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New Open-Access Publisher Launches with 66 Journal Titles

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Recently launched, and with 66 brand-new journals, Horizon Research Publishing Corporation carefully hides its headquarters location on its website. The “contact us” page does not list any location.

Its spam email is signed, “Horizon Research Publishing, USA,” but I doubt it’s really from the United States. The publisher uses the URL http://zj.nkwww.com/, which is registered to Wanlun Guo in Linyi, Shandong, China. So apparently this is a Chinese operation and the spam email is misrepresenting the publisher’s true location. [See a copy of the spam email in Appendix B, below.]

None of the 66 journals has any content yet, and none appears to have editorial boards either. Horizon is currently engaged in a massive spam email campaign to recruit editorial board members. Strangely all the journals have live “Submit manuscript” buttons, so the publisher seems willing to accept papers despite not having any established editorial boards.

Its Twitter account has ten followers and its Facebook page has one “like,” an indication that this is a new operation. The publisher’s logo is a stylized unicorn.

I found this on one of the firm’s FAQ pages:

Q2: How can I know the status of my paper?

A: Please send your paper title and paper ID to preview@hrpub.org. The editorial assistant (Alice Bella) will give you a promote response within 48 hours.

I think that “Alice” and “Bella” are two figures from contemporary popular culture, so this seems like a contrived name to me. Also, the answer is ungrammatical.

The journals cover a broad array of disciplines, and each has a broad scope within its particular field. This dual strategy means that pretty much every scientific article has a potential place in the publisher’s portfolio. Each journal’s home page is similar to all the others; they all were built off the same template.

The publisher is waiving all article processing charges through July, 2013 and will then charge $150 per article, not an unreasonable fee.

I don’t think the world needs another 66 OA jorunals with broad scopes. The publisher’s use of “USA” in its spam may be an attempt to mislead. I recommend against joining these editorial boards and against submitting any papers to this publisher.

Appendix A: List of Horizon Publishing Journals as of May 1, 2013:

  1. Advances in Diabetes and Metabolism
  2. Advances in Economics and Business
  3. Advances in Energy and Power
  4. Advances in Library and Information Science
  5. Advances in Pharmacology and Pharmacy
  6. Advances in Quantum Engineering
  7. Advances in Signal Processing
  8. Advances in Surgical Science
  9. Advances in Zoology and Botany
  10. Bioengineering and Bioscience
  11. Cancer and Oncology Research
  12. Chemical and Materials Engineering
  13. Civil Engineering and Architecture
  14. Computational Research
  15. Computer Science and Information Technology
  16. Energy and Environmental Engineering
  17. Environment and Ecology Research
  18. Food Science and Technology
  19. Immunology and Infectious Diseases
  20. Intelligence Science and Technology
  21. International Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics
  22. International Journal of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
  23. International Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Science
  24. International Journal of Wireless Engineering
  25. Investment and Trade
  26. Linguistics and Literature Studies
  27. Manufacturing Science and Technology
  28. Mathematics and Statistics
  29. Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
  30. Natural Resources and Conservation
  31. Nursing and Health
  32. Open Journal of Dentistry and Oral Medicine
  33. Preventive Medicine and Hygiene
  34. Probability and Statistics
  35. Sociology and Anthropology
  36. Sport and Art
  37. Universal Journal of Accounting and Finance
  38. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research
  39. Universal Journal of Applied Mathematics
  40. Universal Journal of Applied Science
  41. Universal Journal of Biomedical Engineering
  42. Universal Journal of Chemistry
  43. Universal Journal of Clinical Medicine
  44. Universal Journal of Communications and Network
  45. Universal Journal of Computational Mathematics
  46. Universal Journal of Control and Automation
  47. Universal Journal of Educational Research
  48. Universal Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  49. Universal Journal of Engineering Science
  50. Universal Journal of Food and Nutrition Science
  51. Universal Journal of Geoscience
  52. Universal Journal of Industrial and Business Management
  53. Universal Journal of Management
  54. Universal Journal of Marine Science
  55. Universal Journal of Materials Science
  56. Universal Journal of Mechanical Engineering
  57. Universal Journal of Medical Science
  58. Universal Journal of Microbiology Research
  59. Universal Journal of Physics and Application
  60. Universal Journal of Plant Science
  61. Universal Journal of Psychology
  62. Universal Journal of Public Health
  63. Universal Journal of Service Science
  64. Universal Journal of Software Engineering
  65. World Journal of Computer Application and Technology
  66. World Journal of Internal Medicine

Appendix B: Example of spam email sent out by Horizon Publishing in April, 2013:

From: “joinus@hrpub.org”
To: “—” <[redacted]>>
Sent: April 26, 2013 9:55 AM
Subject: Horizon Research Publishing: Call for Editorial Board Members/Reviewers/Editor-in-Chief

Dear Colleages,

Horizon Research Publishing (HRPUB) is a worldwide open access publisher serving the academic research and scientific communities by launching peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of academic disciplines.

We are seeking to establish a new international Editorial Board. If this experience sounds interesting to you, please complete the downloadable application form, and send it to joinus@hrpub.org<mailto:joinus@hrpub.org>.

Apply for Membership ( Editorial Board Members / Reviewers / Editor-in-Chief )

(1) Download <http://www.hrpub.org/download/HRPUB_Membership_Application_Form.pdf> the membership application form .

(2) Complete and send the application form to joinus@hrpub.org <mailto:joinus@hrpub.org> .

Look forward to receiving your application.

Yours sincerely,

Horizon Research Publishing , USA
joinus@hrpub.org<mailto:joinin@hrpub.org>
http://www.hrpub.org


If you no longer wish to receive email from us, please click this link<http://service.hrpubmail.org/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=21d3b7784f5fcc09fad4ca1c0ff61ca0&gt;

[End of blog post]



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