Researchers beware.
I recently discovered a new publisher called Recent Science, a scholarly publisher with 38 journals in its portfolio, some of which duplicate other publishers’ titles. According to Recent Science, every one of its journals has earned an impact factor, even though none has any content.
It’s possible that this publishing operation is still being set up. In investigating this publisher, I found R & S Publications, a publisher that uses Google Sites as its platform. It has all the same journal titles as Recent Science. It lists its address as:
R & S Publications, P.O. Box 957
Offshore Incorporations Centre,
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Recent Science does not list any headquarters address, and this new site may be an attempt to improve on the R & S Publications, using a real platform and not Google Sites. Still, both sites are poorly made and contain boastful information (such as the impact factors) that is not verifiable.
Recent Science promises a quick turnaround time for its review process. It states:
“We are committed to provide quicker decision dates for the articles submitted to us. We on an average take 15 to 17 days to process the articles submitted to us.”
Regarding article processing charges, the publisher states,
“Recent Science Publications charge authors a simple fee of 150.00 USD for publishing their articles and rendering it in our content rendering platforms. The fee is for a typical article of 5 pages. If the article exceeds the page limit, an additional fee might be levied on the author … “
In what field is a typical article five pages? Other boastful information the publisher makes includes this gem:
“We have about 1,300 staff in the UK, US, Spain, India, China, Singapore and Australia. We publish nearly 100+ journals with about 20 new journals annually. So generally, our progress is the combination of many relatively small but exciting events. The sheer range and quality of new titles we are producing is phenomenal.”
Much of the information about the individual journals seems like it’s made up. For example, the International Journal of Alternative Medicine states that it started in 1992, has published 85 issues in 17 volumes, has an impact factor of 1.8 and in 2011 published 369 out of 397 papers submitted. It appears that this information is all contrived and false. There is no record for the journal in WorldCat. The journal is not found in Journal Citation Reports. The publisher does not list tables of contents from earlier volumes, nor are any editorial boards listed. Links to article content on the publisher’s website all lead to a page requesting a login and password.
From the homepage of the International Journal of Alternative Medicine. No evidence exists that confirms any of the statements made here..
I cannot determine where this publisher is based. The Tortola address is probably just the “offshore incorporation address,” an indication that the real operations occur elsewhere. The amount of apparently false information on the site is disturbing. I recommend against submitting papers to this publisher.
Appendix: Recent Science journals as of 2013-06-02
- International Journal of Advanced Computing
- International Journal of Alternative Fuels
- International Journal of Alternative Medicine
- International Journal of Applied Mathematics
- International Journal of Architecture and Design
- International Journal of Automotive Electronics
- International Journal of Automotive Technology
- International Journal of Business Management and Research
- International Journal of Cancer Research
- International Journal of Chemical Engineering
- International Journal of Chemistry
- International Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering
- International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering
- International Journal of Computer Networks and Security
- International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
- International Journal of Energy Efficient Vehicle Designs
- International Journal of Finance and Quantitative Methods
- International Journal of Fluid Power Engineering
- International Journal of Indigenous Medicinal Plants
- International Journal of Internet and Web Technology
- International Journal of Marketing, Strategy, Operations Research and Organizational Behavior
- International Journal of Material Sciences and Manufacturing Engineering
- International Journal of Mathematical and Computer Modelling
- International Journal of Mathematical Sciences
- International Journal of Mechanical Engineering
- International Journal of Mechatronics and Aerospace Engineering
- International Journal of Medical Technology
- International Journal of Medicine and Medicinal Sciences
- International Journal of Multimedia and User Design & User Experience
- International Journal of Ocean and Water Resources
- International Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis
- International Journal of Pharmaceutics
- International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry
- International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Trials
- International Journal of Physics and Astronomy
- International Journal of Social Sciences, Language and Linguistics
- International Journal of Statistics
- International Journal of Urban Planning and Transportation
