How to recognise invitations of a potentially 'predatory' nature
A year-long experiment
From 1 January until 31 December this year, with the AuthorAID Stewards team we are collecting any and all emails any of us receive that are apparently of a ‘predatory’ nature. At the end of the first quarter of this year, we had already collected 1219 such emails.
We are gradually accumulating a vast database of invitations to publish our next paper in a host of journals we may never have heard of, attend or speak at conferences in exotic locations on topics we don’t know much about, or even join the editorial boards of journals in fields that are not even close to our areas of expertise.
If you receive any such emails which you may consider suspicious, use common sense and approaches like Think. Check. Submit. to stay safe. I also recommend the Centre of Journalology’s One-stop shop for resources on predatory publishers if you’d like to explore this subject in more detail at an eminently accessible level.
Once our year-long data collection will have come to an end, our plan is to analyse any trends in predatory practices revealed by the database contents. And so, while I cannot yet offer you any new insights into predatory publishing, I wanted to share some of the most outrageous subject lines of the emails we have thus far received.
An appeal to your ego: don't fall for it!
To be fair, most apparently predatory emails simply call for papers or indicate in their subject lines what kind of conference they are soliciting speakers for. They might only raise your eyebrows – as well as your suspicion – because of their unsolicited nature or the lack of a direct link between your expertise and the subject area of the journal or conference being peddled.
However, a small fraction of the emails we have received to date made me chuckle. (In the following I will use bold italic font to directly quote some predatory email subject lines.)
If we keep in mind that most allegedly predatory enterprises aim to relieve unsuspecting academics of their hard-earned cash, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they try to make us feel good, for instance by asking us for our Esteemed Article, Praiseworthy Manuscript, Grateful Paper, Hopeful Response or Hopeful Submission (I’m not sure how I should interpret those latter three invitations, though).
In all cases, they Hope for your Feasibility to Accomplish The Current Issue, although I admit that I don’t really understand what these phrases of mangled English mean... Apparently, we are told, their approaches should be seen as A nudge to resume economic activity – theirs, presumably?
Indeed, they claim that A new success story begins if you could be persuaded to Find a home for your research and Collaborate in a hot journal (by their own standards, of course) to Educate Our Readers and so Enlighten the scientific community through research. Many publishers are duly Impressed with your efforts or perhaps Impressed with your Previous Submission, and so they may propose that you Avail benefits by submitting your research work (sic).
After all, Your collaboration is always special to us and Your collaboration with [our] journal is highly prioritised (as are collaborations with anyone else, I suspect), since Your hard works deserve international recognition and a Global presence of your research. And indeed, one publisher told us that their journal is Accepted in India and over 100 countries worldwide. That sounds good, but aren’t most reputable journals anyway? Nevertheless, Welcome onboard the scientific journal with worldwide essence. The only one?
Some were more cautious: Already decided what to submit? If so, they expressed their Curiosity to publish your article, presumably so that Your manuscript will get maximum visualization with high scope. They probably meant ‘visibility’, I assume, whereas that reference to their 'scope' seems out of place.
While Eagerly waiting to receive your response, publishing in those journals was deemed to Built (sic) credibility to your manuscript, because We believe in open access for higher visibility and promotion. On this same theme, one publisher offered High Publicity and [to] acquire Very High Reputation (yay!), because International recognition may come with one paper.
Indeed, you may only require One article for accomplishment, but Only plagiarism-free article[s] [are] acceptable. After all, and I wholeheartedly agree, we shouldn’t engage in questionable and unethical practices…! But provided that you comply with that important requirement, Our most popular journal awaits you and they made sure that the Perfect journal is suggested here for you.
Most of these publishers are Very eager to publish your submission to help you Unleash your research (ideas), Unfold your innovations, Share your contemporary research knowledge, Reveal your Research Work, Pave the way to new discoveries through your research or simply Address your research work.
Many questionable journals Globally Welcome Research Scholars and Encourage the scientific author in you to Enter in the researcher world and eventually Become a Certified Researcher. Hang on, I thought that certification as a researcher meant that you had published in reputable journals as part of having completed a Master’s or doctorate degree…?
Nevertheless, these questionable journals tend to go out of their way to provide a ladder to your research, Magnify your research’s impact & citation, inviting you to Join us in our research quest and Globalize your manuscript.
A few journals clearly reached for the stars, encouraging us to follow our ambition and Discover the vision, Join Major influencers and Find your spark. After all, they stated, We appreciate the science expert in you, We believe that you will publish a benchmark article for upcoming scholars, and therefore We welcome all enthusiastic authors to our publication. That’s a relief, only enthusiasm is required to succeed!
Suspicious invitations to join editorial boards and attend conferences
Given our apparently elevated recognition in the fields peddled by these journals (although not necessarily in our own areas of expertise), some journals also pressured us to join their editorial boards, sometimes in language that came across as rather hilarious:
- Grab the occupancy of Editorial/Reviewer Board
- Seize the moment of Editorial/Reviewer Board Membership
- Take possession of Editorial/Reviewer Board
These phrases conjure up interesting visions that don’t really align with how editorial boards work. As a current and former member of a number of editorial boards in my field, I can attest that this kind of approach – using blanket emails to any scientist, irrespective of their background – is not how reputable journals recruit their editorial board members. If in doubt, talk to a mentor or more senior colleague before accepting such unsolicited ‘opportunities’! Keep in mind that these publishers love to include reputable researchers on their editorial boards, to give them a veneer of respectability. Beware of your name being abused by these outfits, as that may taint your reputation – and your career!
In addition to the numerous attempts to get us to publish in questionable journals, we received the odd invitation to attend conferences as keynote speakers in fields we have never worked in… Some of the most outlandish invitations included subject lines like Amazing scope to meet your peers, Don’t miss to learn more and Final Follow-up!! Grand Expertise Meet.
However, keep in mind the old adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is… I hope that this collection of outlandish subject lines has caused you to chuckle on occasion and that this post has at least provided some light entertainment. On a more serious note, use common sense and stay safe! Once again, if in doubt, ask your mentor or a colleague for a second opinion before potentially wasting your work — and your hard-earned money!
Richard de Grijs is an academic and journal editor with more than 25 years of experience in the physical sciences. In March 2018, he joined Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) as Associate Dean (Global Engagement). Richard is an AuthorAID Steward and presently serves as Managing Editor of the News section of the AuthorAID website.