They keep appearing.
Here are three new open-access publishers I’ve added to my list recently. Each of them is low-quality or predatory in its own unique way. I have seen no decline in the number of new predatory open-access publishers; in fact, the rate of crummy OA publishers appearing may be increasing.
I learned of this publisher — whose website is currently only a blank page — through two emails I received from the proprietor, who asked me to add the publisher to my list. I think he’s confused. Here’s one of the smarmy emails:
IAPH Journal <chiefeditoriaph@gmail.com>
Dear Sir,
With due respect I would like to inform you that International Academic Publishing House (IAPH)(website: http://www.iaph.in) publishes a scientific journal entitled “International Journal of Experimental Research and Review “(ISSN: 2455-4855) which is a most valuable Journal at Eastern region of India. Now, I request you please enlist the said Journal of your valuable list.
Please do the needful and oblige.
With my best regards,
Thanking you,
Dr. N.R.Madhu,
Chief Editor, International Journal of Experimental Research and Review
Mob:+919733697736
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
nithar madhu nithar_1@yahoo.com
The sender, Dr. Madhu, also sent me a friend request on Facebook, which I accepted before I realized who it was. (I have since unfriended him).
The name “International Academic Publishing House” sounds noble and prestigious, so it’s a shame it’s wasted on such an amateurish effort, and one that is now just a blank page.
I was unable to save a copy of this publisher’s website in the Wayback Machine, for it is blocked from crawling. Perhaps the now-blank website will re-appear by the time this is published.
The “house” also launched with one other journal, the sorely-needed International Journal of Social Science, Humanities and Review (IJSSHR).
Scientific Federation (which is neither scientific nor a “federation”) launched with 20 biomedical sciences journals, all with a broad scope, and all completely unneeded. This publisher only exists to generate easy revenue for the owner.
Created by a moron.
This firm’s tagline, “Created by professionally for scientists” [sic] is an immediate giveaway that it’s an unworthy mess. But hey, it’s open-access, and that’s all the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program cares about. It meets Europe’s criteria for scholarly publishing.
I don’t know where this publisher is based, but it’s likely South Asia. Its domain name data is blinded, and the ‘contact us‘ page doesn’t say. The website is full of likely-pirated pictures, and the publisher is offensive in its lack of professionalism, the one virtue it claims to promote.
No research is more important to human beings than medical research, making this publisher that much more offensive.
- eScience Publisher (eSciPub)
One of their efforts, a CAM journal.
I learned about this publisher because it’s new and currently spamming for editorial board members. It launched with eight medical journals.
Their author fee is $600, which doesn’t jive with the low-quality and amateurish nature of the website. This publisher’s quality matches others I’ve seen that only charge fifty dollars.
They claim they’re based in Houston, Texas, but I don’t believe them. Again, this appears to be a one-man, South-Asia based operation.
One of their editorial board members is Dr. George Perry, a dean at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a guy who apparently cannot say no to any spam email editorial board invitation he receives.
On this page, they brag about their fast publishing process:
In other words, they don’t do peer review and accept everything.
Bonus:
This Centrum will make you ill.
As a bonus, I present Centrum. Unlike the others, this one is a standalone journal, not a publisher. Its title matches a popular brand of vitamins sold in North America — perhaps the brand exists in other regions as well.
In any event, this journal is a pill that’s hard to swallow. Their contact information says they’re based in “Shkup,” which I think means Skopje, in Macedonia.
I learned about this journal because, once again, they emailed me asking me to add the journal to my list:
Respected mr. Jeffrey Beall
We are an Scientific Journal CENTRUM, and would like to be part of list of Scholarly Open Access.
Our webpage is http://www.centrum.mkWe hope tp be part of this list.
With best regards.
Centrum
I was only too happy to fulfill their request.
