The NIH, PubMed, and OMICS Group logos.
OMICS Publishing Group’s journals are not included in NIH (National Institutes of Health) databases such as PubMed and PubMed Central, but OMICS may be working on a way to sneak into these prestigious databases.
It appears that OMICS’ strategy is to purchase journals that are already indexed in PubMed and add them to its journal portfolio. This may give it standing to start using PubMed and PubMed Central logos on its websites, despite a cease-and-desist order from the US Department of Health and Human Services last year demanding that OMICS stop using all NIH trademarked logos, including those for PubMed and Pubmed Central.
Many use inclusion in PubMed as a hallmark of quality and won’t submit articles to excluded journals. If OMICS can figure out a way to get permission to use PubMed logos it will likely get more article submissions and therefore revenue, for it exclusively uses the gold open-access model, in which authors pay fees upon acceptance of articles. More submissions mean more revenue.
Evidence
Here’s a PubMed-indexed journal that OMICS recently purchased:
The International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
It appears OMICS purchased this title from Chevron Publishing Corporation in 2013, changing the title from the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. The journal is found here on PubMed.
Also, OMICS is sending emails to editors and publishers of PubMed-indexed journals, making unsolicited offers to purchase them. Here is an example of one of these emails, with identifying information redacted:
The letter continues:
OMICS Publishing Group is always pushing the limits, trying to see what it can get away with, and its strategy to purchase PubMed-indexed journals is another example of that.
From OMICS’ website: The publisher uses other organizations’ brand value to make it appear legitimate.
