Sunday, February 26, 2017

From ScholarTown to Sciedu Press to the Canadian Center of Science and Technology

ScholarTown's email of 1/19/17 (below) promised to let me "Review Articles and Get PAID." Why me? Because "Having read your article, 'Book Review, The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate', we believe that you have considerable experience as an author or peer reviewer of scholarly articles." That this 40-year-old book review was published in a journal that does not use peer review suggests that ScholarTown is none too perceptive. Interestingly, its address in Toronto is identical to that for the Canada office of Sciedu Press, which describes itself as "a private scientific publishing house" with the "objective of excellence in science, education, and culture."

I checked out ScholarTown's short list of journal articles begging for reviewers. Apparently, would-be reviewers bid to review these manuscripts. The one I clicked on was for the International Journal of Psychological Studies (IJES), an offering of the Canadian Center of Science and Technology. CCSE has been accused of predatory publishing. IJES is offering $20 for a reviewer. The bids to do the work are coming in at $25.

CCSE referred to the same 40-year-old book review when it contacted me to contribute to one its journals. One of CCSE's addresses is, you guessed it, the same as ScholarTown's and Sciedu Press.
Email
1/19/17: Dear David H. Kaye, Having read your article, "Book Review, The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate", we believe that you have considerable experience as an author or peer reviewer of scholarly articles. The purpose of this email is to invite you to participate in a new model for conducting scholarly peer reviews that enables you to earn from reviewing articles. ... Using ScholarTown’s online platform, publishers/editors can post article review projects that registered scholars can bid for. Employers (publishers/editors) can then select appropriate scholars for conducting article reviews, and pay them for work that is completed to their satisfaction. In contrast to the traditional voluntary approach to peer reviewing, this model enables scholars to receive reasonable compensation and stimulating work to review. To review articles and get PAID, please register ... Sign up now!
... Yours sincerely, ScholarTown Team, 2235 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 901,Toronto, Ontario, M2J 5B5, Canada

1 comment:

  1. I, too, get fake-flattery emails from flaky journals asking for papers. This morning's was from Sciedu Press with this come-on:
    "We seek well-written, scholarly papers such as yours above for future issues. It is my honor to invite you to submit..." Thank you for calling them out.

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