Large New OA Publisher Launches with 85 Journals

85 new journals all started at the same time.

A brand-new open-access publisher has just appeared: Science and Education Publishing (SciEP). The publisher is launching with 85 new journals, the second large launch I’ve seen in a single week (OA Publishing London recently launched with 138 brand new journals).

This practice of starting a publisher with an excessive number of journals is called a “fleet startup.”

One interesting thing about SciEP is that the company does not reveal where it is from. Their “Contact us” page does not give any hint of a location. The location element of their domain-name registration is covered by a proxy. [Update Nov. 29, 2012: The contact us page now lists this address: 10 Cheswold Blvd., #1D, Newark, De, 19713, United States, which is a small apartment].

Predatory publishers often hide their true location when they think it will be a turnoff to potential authors.

A “call for papers” spam email the company is sending out says “Science and Education Publishing, USA,” indicating — probably falsely — that the publisher is U.S.-based.

I looked at the publisher’s inept Facebook page, which is set up as a person (rather than an organization) under the name Giovanni Sciepub. Could it be from Italy?  

Poorly done Facebook page.

The spam email is signed “David Rain,” but this is a common name, and I cannot find anyone in the scholarly publishing industry with that name. A Google Scholar search on the name yields no usable clues. It’s probably a contrived name.

The email indicates that they are now accepting submissions, even though none of its journals has an editorial board yet — the editorial board pages are all blank. Submissions are free through the end of 2012 and they plan to release their first journal issues in February, 2013.

Because of its lack of transparency and probably use of a fake name, I strongly recommend against serving on any of this publisher’s editorial boards and against submitting a manuscript to any of its journals.

Hat tip: Lynne Fox, Charlie Greenberg

Appendix: List of journals published by Science and Education Publishing: 

1. American Journal of Public Health Research
2. American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medicine
3. American Journal of Pharmacological Sciences
4. American Journal of Medicine Studies
5. American Journal of Food and Nutrition
6. American Journal of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease
7. American Journal of Medical and Biological Research
8. American Journal of Clinical Medicine Research
9. American Journal of Nursing Research
10. American Journal of Hypertension Research
11. American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research
12. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
13. American Journal of Cancer Prevention
14. American Journal of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
15. American Journal of Biomedical Research
16. American Journal of Microbiological Research
17. American Journal of Zoological Research
18. American Journal of Applied Psychology
19. American Journal of Educational Research
20. American Journal of Rural Development
21. American Journal of Modeling and Optimization
22. American Journal of Numerical Analysis
23. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
24. Applied Mathematics and Physics
25. American Journal of Mathematical Analysis
26. American Journal of Mechanical Engineering
27. American Journal of Industrial Engineering
28. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture
29. American Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
30. Automatic Control and Information Sciences
31. American Journal of Energy Research
32. American Journal of Sensor Technology
33. American Journal of Vehicle Design
34. American Journal of Materials Science and Engineering
35. American Journal of Nanomaterials
36. American Journal of Materials Engineering and Technology
37. American Journal of Mining and Metallurgy
38. American Journal of Information Systems
39. American Journal of Software Engineering
40. American Journal of Systems and Software
41. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences
42. American Journal of Environmental Protection
43. American Journal of Marine Science
44. American Journal of Water Resources
45. American Journal of Food Science and Technology
46. Biomedicine and Biotechnology
47. Biomedical Science and Engineering
48. Chemical Engineering and Science
49. International Journal of Clinical Nutrition
50. International Journal of Physics
51. Information Security and Computer Fraud
52. Journal of Surgery
53. Journal of Preventive Medicine
54. Journal of Nutrition and Health
55. Journal of Cancer Research and Treatment
56. Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology
57. Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Applications
58. Journal of Ocean Research
59. Journal of Optoelectronics Engineering
60. Journal of Embedded Systems
61. Journal of Automation and Control
62. Journal of Instrumentation Technology
63. Journal of Materials Physics and Chemistry
64. Journal of Business and Management Sciences
65. Journal of Finance and Accounting
66. Journal of Finance and Economics
67. Journal of Computer Sciences and Applications
68. Journal of Computer Networks
69. Journal of Geosciences and Geomatics
70. Journal of Atmospheric Pollution
71. Journal of Aquatic Science
72. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
73. Journal of Food Security
74. Materials Science and Metallurgy Engineering
75. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research
76. Physics and Materials Chemistry
77. Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
78. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
79. Research in Plant Sciences
80. World Journal Control Science and Engineering
81. Wireless and Mobile Technologies
82. World Journal of Analytical Chemistry
83. World Journal of Organic Chemistry
84. World Journal of Environmental Engineering
85. World Journal of Agricultural Research