Is Frontiers Media a Predatory Publisher?

Frontiers Media (frontiersin.org) is an open access publisher in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded by serious neuroscientists. I looked around to learn what people were saying about it after receiving a request to review a manuscript for Frontiers in Genetics. The associate editor who wrote me as well most of the large board of "chief editors" seem to be published researchers, but I do not know what to make of the journal's claim to have 5,689 editors. Zooming in on the field of "ELSI in Science and Genetics" yielded a list of 131 "associate editors." Frontiers notes the number of articles these editors have written; 27 had no publications of their own (or if they did, Frontiers neglected to mention them).

Naturally, Frontiers claims that all of its 59 journals covering more than 460 specialties conduct transparent and rigorous peer review. It also states that "We publish all papers that are scientifically correct." (Emphasis in webpage). This asservation is hardly transparent. What is a "scientifically correct" paper? One that reports true results? No journal can guarantee that. Does it mean that every article that meets some methodological criteria will be published? What about those that do not meet these criteria? How many of the 65,000 papers published in the profusion of journals are not only incorrect, but reflect poorly conceived or executed research?

Wikipedia lists various controversies about Frontiers articles and resignations of editors. Individuals have complained about the shallowness of the review process (e.g., 1, 2) and allegedly heavy-handed or unscrupulous tactics by Frontiers to shut down Beall's list of predatory journals (e.g., 3, 4). One Frontier editor wrote an interesting description of "How to create a top journal by accepting (almost) everything" (5). 

I do not like to label journals "predatory" on this blog, and some thoughtful, albeit anonymous, comments appear below in defense of Frontiers. Given the nonscientific polling and anecdotal reports that abound (6), however, it seems doubtful that publishing in these journals generally would be regarded as a coup.

Email

Frontiers in Genetics

• From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com]
  Sent: Monday, April 19, 2021 5:26 AM
  Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  A quick follow-up to my previous emails, offering you the opportunity to guest edit a new article collection with a leading Frontiers journal. Leading an article collection - or Research Topic - with us is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the research you care about. As a guest editor you would set the scope for the new collection, then invite other experts in your field to collaborate by joining you as co-editors, or by submitting their own research.
  If you’d like to find out more about what’s involved, please do get in touch. My team and I will be happy to discuss it further with you.
  Best regards,
  Antonella Tesoro,
  Journal Manager
  Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
  Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
  Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne Switzerland
  Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you.
  Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field. If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.
• From: Frontiers in Genetics [genetics@frontiersin.com>]
  Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 5:24 AM
  Subject: Upcoming editorial opportunity based on your research, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit with a leading Frontiers journal.
  Based on your article, Frequentist Methods for Statistical Inference [← which was not an article, but rather a chapter in a book, and which had almost nothing in particular to do with genetics], we would like to work with you to develop a new article collection with us, shining a light on your field of research.
  If you’d like to take up the opportunity, please reply to let us know. My team and I will be back in touch shortly to discuss it further with you and let you know what’s involved.
  Best regards,
  Antonella Tesoro,
  Journal Manager
  Frontiers in Genetics has published several Research Topics to date, such as: Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks, edited by Marylyn Ritchie, Mariza De Andrade and Helena Kuivaniemi.
  Impact Factor 3.258 ¦ CiteScore 2.7
  Lausanne | London | Seattle | Beijing
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
  Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  Did we get this communication right? Please click here to give feedback on whether this email was relevant for you. Frontiers is committed to providing you with relevant updates in your field.
  If you do not want to receive any updates from Frontiers, you can unsubscribe by forwarding your request to support@frontiersin.org. If you wish to learn about how we protect personal data, you can read our Privacy Policy available on our website.

Frontiers in Psychology

• From: Marcelo Saad (Via FrontiersIn) [noreply@frontiersin.org]
  Date: Thu, Aug 26 at 12:38 PM
  Subject: Invitation to Review a Manuscript
  Dear Dr David H. Kaye ,
  I am writing to ask whether you would be able to review the manuscript "Development of an instrument to assess spirituality: reliability and validation of the Attitudes Related to Spirituality Scale (ARES)", by Camilla Casaletti Braghetta, Clarice Gorenstein, Yuan-Pang Wang, Camila Bertini Martins, Frederico Camelo Leão, Mario Peres, Giancarlo Lucchetti and Homero Vallada, submitted for consideration in Frontiers in Psychology, section Health Psychology.
  Please read below for details concerning the submission and inform us of your interest using the hyperlinks enclosed. In agreeing to review this manuscript, we trust that its subject matter falls within your area of expertise [← I am neither a psychologist nor an expert in developing scales] and that you are available to review the paper within 7 days. [← Are you kidding?]
  Before accepting this invitation, verify whether you have any potential conflicts of interest with the authors, including past collaborations or shared affiliation (see policy at [link deleted] ).
  Please note that should you participate in the review process and endorse publication of the paper, you are agreeing to the disclosure of your name on the published article. You may read below for more information. It is also important that you familiarize yourself with the Frontiers Collaborative Review Guidelines, accessible at ... . Briefly, the Frontiers review mandate is to evaluate the manuscript based on objective criteria, including the validity and rigor of the work.
  To ACCEPT this review invitation, please click on the link below. If you are not registered with Frontiers yet, you will be first asked to register. [link deleted]
  To DECLINE this review invitation, preventing further reminders, please click on the link below: [link deleted]
  Thank you for considering to review this manuscript.
  With best regards,
  Marcelo Saad
  Associate Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
  https://www.frontiersin.org/
  ***
  Frontiers Review Guidelines
  The Frontiers peer-review is a collaborative process with a focus on objective criteria, efficiency and transparency. A review questionnaire is provided in the online review forum to assist you in reviewing the manuscript.
  Reviewers identities are revealed at the end of the review process and you will be acknowledged for your work and contribution on the publication. Please note that you will remain anonymous throughout the entire review process. If irresolvable conflicts arise you may choose to withdraw from the review process and in such case you will remain anonymous. However, if the paper gets accepted for publication and no conflicts arose that led to your withdrawal, your contribution will be acknowledged on the publication.
  The Frontiers review process has unique features, including an interactive review stage, and a focus on objective criteria. To ensure an efficient review process please familiarize yourself with the Frontiers review guidelines: [link deleted]
  Reviewers are obliged to keep all manuscript files confidential and to delete all records after completing the review process. The review reports are also confidential and may only be shared with the authors and the handling editor of the manuscript in the review forum. Posting of the review report publicly is prohibited.
• From: psychology.topics@frontiersin.com
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  Given the prominence of your research in the field, I wonder if you would be interested in discussing the possibility of editing a collection of articles with Frontiers in Psychology. As one of the newest and most innovative open-access journals, we help researchers to bring together new developments in their field through Frontiers' Research Topics, which are online collections of peer reviewed articles, developed and managed by leading researchers. The editorial team and I would be happy to discuss potential themes, and provide you with additional information about the project. Please let me know if you have any questions
  With an Impact Factor of 2.089, Frontiers in Psychology is the largest and most cited multidisciplinary psychology journal in the world, led by Chief Editor Prof. Axel Cleeremans of the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. We have published several article collections to date, such as: Towards an embodied science of intersubjectivity: Widening the scope of social understanding research, edited by Prof. Ezequiel Di Paolo and Prof. Hanne De Jaegher.
  If you would like to discuss this please let us know!
  Best regards,
  Kirsten Martin
  Research Topic Manager
  
• From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
  Date: Fri Mar 30 2019 5:11 AM
  Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  I am wondering if you received our earlier email (found below my signature)? I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create an editorial project around this (called Research Topics). In my first email I included links to our journal and examples of Research Topics.
  Please let me know if you would like to discuss this further. I would be happy to send you some more information, or we could schedule a phone call at a time that is convenient for you.
  Best regards,
  Kirsten Martin Research Topic Manager
  Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15
  You have received this message because you have previously been in contact with Frontiers or because, due to your profile and expertise, it was thought likely that it would be of interest to you. ...
• From: Frontiers in Psychology [psychology.topics@frontiersin.com]
  Date: Apr. 5, 2019 5:13 AM
  Subject: Call for Guest Editor - Frontiers in Psychology
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  I am wondering if you received our earlier email?.
  I would love to discuss new developments in your field, and whether there would be an opportunity to create a special issue around this (called Research Topics).
  I would be happy to provide you with information on how to get started with this project.
  Best regards,
  Kirsten Martin
  Research Topic Manager
  Frontiers | Editorial Office - Research Topic Team
  Frontiers Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34 1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland Office T +41 21 510 17 15 Meet the Frontiers Team Frontiers journals lead in citations in their fields and rank in the top Impact Factor percentiles. Read the full analysis here.

Frontiers in Sociology

• From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
  Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 4:20 AM
  Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  While we all deal with the effects of COVID-19, making science open has never been more essential to global well-being. At Frontiers we’re still working to connect scientists and increase the visibility of their work. I noticed that you’ve collaborated with Prof. Susan Pope on the article "A comment on the PCAST report: Skip the "match"/"non-match" stage.". Prof. Susan Pope also led an editorial project with Frontiers, entitled "The Dialogue Between Forensic Scientists, Statisticians and Lawyers about Complex Scientific Issues for Court". Read more about this project here.
  I’m currently looking for guest editors who:
  • are working on exciting new areas that might benefit from an article collection
  • want to drive the direction of advancements in their field
  • want to collaborate with international peers across disciplines
  • want to make research available to anyone by publishing open access.
  Given your past collaboration and your own research activities I wonder whether you would be interested in discussing the possibilities of working with us on such a project.
  Would you have time next week to discuss this further by phone?
  Best Regards,
  Mirjam Eckert, PHD
  Publishing Director
  Frontiers in Sociology has published several Research Topics including Immigration in the Global Era: Migrants and the People and Laws at Origin and Destination edited by Guillermina Jasso and Moshe Semyonov.
  Frontiers
  www.frontiersin.org
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
  1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
  Office T +41 21 510 17 15
• From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
  Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 4:29 AM
  Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  I emailed you previously about an opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Please let me know if you would like to hear more.
  If you’re unable to be involved at this time, please feel free to suggest a time in the future when this might fit better with your schedule and commitments.
  I look forward to hearing from you.
  Best Regards,
  Mirjam Eckert, PHD
  Publishing Director
  Frontiers
  www.frontiersin.org
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
  1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
  Office T +41 21 510 17 15
• From: Frontiers in Sociology [sociology.topics@frontiersin.com]
  Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 4:27 AM
  Subject: Frontiers in Sociology invites you to guest edit
  Dear Dr. Kaye,
  I emailed you last week about the opportunity to guest edit an article collection with Frontiers. Given your past collaborations and research activities I think this could be a suitable project for you. Have you had a chance to consider this?
  If you have any questions, I’m happy to send you more information about what’s involved, or to discuss it further by phone. Would you be interested in setting up a call?
  I look forward to hearing from you.
  Best Regards,
  Mirjam Eckert, PHD
  Publishing Director
  Frontiers
  www.frontiersin.org
  Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
  1005, Lausanne Vaud Switzerland
  Office T +41 21 510 17 15

SciHuβ's "American Journal of ..."

Sci-Hub is best known as a pirate site for scientific papers. Articles on its spectacular success in this regard -- and the lawsuits against it by Elsevier and ACS -- have appeared in Nature, Atlantic, Wikipedia, the blog TorrentFreak, and elsewhere. The site co-opts university library servers to reach behind "paywalls." There is a Robin Hood quality to the site's founder and function that has garnered support, the blatant illegality notwithstanding.

In the original version of this posting, I wrote that

It also has six online journals of its own, named "American Journal of ... " The American Journal of Biotechnology and Molecular Sciences has no editorial board (11/26/17). Ditto for the American Journal of Medical and Dental Sciences. Its "current issue" is from 2013. The American Journal of Social and Management Sciences has more than 50 editors and no editor-in-chief. Only a handful are in America. They are

⊗ Stan Weeber, Ph.D., McNeese State University, (There is such a Professor of Sociology at McNeese State U., which proudly reports that "he received a Certificate in Social Justice Studies from the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University." The Oxford Roundtable is not affilated with Oxford University and apparently awards certificates to anyone who will come to its conferences.)
⊗ Tetsuji Yamada, Ph.D., Rutgers University (an economist who is an editor-in-chief of journals for OMICS and Sciforschen as well).
⊗ Dr. Sohail Mahmood, Independent Political Analyst (the author of at least six books on Pakistan),
⊗ Moustafa Abu EL Fadl, Ph. D., Old Dominion University (not listed in the university directory, but he received his Ph.D. there and is a visiting assistant professor at Clark University).

A reader pointed out that these journals are not associated with Sci-Hub -- that they are run by someone else using the name Science Huβ (for the homepage at https://scihub.org). The domain name is registered to Science Hub, LLC, P. O. Box 3423, Milford, Connecticut 06460, with the phone number (724)909-0482 and email url email@scihub.org.

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

Spring Journals, An Academic Caterer

The journal that spammed me does not seem to exist. As of 11/23/17, it is not listed among the journals on the website for Spring Journals. It came from an "Editorial Officer" named "OE" and gave no physical address. The domain registration for springjournals.net lists Francis Ekevere, 2 Idahor St. Off Iyobo Off Uwelu, Benin, Nigeria, +234.7034247920, email@gmail.com, as a contact

The website offers the following description of the publisher: "Spring Journals is an International Academic Research Institute where all research issues are catered for ... ." Nothing beats a good academic caterer. The editorial boards of the two journals I clicked on had names only -- no titles or affiliations.

Email

From: Spring Journals  (articles@springjournal.net)
Sent: Nov 12 at 4:06 PM
Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS
Dear Colleague,
Spring Journal of Agricultural Biological Sciences invites Scientists, Academicians and Researchers to submit their original research/review articles for publication after a thorough review with eminent professionals in the same field. All articles published by Spring Journals will be peer-reviewed. Our goal is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within two weeks of submission. We invite you to kindly support this initiative by:
♦ Sending us your paper
♦ Joining as a member of editorial team (send your cv to review@springjournals.net)or,
♦ By telling a colleague about us. ...
Best regards,
Francis OE
Editorial Officer
Spring Journals (SJ)
E-mail: springjournals@live.com , sj@springjournals.net, www.springjournals.net

Sryahwa Publications Hordes Journals

This Hyderabad publisher triple spammed me in one day. Its website announces (11/19/17) that "We horde internationally-recognized, peer-reviewed journals ... ." The horde includes articles on such topics as "the Dynamics Faced by Females as they Transition ... into the Abyss of Entrepreneurship." Checking out an article on "The New Universe Model" in the Open Access Journal of Physics (1:1, 2017), I learned that

[T]here is tardyonic centrifugal force and tachyonic centripetal force coexistence. It is the universe foundations. All matter has the tachyonic gravity. We should establish new cosmological theory and new particle physics theory. ... The Einstein field equations are wrong..Dark matter, dark energy, observable gravitational waves and black holes do not exist. Multiverse and inflation are mistake.

Because "Sryahwa Publications strictly opposes the plagiarism," it requires "author’s to submit a signed statement that ... no part ... are not copied ... ." That'll do it.

The physical address on the website (16192 Coastal Highway, Lews, Delaware 19958) is that of a single family residential house apparently used by Harvard Business Services, which describes itself as "the leading provider of Delaware business formations, [offering] the lowest Registered Agent Fee in the industry."

The domain sryahwapublications.com is registered to Jagadesh Babu, Madhuranagar, Hyderabad Other 500016 India, +91.995144340, jagdeshbabus@gmail.com. The domain spjournals.com is registered to Rakesh Tripathy, Ram Nagar, Delhi Bihar 558899 India, +91.9898989898, spjournals.com@mail.com.

UPDATES
1/14/19: Sryahwa is connected to the newer and questionable Syntax Publishers.
5/26/21: Windows Defender flagged the website for IJRHSS as possibly malicious.

Email

International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies (IJRHSS)

• From: Editor_IJRHSS [info@sciconfs.com]
  Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 6:56 PM
  Subject: Boost your Article Quality-IJRHSS
  International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies (IJRHSS)
  E-ISSN : 2394-6296 P-ISSN : 2394-6288 DOI Prefix : 10.22259/ijrhss
  Dear Professor,
  IJRHSS requires few more manuscripts to release its Current issue and we need your support in this regard.
  In the spotlight of your previous publications & research interests, we are humbly requesting you to submit your Research, Review, Case reports, Editorial, Clinical Images, Opinions, Short Commentaries or Letter to Editor to help in releasing the issue of our journal.
  Planning for Current Issue:
  Submission Date: 30th of May 2021
  Review Process Duration: 10 to 15 days
  Releasing Date: Mid of June 2021
  There is no specific topic for this issue; you can submit articles on any area of study as per your interest.
  We invite you to submit your articles/papers to editor@ijrhss.org
  Kindly submit your manuscript as soon as possible. We believe that you will definitely help in releasing the issue.
  Best Regards
  Christiana Lawrence [← She seems to manage every journal.]
  Journal Manager
  If you are not comfortable with our emails, please unsubscribe

Journal of Banking and Finance Management

• From: Banking and Finance Management [info@confmeetings.com]
  Sent: Wed 10/28/2020 7:13 AM
  Subject: Requesting to submit your paper - Journal of Banking and Finance Management
  Dear Professor,
  Greetings from Sryahwa Publications!!!
  It is our immense pleasure to invite you and your research allies to submit a manuscript for the Journal of Banking and Finance Management. This is focused to publish quality research work in the fields of Banking and Finance Management. [← That's a surprise.]
  We publish all kinds of Original, Research, Review Articles, Short Communications, Letter to Editor [← only one?] etc.
  We Wholeheartedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to jbfm@sryahwapublications.com. No Publication fee (Free of Cost) for the articles which is received on or before November 10, 2020. For any queries feel free to contact us.
  Thank you
  Best Regards
  Christiana Lawrence [← She seems to manage every journal.]
  Journal Manager JBFM
• From: Banking and Finance Management [info@confmeetings.com]
  Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 10:17 AM
  Subject: Requesting to submit your paper - Journal of Banking and Finance Management
  Journal of Banking and Finance Management ISSN 2642-9144
  [Same content]
  

Journal of Law and Judicial System

• From: Journal of Law and Judicial System [info@eurooa.com]
  Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2020 7:09 PM
  Subject: Call for Papers - JLJS 2020
  Dear Professor,
  Greetings from Sryahwa Publications!!!
  It is our immense pleasure to invite you and your research allies to submit manuscript for Journal of Law and Judicial System. which is focused to publish the quality research work in the fields of Journal of Law and Judical System
  We publish all kind of original, research articles, review articles, short communications, Letter to Editor Etc.
  We whole heatedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to jljs@sryahwapublications.com
  We request you to submit the manuscripts on or before September 8, 2020.
  For any queries feel free to contact us.
  Thank you
  Best Regards
  Christiana Lawrence
  Journal Manager
  Journal of Law and Judicial System
• From: Sindhu B (newsletter@spjournals.com)
  Sent: Mon 5/14/2018 7:46 AM (and again 7:56 AM; also 5/30/18 8:33 am, with a submission date of the next day, 5/31)
  Subject: Article Submission- Journal of Law and Judicial System
  Dear Esteemed Professor,
  Greetings from Sryahwa Publications. It is our immense pleasure to invite you to submit your articles towards Journal of Law and Judicial System is an open access; peer-reviewed academic journal serves as a worldwide forum to publish original and internationally significant contributions from all fields of Research Journal of Library and Information Science We would like to invite you to submit your valuable articles such as research articles, review articles, short communications etc., towards our journal. We assure you quick response and quality publication.
  We wholeheartedly invite you to submit your articles/papers to our journal. ... Papers may be submitted from any discipline related to suggested topics which include but are not limited. ... Article processing charges are waived of for this Issue. So we request you to submit your articles on or before May 10, 2018.
  Thank you
  With Best Regards
  Sryahwa Publications
• From: Editor (newsletter@spjournals.com)
  Sent: Thu 11/16/2017 5:43 AM
  Subject: Requesting Free Articles - Law and Judicial Systems
  Esteemed Researcher,
  Journal of Law and Judicial System is an international journal that intends to publish most quality research papers in the fields of socio-legal studies and the psychology of law, criminology and social justice studies. We expect all the articles or papers to be original which are not published previously or submitted to any journal for the consideration for publication. We Wholeheartedly invites you to submit your articles/papers through jljs@sryahwapublications.com Here we can mentioned the scope of our journal which is included but not limited.
  Administration in Criminal Justice | Advanced Taxation: International Taxation | Advocacy | Animals, Culture and the Law | Bioethics, Personhood and the Law | Business Association | Business Law Clinic | Children and the Law | Civil Liberties and the Charter | Crime and Delinquency | Criminology | Environmental Law Centre Clinic
  Article processing charges are waived off for this issue. We request you to submit your papers on or before November 30, 2017. Kindly inform about our journal to your Friends / Students/ Colleagues / Associates and Fellow Researchers who may utilize this opportunity as a platform for their new research inventions.
  Thanking you
  Best Regards
  Editorial Office, Sryahwa Publications

Journal of Philosophy and Ethics

• From: Editor JPE (jpe@sryahwapublications.com)
  Date: 5 August 2019 7:37 AM
  Subject: Article requests - Journal of Philosophy and Ethics
  Dear Professor,
  Greetings of the day!!! On behalf of the Editorial team, we invite you to submit your research articles for upcoming issue.We request you to submit your research articles on or before August 15th, 2019. For more information please visit at: Journal Home Page
  Best regards
  Journal Manager
  Christiana Lawrence
  Journal of Philosophy and Ethics

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

Siya Publishing House "assures you of taking the onus"

Siya Publishing House has one positive features. It does not pretend to have offices in the US or Europe. It lists no journals as yet, but does "Welcome proposals for authors/ institutes/ societies for publication of books/e-books/ Journals /e-journals/ proceedings in all subjects ranges" and does "all type of publishing work National International level."

Email

• Sent: Fri 11/10/2017 5:06 AM
  From: Siya Publishing House, Delhi (India) [editorial@siyapub.in]
  Re: Publishing Your Book/Thesis/Manual with Us
  Respected Authors,
  Greeting from Siya Publishing House-Delhi, We invite you for publishing your manuscript with us. We firmly believe that authors build the pillars for our organization. We offer attractive terms, compensation for your time and efforts contributed by you. We appreciate and value quality in content and the presentation of the books we produce. On our part, we assure you of quality production, wider distribution and publicity. ... All work completes under supervision of expert panel. We assure you of taking the onus, having the readiness of our expert panel of editors, of giving the utmost justice to your work. In the process we aim at providing you with the best terms, the best possible quality, timely production and wide circulation.
  Looking forward to your kind reply.
  Thanking you
  with best regards, Team, Siya Publishing House, B-311, Block-B, Street No. 9, Near Tyagi Farm House
  Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi-110084, Mobile & Whatsup No.: +91-9654906121, Email: info@siyapub.com