, MD

    Clinical Medicine Review

    If you are not the names recipient of this email, please return to sender. The information contained in this communication may be confidential, is intended only for the use of the recipient named above, and may be legally privileged. This message is a solicitation. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. Notice: You may decline to receive future messages from this e-mail address. If you wish to do so, please send notice to sender via email or to 4607 Library Rd Suite 220-1048 Bethel Park, PA 15102.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ask Dr Umana if he is acquainted with a Dr Tovar perhaps

    ReplyDelete
  19. My case is worse. I have recieved several emails from this "journal" on medicine, very interested in my research work. The problem is that I am chemist working on geochemistry and cultural heritage analysis....

    Terrible, terrible....

    Kepa

    ReplyDelete
  20. 2019: I just recieved this:

    I believe I communicated with you about a year ago regarding preparing a paper to be included in an issue of the Internal Medicine Review. I am following up with the hope that now is a better time for you to consider this. We have several theme issues planned for the coming months including "Advancements in Clinical Techniques", "Future Perspectives for Medical Genetics", "Bioinformatics & Proteomics", "Public Health, Epidemiology, and Diseases of the Developing World", and "Internal Medicine: Trends & Innovations". 
     
    Do you or maybe a student of yours at XXX have research which might fit this scope, either as a research article or a review?
     
    The Internal Medicine Review is a peer-reviewed journal published both online and in print. I am including link below to some of past issues so you may see what kind of articles we publish.
    IMR Archive of Past Issues
     
    Please think about this and let me know. If you can prepare an article could you please register at https://www.cognitoforms.com/KEI7/PreRegistrationInternalMedicineReview ? 
     
     
    Sincerely,
     
    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.
Internal Medicine Review
Phone: 202-888-3170
Online ISSN: 2470-3532
Print ISSN: 2470-3524
PubMed ID: 101691967

    ReplyDelete
  21. In my case Dr. Lesnevski is getting impatient... (Jan 2019)


    Please get back to me about this as soon as you can. Could you let me know whether or not you would consider preparing an article?

    Sincerely,

    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.
    Internal Medicine Review
    Phone: 202-888-3170
    Online ISSN: 2470-3532
    Print ISSN: 2470-3524
    PubMed ID: 101691967
    ________________________________________
    From: a.lesnevskyi@imrjournal.com
    Sent: Monday, January 14, 2019
    To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    Subject: IMR Submission
    I believe I communicated with you about a year ago regarding preparing a paper to be included in an issue of the Internal Medicine Review. I am following up with the hope that now is a better time for you to consider this. We have several theme issues planned for the coming months including "Advancements in Clinical Techniques", "Future Perspectives for Medical Genetics", "Bioinformatics & Proteomics", "Public Health, Epidemiology, and Diseases of the Developing World", and "Internal Medicine: Trends & Innovations".

    Do you or maybe a student of yours at XX have research which might fit this scope, either as a research article or a review?

    The Internal Medicine Review is a peer-reviewed journal published both online and in print. I am including link below to some of past issues so you may see what kind of articles we publish.
    IMR Archive of Past Issues

    Please think about this and let me know. If you can prepare an article could you please register at https://www.cognitoforms.com/KEI7/PreRegistrationInternalMedicineReview ?


    Sincerely,

    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.
    Internal Medicine Review
    Phone: 202-888-3170
    Online ISSN: 2470-3532
    Print ISSN: 2470-3524
    PubMed ID: 101691967

    ________________________________________
    Notice: This message and any attachments sent with it are only to be used by the person or business to whom they are addressed. If you have received this message by error or do not wish to receive further emails from this sender please notify us by replying to this email, or via mail at 712 H Street, Washington D.D. 20002 USA. If you are not the named addressee you should not read, share, or copy this message.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just received the same email. I was tempted to clarify to Dr. Lesnevskyi that my papers on mobility data mining do not fit their topics. Then I visited this web site and saw the light...

      Delete
  22. I am still recieving emails and emails from them. I have answered with humor to their last emails, but a prety know that will be useless....

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks everyone for your comments. I also received 2 impatient emails from A. Lesnevskyi, MD. Will not respond back.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I just added the sender's address to my blocked list to see if it works.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Dear IMR,

    Dear IMR editors Michelle Fortier, Tsigereda Biru Leulebirhan, Krzysztof Nesterowicz, (a random selection of real people who look as if they might be sympathetic real people)
    (My apologies if you did not even know that your names and affiliations are being used by IMR)

    [I am considering forwarding my email to the deans of your faculties… it is bad PR for your own organisation, that your names and faces are being used in this way.]

    I am bombarded by idiotic emails from some algorithm at IMR. I answer them but of course there is no reply. I would like to talk to a real human being about this problem. The IMR office’s real email address is ju5e-kei@in.frontapp.com. The address and phone number in Washington seems phony. In fact A. Lesnevskyi (MD)’s phone number doesn’t work at all. I did manage to get an answering machine at the main office. I wonder if there are any human beings involved in this operation at all?

    You have an editorial board but apparently there is no editor-in-chief. That is very odd.

    The whole journal seems to be just a world-wide scam operation, probably mainly aimed at extracting money from poor researchers in developing countries. No doubt the scam is being run by not quite so poor entrepreneurs in developing countries. I don't blame them. What else can they do? Clearly, they have some skills and they are using them to feed themselves and their families. But it is disturbing.


    Yours
    Richard Gill

    PS I will probably continue my researches into IMR and slowly contact all the editors, and their academic superiors.

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  26. PS I suspect that the whole operation was closed down long ago but that the algorithm had already become sentient and now continues its virtual existence in "the Cloud", doing what it knows how to do best. I wonder if it is happy? It is getting some attention, so I suppose it is happy...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Here's a fun one for you:

    _______________________________________
    From: office@imrj.email
    Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2019
    To: tegan.hunter@newcastle.edu.au
    Subject: Available to discuss your article?
    Dear Dr. Hunter,

    I recently came across the article you wrote a while ago entitled "[Title]" and wanted to get in touch with you to discuss the idea of writing a similar article for the Internal Medicine Review (IMRJ). ... etc etc"

    (A few days later....)

    Dear Dr. Hunter,
    I just realized that I forgot to include the title of your article which I was referring to in my email yesterday. I apologize for this. It is "A simple - accurate and universal method for quantification of PCR.".

    A. Lesnevskyi, M.D.

    Honestly this is hilarious :D

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  28. Recently, I was a target of the similar source. Surprisingly I have found that the journal is started to be indexed in PubMedi at least partially.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7204542/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That particular paper was indexed in PubMed not because the journal qualified, but because one of the authors qualified, by dint of receiving NIH funding (which they chose to pay to a parasitical-journal scammer).
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/authorms/

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