IC Value?

Index Copernicus is a Poland-based company that offers several services related to scholarly publishing. One of their products is a journal rating system, and I am concerned about the methods they use for ranking journals and the high proportion of predatory journals in their database.

Looking at the IC Journals Master List 2012 one sees the beginning of the list sorted by “ICV” or Index Copernicus Value. The list is sorted with the highest-ranking journals at the top. The second highest scoring journal is Acta Myologica, with a score of 53.44. This journal beat out Science, Nature, and many other top science journals.

Looking at the information page for this journal at the Index Copernicus website, one sees many errors. First, there is a dead image link. The journal deals with myology, the study of muscles, but is misclassified by IC as a humanities journal.

The page shows the journal’s earlier scores from 2005-2009, increasing from 5.56 to 7.18. (I have observed that Index Copernicus values always go up, never down). Missing are the values for 2010-2011. The 2012 value is an astounding 53.44, and there’s no explanation why the value has increased so much. Also, the page mislabels Acta Myologica as an English Title (it’s really Latin).

Many errors

Numerous predatory journals have IC values, and they often display their IC value prominently on their websites. They do this because they want to attract article submissions, and the article processing charges they bring in. The value may look like an authentic metric to potential authors. It bears a resemblance to the impact factor, so naïve authors may accept it as such.

Predatory publishers brag about their IC values.

The IC Evaluation Methodology is here. It seems heavily weighted towards publishing practice rather than scientific impact.

I find the Index Copernicus value (IC Value) highly questionable. In fact, I’d say it’s a pretty worthless measure, especially given how many predatory publishers have established values, values that increase every year.

Designed to fool.

We recently learned about a new scholarly open-access publisher whose name sounds very much like that of an established scholarly publisher.

It is Stringer Open, and of course it sounds like Springer Open.

The victim.

Stringer Open has just launched with ten journals, some with ungrammatical titles, and some with titles that make little sense, such as the International Journal of Addiction Science and Anesthesiology.

The publisher’s ‘contact us’ page does not state any location, but the domain name registration leads to an apartment complex in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. There are many predatory publishers from Andhra Pradesh, and it seems everyone there wants to be a scholarly publisher.

Stringer Open is currently spamming for editorial board members, and I wonder how many will be tricked by the similar name. The boards now contain a few members each. The same person, Carol Calini, is on the editorial boards of three of the ten Stringer Open journals. I contacted her, and she told me she’s a researcher’s secretary and had not heard of this publisher before.

This publisher is an affront to scholarly publishing and to open-access. I strongly recommend against submitting papers to any of its journals and against accepting an invitation to serve on an editorial board.

Hat tip: Tero Kivelä

Appendix: List of Stringer Open journals as of November 23, 2013:

1. International Journal of Addiction Science and Anesthesiology
2. International Journal of Cancer Therapy & Stem Cell Biology
3. International Journal of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
4. International Journal of Clinical and Medical Case Reports
5. International Journal of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
6. International Journal of HIV for Clinical and Scientific Research
7. International Journal of Novel Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation
8. International Journal of Ophthalmology and Clinical Research
9. International Journal of Vaccines and Immunology
10. Journal of Genetics and Gene Therapy

Worst of the worst.

The Photon Foundation is a predatory publisher of fifty bogus journals. This publisher, which uses Google Sites as its publishing platform, has been on my list for some time. I recently learned that the publisher is trying to use deception to get manuscript submissions from legitimate journals with titles similar to its journals.

The publisher uses fake names for its journals’ editors-in-chief. It also  uses bogus metrics and bogus standard numbers:

Deception.

Its journals have no editorial boards that I can find, and I have no idea whatsoever where this operation is based or who the owner is. It uses yahoo.com email addresses. The publisher misrepresents itself as a “foundation.” It promises a twelve-day peer review process and does not state what its article processing charges are. The publisher provides links to legitimate scholarly organizations, a tactic to make itself appear legitimate. It’s almost as if the Photon Foundation is intentionally trying to meet every single one of the criteria I’ve established for determining predatory open-access publishers.

Some of the Photon Foundation’s journal titles match exactly the titles of legitimate journals. One example is Photon’s Journal of Parasitology. The original Journal of Parasitology is co-published by Allen Press, Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas, and the American Society of Parasitologists. Allen Press requested that Google, Inc. remove the intentionally duplicate journal,  but Google declined to take any action.

Lately, the Photon Foundation has been spamming members of the society, soliciting manuscripts for their journal with the same title as the authentic society journal. Photon is exploiting its duplicative journal title to deceive authors and steal potential article submissions.

I strongly recommend against submitting articles to any of the Photon Foundation journals. If anyone can determine where this publisher is based and who’s behind it, I would be grateful for that information.

Hat tips: Peter Burns, David Blair

Appendix: List of Photon Foundation journals as of November 23, 2013

1. International Journal of Agriculture
2. International Journal of Agriculture
3. International Journal of Biochemistry
4. International Journal of Biotechnology
5. International Journal of Business Management
6. International Journal of Electrical and Electronics
7. International Journal of Medicinal Plants
8. International Journal of Photocatalysis
9. International Journal of Proteomics
10. Journal of Anatomy
11. Journal of Antimicrobials
12. Journal of Applied Biochemistry
13. Journal of Biodiversity
14. Journal of Bioprocess Technology
15. Journal of Chemical Science
16. Journal of Civil Engineering
17. Journal of Computer Science
18. Journal of Ecology
19. Journal of Economics
20. Journal of Education
21. Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
22. Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicine
23. Journal of Food Technology
24. Journal of Free Radicals and Antioxidants
25. Journal of Genetics
26. Journal of Geography and Geology
27. Journal of Human Disease
28. Journal of Humanities and Social Science
29. Journal of Infectious Diseases
30. Journal of Insect Science
31. Journal of Journalism & Mass Communication
32. Journal of Language and Literature
33. Journal of Library and Information Science
34. Journal of Materials Science
35. Journal of Mathematics
36. Journal of Mechanical Engineering
37. Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
38. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
39. Journal of Orthopaedics
40. Journal of Parasitology
41. Journal of Physics
42. Journal of Physiology and Health
43. Journal of Phytochemistry
44. Journal of Planning and Architecture
45. Journal of Plant Pathology
46. Journal of Plant Physiology
47. Journal of Psychiatry
48. Journal of Water Research
49. Photon Journal of Neurology
50. Photon Journal of Pediatrics

Easy ticket to an impact factor publication

Faisalabad, Pakistan-based Medwell Journals was on my very first list of questionable publishers in 2010, and it continues there today. One of Medwell’s journals is the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, and this journal actually has an impact factor.

This journal is clear evidence that the impact factor is not a measure of quality, for this is a bottom-tier journal. The Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances has an impact factor of 0.390. On the other hand, the journal has a very large editorial board, whose 70 members are listed without their affiliations, if any. Moreover, the publisher tries to hide the fact that it’s based in Pakistan, and it does not clearly state what its article processing charges are.

It’s evidently very easy to get published in the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances. In fact, it’s so easy that the journal has 24 large issues per year to accommodate all the submissions it receives and accepts for publication. It’s clear the publisher is making a lot of money off this single journal. However, the papers appear to be generally of very low quality, and some are off-topic.

An article about concrete in a veterinary journal

One example is the above article, “Effect of Different Cure Conditions on Compressive Strength of Concrete Having Different Properties.” The paper is about curing concrete and has nothing to do with “animal and veterinary advances.” Also, the publisher is not investing in copyediting, as a quick analysis of the articles reveals.

Many countries, universities, and departments require that their faculty publish in impact factor journals for promotion, tenure, and annual evaluations. Somehow, the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances has managed to get a legitimate impact factor, so it’s a gold mine for the publisher, and dream-come-true for authors needing a quick and easy publication in a journal with a legitimate impact factor.

Also, if you need academic credit that involves serving on the editorial board of an impact factor journal, this is a good place to go, and I suspect it involves very little if any work.

So, the impact factor is not a measure of quality, as this journal proves. I am keeping Medwell Journals on my list of questionable publishers and recommend that researchers not submit papers to any of their journals, impact factor or not.

Hat tip: Dr. Germán D. Mendoza Martínez

Avoid this publisher.

The monographic series Reef Resources Assessment and Management Technical Papers has been hijacked as an open-access journal.

This is what the authentic (print) publication looks like.

The above cover image shows the first number from the authentic series (this may be the only issue every published — I cannot find any others). It was published by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, based in New Caledonia. I cannot find a website for the authentic serial.

Here’s the hijacked version of the publication:

This is completely bogus.

It’s immediately clear upon inspection that there’s something “fishy” about this journal. First, its URL is this: http://behaviorsciences.com/ Second, on the website’s main page, it says,

Reef Resources Assessment and Management Technical Paper (RRAMT) ISSN: 1607-7393, is dedicated to publish research papers, reviews, case studies and short communications from all disciplines of science and technology. By not excluding papers on the basis of subject area, RRAMT facilitates the research and wishes to publish papers as long as they are technically correct and scientifically motivated.

Third, the bogus journal claims metrics and standard numbers that it doesn’t really have:

Nothing is true.

The bogus journal claims 37 published volumes, despite having “started” in 2001. I found that much of its content is lifted from other scholarly websites. Here’s an example:

This is the authentic article from an institutional repository.

This is the adulterated version of the article in the hijacked journal

The authentic article is from here; the bogus copy is here.

Conclusion: This is another instance of a journal hijacking. Most definitely, do not submit any papers to this stolen journal.

Hat tip: Reza Tooshmalani

Pathological?

A researcher agreed to peer-review a manuscript submitted to the Taylor & Francis journal Biocontrol Science and Technology. The researcher is Dr. S.S. Narwal, who is also editor of the toll-access Allelopathy Journal. About a week before the review was due back to the journal, the publisher sent this routine reminder notice to Dr. Narwal:

15-Dec-2013

Dear Dr. S.S. Narwal:

Recently, you kindly agreed to review the above manuscript, entitled “[redacted].” The manuscript is located in your Reviewer Centre at [redacted].

This e-mail is simply a reminder that your review is due in one week. The authors are naturally anxious about the progress on their paper and I would appreciate your help in expediting the review process. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Mark S. Goettel
Editor-in-Chief
Biocontrol Science and Technology

Now, here is the response to the above email that came from Dr. Narwal’s email account:

From: narwal@allelopathyjournal.org [mailto:narwal@allelopathyjournal.org]
Sent: December-15-13 4:47 AM
To: [redacted]
Subject: Re: Reminder: Manuscript CBST-2013- – Biocontrol Science & Technology

Dear Dr. Mark,

I am too busy to spare time for PEER REVIEW of Mss, however, I can Review if i am paid for this service. If you agree to pay, please tell me amount to be paid per Review?

This unsigned response, apparently from Dr. Narwal himself, generated this strong reaction from the editor of Biocontrol Science and Technology, Mark Goettel:

From: Mark Goettel BST
Sent: Wednesday, 18 December 2013 8:22 AM
To: narwal@allelopathyjournal.org
Cc: [redacted]
Subject: RE: Reminder: Manuscript CBST-2013- – Biocontrol Science & Technology

Dear Dr. Narwal,

Wow, that is a surprising request especially from the Chief Editor of an International Journal!!  May I ask how much you pay the peer reviewers who provide reviews for your Journal, “Allelopathy Journal”?

You were invited to review this manuscript on 14 November and accepted on 1 December. Now it is acceptable for you to decline because all of a sudden you find yourself too busy, but ask for momentary compensation? Shame on you!

I am copying members of your Editorial Board as well as Editors of other journals to inform them of what I feel is really unethical behaviour for an Editor of an international, peer reviewed journal!  I am sure they would like to know what type of journal editor they are associated with!

By the way, I also find it very strange that the only contact information provided for the “International Allelopathy Foundation”, the publisher of this journal to be your own!  Does not the foundation have a Board of Directors who should be informed of your unethical behaviour?

Sincerely,

Mark Goettel
Editor-in-Chief
Biocontrol Science & Technology

This letter was copied to all members of the journal’s editorial board, prompting this response from one of them, “I resigned from the Editorial Board of ‘Allelopathy Journal’ in 2009 in utter disgust at the conduct of its affairs.”

Allelopathy Journal is not an open-access journal, but it is questionable. Its masthead (see image above) claims an impact factor of 0.846, but my library’s edition of Journal Citation Reports shows 0.685.

The correct data.

Also, every time I visited the Allelopathy Journal website, it always said “Online Members: 107.” As Mark Goettel hinted at in his letter above, it appears the journal is really a one-man operation, despite its claiming to be published by the so-called International Allelopathy Foundation.

I recommend against submitting papers to Allelopathy Journal and against asking Dr. Narwal to review any manuscripts.

Islamic Science Citation Index

Note: This is a guest post by a professor from an Iranian University.

Before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, some Iranian universities were almost as good as some outstanding universities (e.g., MIT, UCLA, etc.). When the Islamists overtook power in 1979, almost all of the fine Iranian university professors fled Iran for fear of their lives. The universities were closed for a couple of years. Before they re-opened, a team of hard-liner Islamists headed by Professor Abdolkarim Soroosh formed a ‘refinery’ group which came to be known as the “Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution” whose job was to make sure no secular professors would remain employed in Iranian universities. Non-academic criteria (such as wearing the Islamic Chador, having a beard, saying prayers, participating in pro-regime political shows, etc.) were adopted as the criteria for employment, and the job vacancies were filled with so-called virtuous instructors/professors some of whom had fake diplomas (e.g., Ali Kordan).

A few years later, a new cancerous university with hundreds of branches even in far-off villages of Iran came into existence which was called Islamic Azad University; it may be amusing for non-Iranians to know that there is joke among Iranians which says, ‘If someone asks you to say a phrase which includes three BIG lies, just answer “Islamic Azad University”.’ The standards of academic quality were compromised even more, and Iranian universities began to race down the list of top universities of the world. Plagiarism, self plagiarism, fake books and papers, pseudo science, and the like began to grow like a cancerous tumor. All of a sudden, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology as well as the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education noticed that Iranian university Professors were no longer able to publish in scholarly journals—they were not university material any more.

The people in charge in the two ministries agreed to do a survey whose purpose was to find the possible causes of this undesirable situation; a pathology/etiology study was performed, but the final report was quite amusing. The people in charge had concluded that universal prestige academic journals were sinisterly not willing to publish works from Iran simply because such journals belonged to Zionists who had decided to practice academic apartheid against Iranians—a justification which is very much in line with what Freud called projection. Everything in this country is explained that simply. There is always a western demon behind whatever goes wrong in this country. The whole world has just one thing to do; to plot against us.

Now that the cause was known, a remedy was in order. This gave birth to the Islamic World Science Citation Index (known as ISC). The ISC was launched as a rival to ISI, JCR, ERIC, etc. Now that we have our own ISC, assistant professors publish in predatory journals and get promoted to the rank of associate professor in no time; by the same token, associate professors become full professors. University rankings, too, have been drastically affected. After all, ISC indexes many predatory journals. Just see the list for yourselves:  http://mjl.isc.gov.ir/Searchresult.aspx?Cond=0. The very fact that ISC has recently added an ‘Excluded Journals from ISC’ link (http://mjl.isc.gov.ir/ExcludedJournals.aspx) on its website testifies to the fact that ISC had indexed them on shaky grounds in the first place; now you can guess the rest of the story. The rest for me now is silence.

By Jeffrey Beall

Released January 2, 2014

The gold (author pays) open-access model has given rise to a great many new online publishers. Many of these publishers are corrupt and exist only to make money off the author processing charges that are billed to authors upon acceptance of their scientific manuscripts.

There are two lists below. The first includes questionable, scholarly open-access publishers. Each of these publishers has a portfolio that ranges from just a few to hundreds of individual journal titles.

The second list includes individual journals that do not publish under the platform of any publisher — they are essentially standalone, questionable journals.

In both cases, we recommend that researchers, scientists, and academics avoid doing business with these publishers and journals. Scholars should avoid sending article submissions to them, serving on their editorial boards, reviewing papers for them, or advertising in them. Also, tenure and promotion committees should give extra scrutiny to articles published in these journals, for many of them include instances of research misconduct.

There are still many high-quality journals available for scholars to publish in, including many that do not charge author processing fees. An additional option is author self-archiving of article postprints in discipline-specific and institutional repositories.

The author is grateful to the many colleagues who have shared information about potential predatory publishers. Last year’s list included 225 publishers, and this year’s has over 477, evidence of the continued rapid growth in the number of predatory journals and publishers. The table below details the growth of questionable publishers since 2011.

This list will be updated throughout the year at the blog Scholarly Open Access, http://scholarlyoa.com. Please refer to the blog rather than the lists below because the list below will not be updated.

The criteria for inclusion in the lists can be found here. The author’s email address is: jeffrey.beall@ucdenver.edu.

List 1: Questionable Publishers

1. Abhinav
2. A M Publishers
3. Academe Research Journals
4. Academia Publishing
5. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
6. Academic and Business Research Institute
7. Academic and Scientific Publishing
8. Academic Journals
9. Academic Journals and Research ACJAR
10. Academic Journals, Inc.
11. Academic Journals Online (AJO)
12. Academic Publications, Ltd.
13. Academic Research Journals
14. Academic Research Publishing Agency
15. Academic Scholars Publishing House
16. Academic Sciences
17. Academic Star Publishing Company
18. Academic World Education & Research Center
19. AcademicDirect
20. Academy & Industry Research Collaboration Center (AIRCC)
21. Academy Journals
22. Academy of IRMBR International Research in Management and Business Realities
23. Academy of Knowledge Process
24. Academy of Science and Engineering (ASE)
25. Academy of Science and Social Science (ASSS)
26. Academy Publish
27. Access International Journals
28. Ada Lovelace Publications
29. Advance Research Publications
30. Advanced Research Journals
31. Advanced Science and Engineering Technology Institute (ASET)
32. Advancement and Development in Technology International (Aditi)
33. AENSI
34. African Research Review (AFRREV)
35. AgiAl Publishing House
36. Aizeon Publishers
37. Akademik Plus Publication
38. AkiNik Publications
39. American Academic & Scholarly Research Center (AASRC)
40. American Association for Science and Technology (AASCIT)
41. American Scientific Research Journals
42. American Society for Science and Engineering
43. American V-King Scientific Publishing
44. Annex Publishers
45. ANSINetwork
46. Antarctic Journals
47. Aperito Publications
48. Apex Journal
49. Apex Journals
50. Applied Science Innovations
51. Archers & Elevators Publishing House
52. ARPN Journals
53. Ashdin Publishing
54. Asian Academic Research Associates
55. Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS)
56. Asian Online Journals
57. Asian Research Consortium
58. Association of Computer Electronics and Electrical Engineers(ACEEE)
59. AstonJournals
60. Atlas Publishing, LP
61. Austin Publishing Group
62. Australian International Academic Centre Pty. Ltd.
63. Avens Publishing Group
64. Avestia Publishing
65. Avicena Publisher
66. Basic Research Journals
67. Bell Press
68. Bentham Open
69. Better Advances Press
70. Biohelikon
71. BioInfo Publications
72. BioIT international Journals 
73. Biological and Chemical Publishing
74. BioMedSciDirect Publications
75. Bioscience Research & Educational Institute [Link dead as of 2012-11-14]
76. Blue Ocean Research Journals
77. BluePen Journals
78. Bonfring
79. Bowen Publishing
80. British Association of Academic Research (BAAR)
81. British Journal
82. Business Journalz (BJ)
83. Business Perspectives
84. Canadian Center of Science and Education
85. Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures  see CSCanada
86. Canadian Science and Technology Press Inc.
87. Cardiology Academic Press
88. Center for the Development and Dissemination of Knowledge
89. Center for Enhancing Knowledge (CEK), UK
90. The Center for Innovations in Business & Management Practice
91. Central Research Insight
92. Centre For Info Bio Technology (CIBTech)
93. Centre for Promoting Ideas
94. Centre of Excellence for Scientific & Research Journalism (COES&RJ)
95. Centre of Promoting Research Excellence (CPRE)
96. Cloud Journals
97. The Clute Institute
98. Columbia International Publishing
99. Comprehensive Research Journals
100. Computer Science Journals
101. CONFAB Journals
102. Congress Press
103. Contemporary Research Center (CRC), Australia
104. Cosmic Journals
105. CREST Journals
106. Crown Journals
107. CSCanada
108. Cyber Journals
109. Design for Scientific Renaissance
110. DISA Publication Group (DP Group)
111. Discovery Publishing Group 
112. David Publishing
113. Deccan Pharma Journals
114. DeNovo Scientific Publishing
115. Discourse Journals
116. DRUNPP Sarajevo (Society for Development of Teaching and Business Processes in New Net Environment in B&H)
117. E-International Journals of Academic & Scientific Research (EIJASR)
118. E-International Scientific Research Journal Consortium (E-ISRJC)
119. e-journals
120. e3Journals
121. Ebioscholar
122. eCanadian Journals
123. Econjournals
124. Edorium Journals
125. EDUGAIT Press
126. EISRJC Journals (E-International Scientific Research Journal Consortium
127. eLearning Institute
128. ELVEDIT.COM
129. Elewa Bio Sciences
130. Elite Research Journals
131. eJournals of Academic Research & Reviews
132. Electronic Center for International Scientific Information
133. Elmer Press
134. Elyns Publishing Group
135. Engineering and Technology Publishing
136. Engineering Journals (Engg Journals Publications)
137. Enliven Archive
138. Erudite Journals Limited
139. ESRSA Publication – Engineering and Science Research Support Academy
140. ETA Maths Journals
141. Euro Asia Research and Development Association
142. EuroJournals
143. European-American Journals
144. ExcelingTech Publishing Company, Ltd.
145. Far East Research Centre
146. Ficus Publishers
147. Genexcellence Publication (G Publications)
148. Global Advanced Research Journals
149. The Global Journals
150. Global Journals, Inc. (US)
151. Global Openaccess
152. Global Research Journals
153. Global Researchers Journals
154. Global Research Online
155. Global Research Publishing (GRP)
156. Global Scientific, Inc.
157. Global Technocrats & Intellectual’s Association (GTIA)
158. GlobalOpenJournals.org
159. GlobalSkope Publishing Society
160. Green Earth Research Network
161. Green Global Foundation (GGF)
162. Greener Journals
163. Growing Science Publishing Company
164. Herald International Research Journals
165. Herbert Open Access Journals
166. Hikari Ltd.
167. Horizon Research Publishing
168. Human and Sciences Publications (HumanPub)
169. Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (HRMARS)
170. IBIMA Publishing
171. IJRCM
172. iMedPub = Internet Medical Publishing
173. Impact Journals
174. Indian Society for Education and Environment (ISEE)
175. IndianResearchJournals.Com
176. Indus Foundation for Education, Research & Social Welfare
177. Infinity Press
178. Infonomics Society
179. Inforesights Publishing
180. Ingenious Enterprises International (INGENIN)
181. Innovare Academic Sciences
182. Innovative Space of Scientific Research (ISSR Journals)
183. INREWI
184. Insight Knowledge
185. Institute for Research and Development India (IRD)
186. Institute of Advanced Scientific Research
187. Institute of Doctors Engineers and Scientists (IDES)
188. Institute of Electronic & Information Technology
189. Institute of Language and Communication Studies
190. Institute of Research and Journals (IRAJ)
191. Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors (IRED)
192. Institute of Strategic and International Studies
193. InTech Open Access Publisher - Mirror site
194. Integrated Publishing Association
195. Integrated Science Publications
196. Intellect Journals
197. Intellectual Archive
198. Intercontinental Electronic Journals
199. Interdisciplinary Publications
200. Intermedcentral
201. InternationalJournals.co.in
202. International Academic Journals
203. International Academy of Business & Economics
204. International Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology(International ASET)
205. International Academy of Science , Engineering and Technology(IASET)
206. The International Academy, Research and Industry Association (IARIA)
207. International Advances for Research
208. International Association for Engineering & Technology
209. International Association for Engineering and Management Education (IAEME)
210. International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT Press)
211. International Association of Journals & Conferences (IAJC)
212. International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research(IASIR)
213. International Association of Technology Education & Industry
214. International Center for Business Research
215. International Centre of Culture Inventory
216. International Conference on Computer Science and Engineering
217. International Digital Organization for Scientific Information (IDOSI)
218. International Educative Research Foundation And Publisher
219. International Foundation for Modern Education and Scientific Research (INFOMESR)
220. International Foundation for Research and Development
221. International House for Academic Scientific Research [Link dead as of 2013-01-02]
222. International Indexed Refereed Research Journal
223. International Institute for Science, Technology and Education(IISTE)
224. International Institute of Informatics and Systemics
225. International Institute of Scientific & Industrial Research
226. International Invention Journals
227. International Journal Publishers Group
228. The International Journal Research Publications
229. International Journals of Engineering & Sciences
230. International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy
231. International Journals of Scientific Knowledge (IJSK)
232. International Journals of Scientific Research (IJSR)
233. International Network for Applied Sciences and Technology
234. International Network for Scientific & Industrial Information
235. International Network for Natural Sciences (INNSPUB)
236. International Online Knowledge Services Provider (IOKSP)
237. International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR)
238. International Recognition Multidisciplinary Research Journals, Monthly Publish
239. International Recognition Research Journals
240. International Research E-Journals
241. International Research Journals (Lagos, Nigeria)
242. International Research Journals (Accra, Ghana)
243. International Research Organization of Computer Science (IROCS)
244. International Scholars Journals
245. International Science Congress Association
246. International Scientific Academic Corporation
247. International Scientific Engineering and Research Publications
248. International Scientific Publications
249. International Society for Zoological Research (ISZR)
250. International Society of Universal Research in Sciences (EyeSource)
251. Internet Medical Publishing
252. Internet Scientific Publications
253. Interscience Journals
254. Interscience Open Access Journals
255. iProbe Group
256. (IROSSS) International Research Organization of Sciences and Social Sciences
257. ISISnet
258. ISPACS (International Scientific Publications and Consulting Services)
259. IRED International Journals
260. Ivy Union Publishing
261. JET Publishing
262. Journal Issues
263. Journal of Comprehensive Research
264. JournalsBank
265. JScholar Journals
266. JSciMed Central
267. Jyoti Academic Press
268. Kaleidoscope Journals
269. KEJA Publications
270. Key Research Journals (KRJ)
271. Kindi Publication
272. Knowledgebase Publishers
273. KnowledgesPublisher
274. Knowledgia Scientific (formerly Knowledgia Review)
275. KY Publications
276. Leena & Luna International
277. Lifescience Global
278. Literati Scientific and Publishers  (Literati Publishers)
279. Longbridge Publishing Company
280. Lorem Journals
281. Macrothink Institute
282. Meghana Pubilcations 
283. Management Education & Research Consortium Global (MERC Global)
284. Management Journals
285. Marsland Press
286. Mary and Sam Research Academia
287. Maryland Institute of Research
288. Maxwell Scientific Organization
289. MASAUM Network
290. Medical Science Journals [Link dead as of 2012-11-14]
291. Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research (MCSER)
292. Medwell Journals
293. Mehta Press
294. Merit Research Journals
295. MNK Publication
296. Modern Scientific Press
297. Moksha Publishing House
298. Muhammadon Centre for Research and Development (MCRD)
299. Mustang Journals
300. Narain Publishers Pvt. Ltd (NPPL)
301. National Social Science Association (NSSA)
302. Natural Sciences Publishing Corporation
303. Nauk Publication
304. Net Journals
305. New Ground Research Journals
306. New World Sciences Academy
307. Nexus Academic Publishers (NAP)
308. NobleResearch Publisher
309. Noto-are
310. Novus Scientia Journals
311. North Atlantic University Union
312. Nuclei Online
313. OA Publishing London
314. Oceanic Journals
315. OMICS Publishing Group
316. OneCentral Press
317. Online Journals Management System (OJMS)
318. Online Research Journals
319. Open Access Science Research Publisher (OASRP)
320. OpenAccessPub
321. Open Research and Science Library (ORSlib)
322. Open Research Network
323. Open Research Society
324. Open Science
325. ORIC Publications 
326. Ozean Publications
327. Pacesetter Online Publishers
328. Pak Publishing Group
329. PBS Journals
330. Peak Journals
331. Pelagia Research Library
332. Pharma Intelligence
333. Pharma Professional Services
334. Pharmaceutical Research Foundation
335. Pharmacognosy Network Worldwide
336. PharmaInfo
337. PharmaInterScience Publishers
338. Photon Foundation
339. Pinnacle Journal Publication
340. Praise Worthy Prize
341. Prime Journals
342. Priyanka Research Journal Publication
343. Progressive Science Publications
344. Prudence Journals
345. Purple Journals [Link dead as of 2013-10-19]
346. Quazzy Journals
347. R & S Publications [Link dead as of 2013-07-04]
348. Recent Science
349. RedFame Publishing
350. Research and Reviews (An International Journals)
351. Research Online Publishing (RonPub)
352. Research Publish Journals
353. Research Publisher
354. Research WebPub
355. RG Education Society (RG Journals of Scientific Research)
356. Rising Vision (RV)
357. Ross Science Publishers
358. RS Publication
359. Sacha International Academic Journals
360. Sai Om Publications
361. SAMANM Group of Research Publications (SGRP)
362. SAVAP International
363. Savvy Science Publisher
364. Scholar Journals [Link dead as of 2013-04-20]
365. Scholar People
366. Scholar Science Journals
367. Scholarlink Resource Centre Limited
368. Scholarly and Academic Research Journals (SARJ)
369. Scholarly Journals
370. Scholars Research Library
371. Scholars Academic and Scientific Publishers (SAS Publishers)
372. ScholarsHub.net
373. Scholink
374. Sci Edit Publications
375. SciDoc Publishers
376. Sciedu Press
377. Science & Knowledge Publishing Corporation Limited
378. Science Academy Publisher
379. Science Alert
380. Science and Education Centre of North America
381. Science and Education Publishing
382. Science and Engineering Publishing Company
383. The Science and Information Organization (SAI)
384. Science and Technology Publishing
385. Science Education Foundation
386. Science Instinct Publications
387. Science Journal Publication (SJP)
388. Science Park Journals
389. Science Publications
390. Science Publishing Group
391. Science Publishing Corporation
392. Science Record Journals
393. Science Target
394. Science Web Publishing
395. ScienceDomain International
396. ScienceHuβ
397. Scienpress Ltd.
398. Scientific & Academic Publishing
399. Scientific and Academic Publication
400. Scientific Advances Publishers
401. Scientific Journals
402. Scientific Journals International
403. Scientific Online Publishing
404. Scientific Perspectives Publishing (Scipers)
405. Scientific Research Publishing (SCIRP)
406. Scientific Viewers
407. Scigmoid
408. Sciknow
409. SciTechnol
410. ScottishGroup Education and Testing Services
411. Scribes Guild
412. Segment Journals
413. SETScholars
414. Seventh Sense Research Group Journals
415. Signpost e Journals
416. Silicon Valley Publishers
417. SPIRI The Global Research
418. SJournals
419. Sky Journals
420. SmartPub (International Academy of Energy, Minerals and Materials)
421. Society for Science and Nature
422. Society of Business Research
423. Society of Engineering Science and Technology (SEST India)
424. Sphinx Knowledge House
425. Spring Journals
426. South Asian Academic Research Journals
427. Southern Cross Publishing Group
428. The Standard International Journals
429. Standard Research Journals
430. STM Journals
431. Stringer Open
432. Suryansh Publications
433. Swiss Journals
434. Symbiosis (Symbiosis Online Publishing)
435. Synergy Publishers
436. T&S Journal PUblications
437. Technical Journals Online
438. Technopark Publications
439. Textroad Journals
440. Thavan E ACT International Journals
441. TI Journals
442. Time Journals
443. Tomas Publishing
444. Topclass Global Journals
445. Trade Science, Inc
446. Trans Stellar (Transstellar)
447. Transaction Series on Engineering Sciences and Technologies
448. Transnational Research Journals (formerly Universal Research Journals)
449. TSPublications [Link dead as of 2013-08-23]
450. U.S. Science Press
451. Unique Research Journals
452. Universal Association of Computer and Electronics Engineers(UACEE)
453. Universal Association of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineers(UAMAE)
454. Universal Research Publications
455. Valleys International
456. VBRI Press
457. Whites Science Journals
458. Victorquest Publications
459. Watch Plus
460. We-Together to Save Yourself Society
461. Wilolud Journals
462. Wireilla Scientific Publications
463. World Academic Journal of Business & Applied Sciences (WAJBAS Publishing) [Publisher]
464. World Academic Publishing
465. World Academic Union
466. World Academy of Research and Publication
467. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET)
468. World Business Institute Also here: http://www.wassco.org/
469. World Journal of Publisher (WJP)
470. World Open Access Journals
471. World Scholars
472. World Science Publisher
473. World Science Research Journals (WSR Journals)
474. World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS)
475. World Standard Organization
476. Wudpecker Research Journals
477. Wyno Academic Journals

List 2: Questionable Standalone Journals

This year’s list contains 303 titles; last year’s had 126.

1. Academic Exchange Quarterly
2. Academicus International Scientific Journal
3. Academy of Contemporary Research Journal (AOCRJ)
4. Acta  de Gerencia Ciencia (CAGENA)
5. Advances in Forestry Letter
6. Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences (AJMS)
7. American Journal of Advanced Drug Delivery
8. American Journal of Advances in Medical Science (ARNACA)
9. American Journal of Engineering Research
10. American Journal of Pharmacy and Health Research (AJPHR)
11. American Journal of PharmTech Research (AJPTR)
12. American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics
13. American Journal of Social issues and Humanities 
14. American Research Journal
15. Anglisticum: International Journal of Literature, Linguistics & Interdisciplinary Studies
16. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ)
17. Archives Des Sciences Journal
18. Archives of Pharmacy Practice
19. ARNACA American Journal of Advances in Medical Science
20. Asian Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
21. Asian Journal of Health and Medical Sciences
22. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
23. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences (AJBMS)
24. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences
25. Asian Journal of Pharmacy and Life Science
26. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care (AJPRHC)
27. Australasian Journal of Herpetology
28. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences
29. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research (AJBMR)
30. Ayupharm: International Journal of Ayurveda and Allied Sciences
31. The Bioscan
32. Bioresearch Bulletin
33. Bioscience Discovery
34. Biosciences, Biotechnology Research Asia (BBRA)
35. British Biomedical Bulletin
36. British Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences
37. British Journal of Science
38. Bulletin of Mathematical Sciences & Applications
39. Bulletin of Pharmaceutical Research
40. Bulletin of Society for Mathematical Services and Standards
41. Calodema
42. Canadian Chemical Transactions
43. Case Studies Journals
44. Chemical Science Transactions
45. Computer Science Chronicle
46. Computer Science Journal
47. The Criterion: An International Journal in English
48. Current Biotica
49. Current Discovery
50. Current Trends in Technology and Sciences (CTTS)
51. Direct Research Journals
52. E-Library Science Research Journal
53. ExcelingTech Publishing Company, Ltd.
54. Elixir International Journal (formerly Elixir Online  Journal)
55. FOREX Technical Journal Library
56. Frontiers in Aerospace Engineering
57. Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal
58. Global Journal of Management Science and Technology
59. Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health
60. Golden Research Thoughts
61. Indian Journal of Applied-Basic Medical Sciences
62. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Research (IJPBR)
63. Indian Journal of Research Anvikshiki
64. Indian Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Biotechnology (IJRPB)
65. Indian Journal of Scientific Research (IJSR)
66. Indian Streams Research Journal
67. Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
68. Indo-Global Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
69. Innovations in Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacotherapy (IPP)
70. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business
71. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business (IDJRB)
72. International Ayurvedic Medical Journal (IAMJ)
73. The International Asian Research Journal (TIARJ)
74. International Design Journal
75. The International Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IIJE)
76. International Journal of Advanced Engineering Applications
77. International Journal of Advanced Research
78. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering (IJARCCE)
79. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering (IJARCSEE)
80. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering (IJARCSSE)
81. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science & Technology (IJARCST)
82. International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (IJAREEIE)
83. International Journal of Advanced Technology and Engineering Research (IJATER)
84. International Journal of Advancements in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
85. International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology(IJOART)
86. International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology(IJAET)
87. International Journal of Advances in Power Systems (IJAPS)
88. International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences (IJACS)
89. International Journal of Agricultural Management & Development
90. International Journal of Agronomy & Plant Production
91. International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology (IJABPT)
92. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature
93. International Journal of Applied Research & Studies (iJARS)
94. International Journal of Applied Research & Studies (iJARS)
95. International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology(IJASBT)
96. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Mechatronics
97. International Journal of Ayurveda and Pharma Research
98. International Journal of Bio (IJOBIO)
99. International Journal of Biomedical Science
100. International Journal of Business and Commerce
101. International Journal of Bussiness and Management Invention
102. International Journal of Business and Social Research
103. International Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences(IJCPS)
104. International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)
105. International Journal of Computational Engineering Research
106. International Journal of Computer & Electronics Research (IJCER)
107. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology(IJCIT)
108. International Journal of Computer Applications
109. International Journal of Computer Application and Engineering Technology (IJCAET)
110. International Journal of Computer Applications in Engineering Sciences (IJCAES)
111. International Journal of Computer Science and Business Informatics
112. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security
113. International Journal of Computer Science and Network (IJCSN)
114. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security(IJCSNS)
115. International Journal of Computer Science Engineering (IJCSE)
116. International Journal of Computer Science Issues
117. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences
118. International Journal of Current Research
119. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review(IJCRAR)
120. International Journal of Current Research and Review
121. International Journal of Current Science
122. International Journal of Development and Sustainability (IJDS)
123. International Journal of Development Research
124. International Journal of Drug Development and Research (IJDDR)
125. International Journal of E-Computer Science Evolution
126. International Journal of Economics and Research
127. The International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment
128. International Journal of Electrochemical Science
129. International Journal of Electronics and Computer Research (IJECR)
130. International Journal of Electronics Communication and Computer Engineering
131. International Journal of Electronics Communication and Computer Technology (IJECCT)
132. International Journal of Emerging Sciences (IJES)
133. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
134. International Journal of Energy & Technology
135. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology(IJEAT)
136. International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
137. International Journal of Engineering and Computer Science (IJECS)
138. International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology(IJEIT)
139. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research(IJEMR)
140. The IJES: The International Journal of Engineering and Science
141. International Journal of Engineering and Science Invention (IJESI)
142. International Journal of Engineering Inventions
143. International Journal of Engineering Research
144. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications
145. International Journal of Engineering Research and Development(IJERD)
146. International Journal of Engineering Research and Science & Technology (IJERST)
147. International Journal of Engineering Science & Advanced Technology
148. International Journal of Engineering Science and Innovative Technology (IJESIT)
149. International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology
150. International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology (IJESRT)
151. International Journal of English and Education
152. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies (IJ-ELTS)
153. International Journal of Farming and Allied Sciences
154. International Journal of Fundamental & Applied Sciences
155. International Journal of Governance
156. International Journal of Health Research
157. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research
158. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI)
159. International Journal of Humanities, Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences
160. International Journal of Information and Communication Research
161. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research
162. International Journal of Information Technology & Business Management
163. International Journal of Information Technology & Computer Science (IJITCS)
164. International Journal of Innovative Ideas
165. International Journal of Innovative Research and Development
166. International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies
167. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
168. International Journal of Inventions in Pharmaceutical Sciences(IJIPS)
169. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
170. International Journal of Latest Research in Engineering and Computing (IJLREC)
171. International Journal of Life science and Pharma Research
172. International Journal of Life Sciences Biotechnology and Pharma Research (IJLBPR)
173. The International Journal of Management
174. International Journal of Management and Business Studies (IJMBS)
175. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (IJMESS)
176. International Journal of Management Research and Business Strategy (IJMRBS)
177. International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research (IJMSBR)
178. International Journal of Mathematical Research & Science
179. International Journal of Mathematics and Soft Computing (IJMSC)
180. International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health (IJMSPH)
181. International Journal of Medical Sciences and Health Care (IJMSHC)
182. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences(IJMRHS)
183. International Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Research
184. International Journal of Medicine and Biosciences
185. International Journal of Medicobiologial Research
186. International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER)
187. International Journal of Novel Drug  Delivery Technology
188. International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences (IJPBS)
189. International Journal of Pharmaceutical & Research Science (IJPRS Journal)
190. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research
191. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Phytopharmacological Research (eIJPPR)
192. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Development(IJPRD)
193. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Science Invention (IJPSI)
194. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research
195. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research(IJPSR)
196. International Journal of Pharmacy
197. International Journal of Pharmacy and Technology (IJPT)
198. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences
199. International Journal of Power Electronics Engineering
200. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research
201. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
202. International Journal of Recent Trends in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (IJRTE)
203. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Computer Engineering (IJRICE)
204. International Journal of Research Development (IJORD)
205. International Journal of Research in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering (IJRAME)
206. International Journal of Research in Ayurveda and Pharmacy
207. International Journal of Research in Computer Science
208. International Journal of Research in Computer Technology
209. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJREAT)
210. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology(IJRET)
211. International Journal of Research in Medical and Dental Sciences
212. International Journal of Reviews in Computing
213. International Journal of Science and Advanced Technology (IJSAT)
214. International Journal of Science and Technology
215. International Journal of Science Commerce and Humanities (IJSCH)
216. International Journal of Science Innovations and Discoveries
217. International Journal of Sciences (IJSciences)
218. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research
219. International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research (IJSER)
220. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP)
221. International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology
222. International Journal of Scientific Research and Application (IJSRA Publishing)
223. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education
224. The International Journal of Social Sciences (TIJOSS)
225. International Journal of Soft Computing and Engineering
226. International Journal of Sport Studies (IJSS)
227. International Journal of Technical Research and Applications (IJTRA)
228. International Journal of Trends in Economics Management and Technology (IJTEMT)
229. International Journal of Universal Pharmacy and Bio Sciences(IJUPBS)
230. International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication (IJRITCC)
231. International Refereed Journal of Engineering and Science (IRJES)
232. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences(IRJABS)
233. International Research Journal of Applied Finance
234. International Research Journal of Pharmaceutical and Applied Sciences (IRJPAS)
235. International Researchers
236. Journal der Pharmazie Forschung (RAPSR)
237. Journal of Advances in Internal Medicine
238. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPANDS)
239. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences (Nairobi, Kenya)
240. Journal of Applied Pharmacy
241. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science
242. Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy [Link dead as of 2013-05-06]
243. Journal of Behavioral Sciences in Asia
244. Journal of Bio Innovation
245. Journal of Business Management and Applied Economics
246. Journal of Business Research (İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi)0
247. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
248. Journal of Computing
249. Journal of Coastal Life Medicine
250. Journal of Cosmology
251. Journal of Current Pharma Research
252. Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences
253. Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics (JELTAL)
254. Journal of Environmental Hydrology
255. Journal of Global Research in Computer Science (JGRCS)
256. Journal of International Academic Research for Multidisciplinary(JIARM)
257. Journal of International Management Studies
258. Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology
259. Journal of Medical Research and Practice (JMRP)
260. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences (JPBMS)
261. Journal of Science Editing
262. Journal of Scientific Theory and Methods
263. Kashmir Economic Review
264. The Macrotheme Review
265. Mathematical and Computational Applications (MCA)
266. Modern Behavioral Science
267. The Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics (MJAL)
268. National Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
269. National Journal of Medical and Dental Research
270. Open Veterinary Journal
271. Oriental Journal of Computer Science and Technology
272. People’s Journal of Scientific Research
273. The Pharma Research (Journal)
274. Pharmacologia
275. PharmacologyOnline (PhOL)
276. PHARMANEST: An International Journal of Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences
277. Plant Digest
278. Reef Resources Assessment and Management Technical Paper
279. Research Directions: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal (Research Directions Journal
280. Research in Biotechnology
281. Research Inventy: International Journal of Engineering and Science
282. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences (RJPBCS)
283. Researchers World – Journal of Arts Science & Commerce
284. Review of Research
285. Reviews of Progress
286. Romanian Biotechnological Letters
287. Science International
288. Science Park
289. Science Research Reporter
290. Science Reuters
291. Scientific World
292. Seventh Sense Research Group Journal
293. South Asian Journal of Mathematics
294. Tactful Management Research Journal (TMRJ)
295. Technics Technologies Education Management
296. Universal Journal of Applied Computer Science and Technology
297. Universal Journal of Computer Science and Engineering Technology (UniCSE)
298. Universal Journal of Pharmacy (UJP Online)
299. Weekly Science International Research Journal
300. World Applied Sciences Journal
301. World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research (WJPR)
302. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (WJPPS)
303. World Journal of Science and Technology (WJST)

There are many small learned and professional societies in the world, some of which publish one or more journals. Smaller, more specialized societies generally lack the resources, time, and expertise to publish their own journals, so they frequently contract out this function.

This is the story of one company that offers to publish journals for small societies for free. The business model is such that the article processing charges (sometimes waived for the first years) and advertising revenue sustain the journal. In theory, it’s a good deal for the publisher, for he earns income from the journal, and it’s a good deal for the society, for its members then get a specialized journal where they can publish articles and further the interests of the society, all without costs to the organization.

I have learned that there is one such publisher that is best avoided. This publisher operates using several names or brands. They are:

Horse name, Lion logo.

Blackhorse Science + Business Media, Ltd., SP. Z O.O., Warsaw, Poland

Formerly associated with Springer as is claimed on the website (however so far no one within Springer could confirm this), this firm is now independent, though its name mimics Springer Science + Business Media. I don’t understand how a Polish firm got the name “Blackhorse” and why the company logo is that of a lion. Its website, mostly in Polish but with some English, brazenly uses pictures of Albert Einstein and other scientists to make itself look legitimate. The English contains many typographical errors. Many of the links are not working, including the one to their editorial pages (http://www.editorialoffice.pl/), the one to the projects, or the one to the Insight on-line Library (http://www.insight-library.net/).

On the Blackhorse site the following journals are listed: Sepsis, Fluids, Przegląd Flebologiczny (Phlebology Reviews), International Journal on Abdominal Research (IJAR), and Hemostaza.

Victims ?

The websites for the journals Fluids (http://www.fluids.eu/) and IJAR (http://www.abdominalresearch.org) seem to be offline and the postal address indicated leads to Hotel Gromada in Warsaw.

Resurrected in Delaware?

Trzaska Evert Michalski, LLC, Lewes, DE, USA

This brand is the most suspicious of the three. The name is taken from a prominent 20^th century Polish bookseller and publisher. However, this new firm is incorporated in Delaware, a state in the United States that allows online incorporation for $50. Trazska Evert Michalski LLC was incorporated using the Delaware-based Harvard Business Services. So it appears that the owner has taken a revered Polish business name and used it to incorporate a business in Delaware. Why not incorporate it in Poland? Will the owner faithfully report the firm’s income to Delaware and U.S. tax authorities? On the Blackhorse website is stated “Większościowy pakiet udziałów Blackhorse Science Business Media przejmuje amerykański inwestor – firma Trzaska Evert Michalski, LLC.” Which means: “An American investor – the company Trzaska, Evert Michalski, LLC acquired the majority of stakes of Blackhorse Science Business Media.” And on the TEM publishers (http://www.tempublishers.com) site is stated “Today in Warsaw (Poland), Trzaska Evert Michalski, LLC took over the majority of shares of Blackhorse Science Business Media, Ltd.”

Amateurish website.

What a coincidence that Blackhorse Science Business Media and Trzaska Evert Michalski were set up and run by the same people!

Anyone can establish a business in Delaware.

As stated on their first page “Dziś mamy zaszczyt i wielki przywilej być częścią grupy wydawniczej o ponad dziewięćdziesięcioletniej tradycji.”, which literally means: “Today we feel honored and privileged to be part of the publishing group (Trzaska Evert Michalski) with more than ninety-years of tradition.” However the original Polish publishers had already stopped their activity soon after World War II.

Also, the website for this brand is just a stub. It looks like it was set up in about an hour and still contains filler text. The postal address indicated on the website is fake and if you send a regular letter you may expect the following response “return to sender – refused – unable to forward – registered agents – no authorization to receive mail for this addressee.” So it is obvious that this is just an offshore company without any assets.

Insight and off-line?

Insight on-line Library (http://www.insight-library.net) publishes 23 journals, both in Polish and in English, and most are subscription journals. This site is difficult to navigate if you are even able to connect to it. It’s slow and awkward. Many of these journals are society journals, and I know there are many unhappy stories to be told here – indeed I have heard some of them. This “online” library appears to be offline, except that it has moved its content to: http://blacktest.kei.pl/insight.

These publishing brands are apparently owned by a “Dr.” Piotr Mariusz Dobosz, of Warsaw. But in fact, an enquiry at the International Cooperation Department of the Polish Supreme Chamber of Physicians and Dentists revealed that Piotr Dobosz is not allowed to call himself MD.

I’m told that Mr. Dobosz’s custom is to approach small learned societies and offer to publish a journal for them, of course for free and without tricks. He then draws up a contract that says, “Production cost of the journal in the electronic form is offered as zero cost.”

Then over time, Dobosz begins publishing the journal, but, unexpectedly, the society starts to receive bills for his work, despite Dobosz’s promises that the journal would incur “zero cost” to the organization.

At this time, I’m told, is when Dobosz starts legal maneuverings against these societies, in addition to other tricks, such as sending out emails threatening authors, or sending out emails in the name of the editors without permission, and the like.

This entire operation, including the three brands, Blackhorse Science + Business Media, Trzaska Evert Michalski, LLC, and Insight on-line Library, all seem highly questionable to me.

Therefore, I strongly recommend that all scholarly societies avoid doing business with this publisher, including all three of its brands and including all journals. There are many better options.

Appendix: List of Insight on-line Library Journals as of January 3, 2014:

1. Annals of Diagnostic Paediatric Pathology
2. Archives of Perinatal Medicine
3. Bioetyka
4. Central European Journal of Immunology
5. Folia Neuropathologica
6. Kolposkopia
7. Leczenie Ran (Wound Management)
8. Leczenie Żywieniowe i Metaboliczne (Clinical And Metabolic Nutrition)
9. Lekarz Wojskowy (Military Medicine)
10. Limfologia
11. Menopauza
12. Nukleonika
13. Ortodoncja Polska
14. Perspectives in Enviromental Sciences
15. Polish Psychological Bulletin
16. Polski Przegląd Radiologii (Polish Radiology Review)
17. Postępy Osteoartrologii (Progress in Ostearthrology)
18. Problemy HIV i Aids
19. Przegląd Chirurgii Dziecięcej (Paediatric Surgery)
20. Przegląd Flebologiczny (Phlebology Review)
21. Przegląd Ginekologiczno-Położniczy (Obstetrics and Gynecology Rview)
22. Psychoonkologia
23. Sepsis

Looks very legitimate … but it’s not.

A recent addition to my list is the American Research Institute for Policy Development (ARIPD), which, unlike most new OA publishers, has a clever and professional-appearing website, until you look a little closer, that is.

One of the first strange things I noticed was the contact information:

Many things wrong here.

First, a Google search on the director’s name brings up nothing relevant except this site itself. One would think that a search on the name of the director of an American Research Institute would retrieve numerous hits in Google. Who is Mr. Sagar?

Second, the name of the International Wing Coordinator is listed as Dr. William Smith (Mrs.). This is a very unusual way for a woman to state her name in a professional context (unless her name is William, I guess). I called the phone number listed and asked for her, and a man with a strong accent told me that the only way to communicate with her was through email.

Third, the addresses are all wrong. Google Maps shows no Monticello Street in New York City. There is a town called Monticello in New York State, and the 12701 zip (postal) code is for that town. Also, regarding, “42, Monticello Street,” Americans don’t put a comma after the street number like the Brits do.

Predatory publishers that are from abroad and try to look like they are from the US almost always fail to get American street addresses correct on their websites. This is among the most mangled I’ve seen.

The Institute’s overall website is fantastic. It is filled with excellent pictures, some great text, and the colors and layout are great. I somehow feel as if I’ve seen this website somewhere before.

Under the website section called “Ongoing Research,” there is a component called Global Financial Crisis. This section contains this text:

The global financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2008. Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems.

This text appears in many places on the Internet, including in this 2011 article. It is presented on the ARIPD website as if it were original, raising a question of plagiarism.

Many of this publisher’s 52 journals have nothing to do with policy development, the supposed focus of the institute. Most are broad in scope so that more articles will fall within their coverage.

This site has the gall to include a DONATE button, and it claims to offer scholarships. The institute is currently spamming for articles, so you may receive an email from “Pfeiffer Lydia” with an offer to waive the article processing charges if you submit your article right away.

The institute claims to have been founded in June, 2011, but its Facebook page was created on October 22, 2013, and at this time only has a measly 22 likes.

In my opinion, the American Research Institute for Policy Development is a sham, and I strongly recommend against submitting papers to it or having any association with it.

Appendix: List of ARIPD journals as of 2014-01-06:

1. American International Journal of Biology
2. American Review of Mathematics and Statistics 
3. International Journal of Accounting and Taxation
4. International Journal of Art and Art History
5. International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies 
6. International Journal of Health Sciences
7. International Journal of Language and Literature
8. International Journal of Linguistics and Communication
9. International Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy
10. International Journal of Music and Performing Arts
11. International Journal of Nursing
12. International Journal of Philosophy and Theology
13. International Journal of Physics and Astronomy 
14. International Multilingual Journal of Contemporary Research
15. Journal of Administrative Sciences and Policy Studies
16. Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
17. Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology
18. Journal of Business Law and Ethics
19. Journal of Chemistry and Biochemistry 
20. Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology
21. Journal of Economics and Development Studies
22. Journal of Education and Human Development
23. Journal of Engineering and Architecture
24. Journal of Finance and Bank Management
25. Journal of Foreign Languages, Cultures & Civilizations
26. Journal of Geography and Earth Sciences
27. Journal of Global Peace and Conflict 
28. Journal of Human Resources Management and Labor Studies
29. Journal of International Business and Economics
30. Journal of International Relations and Foreign Policy
31. Journal of Islamic Banking and Finance
32. Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
33. Journal of Law and Criminal Justice
34. Journal of Library and Information Sciences
35. Journal of Management Information System and E-commerce
36. Journal of Management Policies and Practices
37. Journal of Marketing Management
38. Journal of Natural Sciences 
39. Journal of Physical Education and Sports Management
40. Journal of Power, Politics & Governance
41. Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science
42. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development
43. Journal of Social Science for Policy Implications
44. Journal of Social Welfare and Human Rights
45. Journal of Sociology and Social Work
46. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management
47. Public Policy and Administration Review
48. Review of Arts and Humanities
49. Review of Contemporary Business Research
50. Review of History and Political Science
51. Review of Journalism and Mass Communication
52. Strategic Management Review

Twin 1

Twin 2

A colleague forwarded me a spam email from Lighthouse Journal Publication (also called Lighthouse Journals), and when I was investigating the publisher I discovered a second publisher, Blaze Journals, that looks almost exactly like the first. Both publishers claim this address as their headquarters:

64 Sunrise Avenue Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4JP United Kingdom

I looked at this address in Google Maps and observed a series of row houses in a neighborhood. It didn’t appear to be a publishing headquarters with two imprints. I then looked at the domain name registration data for both publishers, and for Lighthouse Journals I found this:

Registrant Name:CLARKE CLIFFORD
Registrant Street1:44 Abeke Road
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Sapele
Registrant State/Province:Delta
Registrant Postal Code:234054
Registrant Country:NG

For Blaze Journals, I found this:

Registrant Name:clinton clarke
Registrant Street1:44 abeke road
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:sapele
Registrant State/Province:delta
Registrant Postal Code:23401
Registrant Country:NG

I think both publishing brands are being run from Nigeria by a single person, and he uses the address of a friend or relative in the U.K. to make it look like the operation is headquartered there. Both publishers launched recently with 20 new journals each. The look and feel of the two websites are identical. Much of the administrative content on the two sites is lifted from other publishers without attribution. Blaze Journals uses boastful (and false) language to promote itself:

Today, the Blaze Journals is becoming a formidable force in promoting quality, originality and integrity in academic thesis, studies and research publication. We acquire, develop, market and distribute the knowledge through collaborations with academics and practitioners from around the world. All journals published by us maintain high standards of quality, originality and integrity around the world.

So does Lighthouse:

Today, the Lighthouse Journals is becoming a formidable force in promoting quality, originality and integrity in academic thesis, studies and research publication. We acquire, develop, market and distribute the knowledge through collaborations with academics and practitioners from around the world. All journals published by us maintain high standards of quality, originality and integrity around the world.

I’ve added both of these publishing brands to my list and recommend that researchers not submit papers to either one.

The hijacked version of the journal.

I received another report of a hijacked journal. Similar to many earlier cases, this established Austrian enology journal had only a minor web presence until some impostors came along and created a new website for the journal, stealing its identity and inviting article submissions. And now I think I may have found the single source of all the hijacked journals I’ve reported here, and it was right under my nose all along.

First, the latest hijacking. The legitimate website for the journal Mitteilungen Klosterneuburg is here. Unlike other hijacked journals, this one is open-access, at least for recent issues; the journal was founded in 1951.

Now the hijacked version of Mitteilungen Klosterneuburg can be found here. Also, the table below details hijacked journals (and their legitimate counterparts) that I documented previously:

Recently, in response to an inquiry, I looked at the homepage of a publisher that has been on my list for some time, Tomas Publishing. Based in Victoria, Seychelles, Tomas Publishing boasts four journals in its portfolio. The journals all have broad scopes and all falsely claim to have impact factors.

Over a million researchical science articles.

According to the website, the publisher’s journals include Systems Science, Education Journal, Politica Economica, and Chemical Modelling.

The website for Politica Economica.

All four journals falsely claim to have an impact factor, yet none really does. The journals’ home pages use pirated images. What convinces me that this publisher must be the source of the hijacked journals is that the “look and feel” of their journal home pages matches the look and feel of the hijacked journals’ home pages. Also, they all claim to have 2013 impact factors. The current ISI  impact factors are from 2012; the 2013 data won’t be released until June.

How could so much malevolence originate from a small, remote, and seemingly idyllic Indian Ocean island? I’ve received at least a dozen emails from people that have been tricked by the hijacked version of the journal Pensée alone, each having lost several hundred dollars. It’s likely that hundreds of honest researchers have been scammed by this outfit.

Hat tip: Dr. Amin Daneshmand Malayeri

Dr. Ibrahim Gashi

In Kosovo, University of Pristina Rector Ibrahim Gashi is being pressured to resign after it was revealed he published articles in predatory journals to meet the requirements for promotion to full professor.

A published report states that promotion to full professor at the university requires at least five publications in international, peer-reviewed journals. According to the report, Gashi has three articles published in the International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences, a journal published by the Lucknow, India-based publisher Society for Science and Nature.

This publisher is included on my list of predatory publishers here.

Dr. Gashi has co-authored three articles in volume 4, issue 3 (2013) of the International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences. All three articles have multiple authors, and he is not the first author on any of them:

• Challenges of managing the integration of KOSOVO in European Union
• Privatization and Future Challenges in the Free Market Economy
• Minerals and its managing

To demonstrate that the International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences is bogus, someone from Albania using the name “Filan Fisteku” (the Albanian equivalent of John Doe) submitted a bogus paper to the journal, where it was accepted and published. The paper is a satire of The Communist Manifesto with subtle references to Dr. Gashi. It is entitled The Principles of Manifesting Management at a Public University in a Developing Country: Case of Kosova [PDF].

Gashi also appears as a co-author on an article in Scientific Research Publishing’s journal Energy and Power Engineering. This publisher is also included in my list.

I also found an EBSCO HOST metadata record for an article co-authored by a “Gashi, Ibrahim” and published in the scandal-plagued journal Metalurgia International. The target of a sting operation last year, Metalurgia International had its impact factor removed, and then it disappeared from the internet.

Junk journal.

Another published report said students were planning a protest to demand the rector’s resignation. The protest was scheduled for 1:30 PM Friday, January 24^th. This report did not directly link the demands for resignation to publications in predatory journals, however, citing only “recent scandals,” according to a translation from Google Translate.

Gashi deflected the criticism by explaining that he is not the first author of any of the questionable articles and the first author has the responsibility of selecting which journal to submit to.

What does all this say about predatory publishers? Is Dr. Gashi a victim of predatory publishers or is he complicit? Both scenarios are possible. What I know for sure is that predatory publishers are poisoning research and scholarly communication in many countries.

Bogus satire article accepted by a predatory journal.

Technoledge ?

A very low quality and even ridiculous publisher – Globeedu Group – launched recently with three new journals. The publisher does not have its own website. Instead, each journal has an independent page. The journals are:

• The International Journal of Business & Management
• The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies
• The International Journal of Science & Technoledge

The word “technoledge” does not exist in English, so I don’t know if this word in the third title is a stupid mistake on the publisher’s part or an attempt to be clever.

Together, the three journals rank among the dumbest I’ve seen. Here’s an example:

Make up your mind.

All three of the journals have this contradictory statement. It is a juxtaposition of the CC BY license logo, which gives permission to copy, and the Copyscape warning against copying. Predatory publishers often garnish their websites with logos lifted off other publishers’ sites without understanding what the logos mean.

Aiming to deceive.

Next, all three journals claim to have impact factors. However, the metric in this case is not the legitimate ISI Journal Citation Reports impact factor, it is a bogus one provided by IIFS, which I’ll describe in my next blog post. This is an attempt to deceive authors into believing the journals have authentic impact factors. The publisher hopes to increase article submissions by displaying this bogus metric, and therefore increase revenue.

Submission to publication: Five days.

Finally, the three journals promise a five-day peer review process, as the above screenshot confirms. You can submit your paper on February 20^th and see it published on the 25^th. No authentic peer review can take this little time. This publisher is a sham.

Learn how to spell.

This publisher does not give a physical location on its web pages, and the domain registration data is blocked, except for the name server information:

Name Server: WIN19.INDIA-TO.NET
Name Server: WIN20.INDIA-TO.NET

So it is likely the publisher is from India. This publisher is a total joke, and I recommend against submitting papers to the three journals. Let’s hope it dries up and goes away.

My previous blog post described a questionable new scholarly metric called International Impact Factor Services (IIFS). Now I’ve learned about three new additional questionable metrics.

The three additional and questionable metrics were mentioned in helpful comments left on the earlier blog post.

The first is Advanced Science Index (ASI).

Completely bogus.

Just like with the predatory publishers, this company demonstrates a serious lack of transparency by not clearly stating its location. If you look at the “contact us” page, there’s only a web form, and the page is devoid of headquarters location information. This usually means that the website is operating out of an apartment in Asia somewhere. The main page makes mention of Germany, but this may be a sly attempt to associate a non-Western operation with a Western country.

The ASI website uses boastful and grandiose language to promote itself and its mission. Under a heading that states, “Making the Future of Science Evaluation,” the company betrays its unprofessional practices with its next line,

Advanced Science Index is an indexing service indexes scholarly journals in all areas and fields of science. It is aiming at rapid evaluation and indexing of all local and international journals.

I’ve copied this  verbatim, mistakes and all. This company (and the others described here)  is marketing its services to (predatory) journals – not to individual scholars. The journals will then use the bogus measure to promote themselves and to get increased submissions (and therefore article processing fees) from researchers.

Here is how the metric called the ASI-Impact Factor will be calculated, according to the website:

To calculate ASI-Impact Factor following relation would be considered:
Average number of citations to recent articles published in the journal.
For Example:
A = the number of times that articles published in that journal in 2006 and 2007, were cited by articles in indexed journals during 2008.
B = the total number of “citable items” published by that journal in 2006 and 2007. (“Citable items” are usually articles, reviews, proceedings, or notes; not editorials or letters to the editor.)
2008 impact factor = A/B.

Sound familiar? It’s copied from Wikipedia, without attribution.

Also completely bogus.

THE SECOND NEW METRIC is the ridiculously-named Directory of Journal Quality Factor. This profit-seeking company is from Tamilnadu, India, home to many scam publishers.

On its “About” page, this company says,

The Directory of Journal Quality Factor-DJQF is a gateway that includes the journals and developed from the information of the journals. These informations can be used to calculate Journal Quality Factor for the readers worldwide.

Translation: We are another company that wants to make easy money by charging predatory publishers to assign meaningless metrics to their meaningless journals.

DJQF devotes an entire webpage to explaining its evaluation method, a method that combines subjective analysis with some observational data. I don’t believe it for a second.

THE THIRD  NEW METRIC:

Clever, yet toxic.

I just learned of another likely bogus metric, International Scientific Indexing (ISI). The initialism “ISI” matches Institute for Scientific Information, the firm that originated the legitimate impact factor, now owned by Thomson Reuters.

This one purports to be headquartered in a village in the United Arab Emirates. Its website appears to have been set up in a single day. When will this end?

Discussion questions:

• Is the altmetrics movement encouraging the emergence of questionable metrics companies?
• Are these metrics just an extension of the expanding predatory publishing industry?

These new metrics often look (or claim to look) at citation data, but they use Google Scholar to gather this data. Google Scholar does not sufficiently screen for quality and includes thousands of predatory journals in its index. Therefore, these novel metrics — if they are really calculated at all rather than just made up – are largely based on citations in predatory journals, making them even less valid.

Don’t be fooled by bogus metrics.

Hat tip:  Claudia Holland, et al.

MDPI’s owner, Shu-Kun Lin

I have added the Chinese publisher MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) to my list of questionable publishers. This is not a decision I have taken lightly.

There is increasing evidence that MDPI is a highly questionable scholarly publisher, evidence that compels me to add the publisher to my list and to recommend that scholars:

• Not submit papers to any of the MDPI journals
• Not accept invitations to serve as journal editors or editorial board members, including as guest editors for the publisher’s many “special” issues
• Resign from any MDPI editorial boards they are currently serving on, and resign as editors

The publisher MDPI is increasingly becoming synonymous with its founder and owner Shu-Kun Lin, himself the subject of increasing criticism and controversy. Lin and his vocal lackeys attack anyone who thinks critically about or dares question the legitimacy of MDPI.

MDPI’s Basel headquarters — want to send your money here?

Here are the reasons I have decided to add MDPI to my list:

1. The publisher cleverly uses the names and reputations of legitimate scholars, including Nobel laureates, to make the operation look more legitimate and accepted than it really is. The publisher claims that that several Nobel Laureates serve on its editorial boards, but one investigation found that they didn’t realize they were listed.

Also, MDPI publisher Shu-Kun Lin managed to convince the former de facto head of the open-access movement, Peter Suber, to serve on the editorial board of one its journals, Publications, a tactic designed, in my opinion, to forestall criticism of MDPI from OA advocates and to mingle the publisher’s reputation with Suber’s and that of the OA movement itself. [I was also personally invited to serve on the journal's editorial board by MDPI owner Shu-Kun Lin but declined. In 2010, I published a paper in one of the firm's journals, an action I now regret.]

2. The publisher has a large fleet of journals, many with one-word names, copying the practices used by legitimate subscription journals such as Cell. MDPI uses the gold (author pays) model of open-access publishing, and I think its article processing charges are high, and the publisher regularly launches new journals. The journals’ one-word titles (e.g., Animals, Children, Diversity) give each journal a broad scope, a strategy that draws in more articles and their accompanying author payments.

3.  Because its mission is to earn as much money as possible through article submissions, the publisher regularly accepts questionable papers, resulting in a kind of “controversy of the month” for MDPI that draws attention – both wanted and unwanted – to the publisher.

For example, a 2011 MDPI paper entitled The Australian Paradox: A Substantial Decline in Sugars Intake over the Same Timeframe that Overweight and Obesity Have Increased has led a professor to campaign for retraction of the article and to create a website refuting it.

Also, a 2011 paper entitled Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life was published in the MDPI journal, Life. This article caused a major stir in the scientific community, documented in this blog post.

I wrote a blog post in May, 2013 (as did other writers) describing a questionable article about the chemical glyphosate published in the MDPI journal Entropy.

It’s likely that controversial articles like these will continue to be accepted in MDPI journals, possibly staining by association other articles that appear in the same journals.

4. Some believe the publisher is mainly set up to exploit and profit the need for scholars in China to get “international” publications. According to a recent report,

Lin’s MDPI headquarters in Switzerland has only about a half dozen of employees, but its branches in China, Beijing and Wuhan, have more than 100 people. The fact alone indicates the importance of China’s market to Lin’s business. As a matter of fact, China is the perfect place for open access publishing in general, and for Lin’s MDPI in particular. Ever since late 1980s, initiated by Nanjing University, publication in “international journals,” which generally mean journals either published outside of China or in English, or both, has become a necessary requirement for a member of Chinese academic community to be promoted.

5. The report also reveals an email exchange involving MDPI owner Shu-Kun Lin in which Lin offered the editorship of one of his many journals to a Chinese scholar, promising the scholar that “It does need an editor to do a lot of work, however I won’t bother you to do anything.” The new editor responds, “It is very good that I don’t need to work to be an editor. I like being lazy.”

6. I am aware that some of the MDPI journals have impact factors and are indexed by reputable abstracting and indexing services, and that the publisher has purchased a COPE (Committee on Publishing Ethics) membership.  However, the criteria I use differ from others. Also, regularly publishing controversial articles may be an MDPI strategy designed to increase its journals’ impact factors, for these articles are later cited in repudiation articles in legitimate journals.

For authors that don’t care about science but only want to get publications in IF journals, MDPI is a fine venue.

7. The company calls itself an “Institute.” However, it’s not an institute in any true sense of the word.

In my opinion, MDPI is not the kind of scholarly publisher we need or want for the future of scholarly communication. Just because it is open-access doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. I think MDPI’s warehouse journals contain hundreds of lightly-reviewed articles that are mainly written and published for promotion and tenure purposes rather than to communicate science.

The publisher’s owner, Shu-Kun Lin, is himself becoming increasingly well-known and controversial, and he and MDPI have become inseparable in the minds of many. A scholarly publisher whose identity is closely tied to its owner’s increasingly-controversial image is harmful to the communication of science.

I think it’s fair to classify MDPI as a questionable publisher, and as such, it belongs on my list. I recommend that all scholars not submit papers to this publisher. In the long run, publishing a paper with MDPI will turn out to be a bad personal decision for most authors.

Why publish with MDPI when there are many better venues ?

I recently added publisher MDPI to my list of questionable publishers, an addition that has caused the publisher to go on the offensive against me and, on the positive side, to address some of its problems.

MDPI owner Shu-Kun Lin called in favors, asking his friends to support his business by leaving MDPI-favorable comments on my blog. One commenter wrote, “I have just received an SMS message from a MDPI Editor to come to this forum and to defend MDPI.”

I found that most of the comments favoring MDPI were written either by non-scholars or by scholars who have never published a paper in MDPI’s many journals. Several researchers, clearly friends of Lin, but who had never published in Lin’s journals, made arguments about how great the journals are. I think it’s very telling that Lin’s friends don’t publish in his journals. His friends know him well.

I’ve also angered someone named Fang Zhouzi (real name Shi-min Fang, or Fang Shi-min). He apparently markets himself as a Chinese science watchdog, trashing science published in journals other than those published by his friend Shu-Kun Lin, from whom he reportedly receives a stipend.

Fang is feverishly searching for dirt about me on the internet and publishing whatever he finds in his U.S.-based blog, all to defend his patron, Lin.

Retraction 

After I added MDPI to my list of questionable publishers, the company quickly retracted the 2004 article “Statistical Convergent Topological Sequence Entropy Maps of the Circle,” for plagiarism, even though the plagiarism was reported many years earlier. The plagiarism was reported in 2005 in an American Mathematical Society website called MathSciNet (picture below).

A report of the plagiarism was first published in 2005.

This report of the plagiarism was first published in 2005; the retraction (from the MDPI journal Entropy) occurred in February, 2014.

A discussion of the plagiarism — and the publisher’s anger at someone who reported it — was published on a math forum called MathForge (see comment #8), based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. It is likely that MDPI publisher Lin himself was the editor at the time the plagiarized article was published

I stand by the addition of publisher MDPI to my list. I recommend that scholars not submit papers to its journals and not serve on its editorial boards. This publisher is becoming increasingly controversial, and researchers should insulate themselves from such controversy, for it could hurt their careers in the long term.

Note: I wrote this blog post before Retraction Watch reported the retraction.

Not the way it’s supposed to work.

We recently learned of a website called PublishFast® that offers to sell quick and easy publishing opportunities for scholarly authors.

The site calls itself a “confidential academic service” and says it will help you “get a VIP treatment from the editors of a selection of top-quality journals which are indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI)*, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)*, Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI)* and Scopus*.”

The journal titles are not divulged on the site. The company also boasts, “PublishFast® is probably the best kept secret among many proliferate researchers in the academic world for years!” [I think they mean prolific, not proliferate].

This statement — plus a chart on the main page — misleads readers into believing that the service started in 2011. In fact, the domain-name registration data suggests a recent UK origin:

Registrant’s address:
First Avenue
Publishers Bldg
Bodmin
CON
PL31 2JX
United Kingdom

Registrar
1 & 1 Internet AG [Tag = SCHLUND]
URL: http://www.1and1.co.uk or http://registrar.1und1.info

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 17-Feb-2014
Expiry date:  17-Feb-2016
Last updated:  17-Feb-2014

Please don’t believe any of this.

Regarding cost, on its FAQ page, PublishFast says it charges $199. But this charge is just for the service. There is likely a separate fee for the APC, the article processing charge, once the paper gets accepted.

I am certain that everyone with a stake in the future of scholarly communication will agree that this site is a corruption of the ideals of scholarship. Let’s all hope it goes away soon.

Hat tip: Dr. Mehdad Jalalian

Pseudo-science?

The Dutch-language blog KLOPTDATWEL? reports that the Egyptian military claims its research has led to a handheld device that can diagnose hepatitis C.

Moreover, according to the news website Egypt Independent,

Egypt’s military claims its engineers have made an “unprecedented” scientific breakthrough by developing a device that can detect AIDs and hepatitis C infections without the need to take blood samples.

An article describing the device appeared in volume 7, number 12 (2013) of the International Journal of Medical, Pharmaceutical Science and Engineering, published by the World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET), a publisher and prolific conference organizer that has long been on my list of questionable publishers.

The article is entitled “A Novel Method for Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Hepatitis C Virus Using Electromagnetic Signal Detection: A Multicenter International Study.”

Avoid this publisher’s journals and conferences.

Late Thursday, news reports also indicated that the Egyptian military had also developed a way to cure HIV and hepatitis C. It is unclear if this later claim is backed up by any journal article.

This is another example of how predatory, open-access journals are used to promote junk science. I strongly recommend against submitting papers to any of WASET’s journals and against attending its many questionable conferences

Taken from the Lands’ End  catalog?

International Science & Research Journals (also called ISR Journals & Publications) is a new publisher from India that is so fake and amateurish that its website is actually hilarious.

The first thing you notice is the image on the main page is obviously lifted out of a clothing catalog, but changed to black and white. Much of the site’s text reads as if it were copied from a successful company’s webpage. It’s rich with corporate jargon and designed to impress, but it fails miserably.

The publisher launched recently with 18 journals. One of its innovations is a quick turnaround time for peer review. Here’s what the publisher promises:

How innovative!

The page reads:

Many journals take many months, even years to publish research. By the time papers are published, often they become outdated. ISR publishes papers in the shortest possible time, without compromising on quality. This will ensure that the latest research is published, allowing readers to gain maximum benefit. We provide feedback instantaneously and furnish details of the outcome within about 5-6 working days of submission of your research paper. This enables research scholars to use their time effectively on the actual research rather than on the follow ups.

Okay, so we have a new publisher that completes a peer review within five or six days. Amazing.

Now the Funny Part

The website’s most hilarious section is the “Management Team” page; it reads like a self-parody. The page gives the biographies of its Founder and Chairman, Dr. John Paul, its Co-Founder and Chief Editorial Officer, Dr. Adams (no first name given), its Director Publications and Subscriptions, Dr. James Watson, and finally, its Director Research, Nikola Tesla. Here are the full bios, taken from the website:

Dr.John Paul, M.E,Ph.d(Information Technology) 

Founder and Chairman

Dr.John Paul who has been the motivator and inspiration behind the formation of ISR Journals.  He served in the research field for about 18 years in view of providing educational services to the poor and downtrodden. Though he is an educationally unqualified philanthrope, with the experience he had gained in his research career, he later on stamped his foot print in various business domains like Software Development, Business Research etc., with management assistance and leadership directives from Dr.Adams M.E,Ph.d(Computer Science and Engineering).

Dr.Adams ,M.E,Ph.d(Computer Science and Engineering)    

Co-Founder and Chief Editorial Officer

Dr.Adams has a successful track record in various leadership capacities in the Engineering operations, Quality & Process Management,Manufacturing and software Engineering disciplines in the leading conglomerates  etc., He has hands on experience and expertise in all phases of Software Development Life Cycle like Requirements Analysis, Enterprise Architecture Design, Development, Implementation and Training of distributed systems with excellent system design experience using UML,  Rational Rose and System Architect 2001. Has about 16+ years of techno-functional experience and an in-depth understanding of emerging technologies and their commercial applications.

[One paragraph not copied]

Dr.Adams is an innate entrepreneur and is instrumental in establishing various retail centres across disparate disciplines like Software Development, Business Research etc.,, in his early years itself,  sustaining them with high process orientation and running them profitably successfully for many years.

He has obtained the following prestigious technical certifications given by International bodies like

1.Microsoft Certified IT Professional – Database Administrator on SQL Server 2005 (MCITP)-2008, Australia,

2.Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist on SQL Server 2005 (MCTS)-2007, Australia.

Dr.James Watson, M.E,Ph.d(Electronics and Communication Engineering)

Director Publications and Subscriptions

Mr Dr.James Watson is an educationally unqualified, but a proven writer & journalist under the able encouragement of Dr.Adams.  She has been writing articles pertaining to South Indian ethos, culture, religion, dynasties, family relationship, lineage etc., for more than 20 years as a columnist for variety of magazines, local dailies and weeklies. Traveled throughout India, from East to West and North to South by virtue of her husband’s transferable IAF job, she has been exposed to multi cultural, multi lingual, multi communal and multi racial aspects of India, which was an instigating factor in imbibing and absorbing the intricacies of human ethos in this part of the world.  She has about 20 years of experience in the publication and printing industry.

Nikola Tesla  

Director Research

Nikola Tesla obtained her graduation in Computer Science and Engg from one of the reputed colleges in USA and has got about 15 years of experience in software consulting, general management and research consulting. As an avid reader and an aggressive thinker, she has always been successfully leading technical teams and has got good exposure to research consulting.  She is the sitting chairman of ISR’s Research Board, which comprises eminent professors who are specializing in disparate disciplines. Has worked in reputed software vendors in and around USA prior to joining ISR.

Obviously, these names are completely fake, the bios are contrived. The last name is that of an American inventor.