Guest Author – Azizul Haque
Assistant Professor, Yeungnam University.
As soon as you begin your research journey, you start receiving attractive invitations from various journals on a regular basis. Alongside reputable journals, you may also receive emails from many predatory or fake journals at the same time, which can be confusing for new researchers. These emails often state that your recent research is highly commendable and encourage you to publish your next article in their journal. Sometimes they mention that if you submit within a certain timeframe, you’ll receive a special discount on the publication fee. Often, they claim that to complete their current issue, they just need one paper from you. Other times, they’ll say that if you submit now, you’ll get a 50% discount or the fee will be completely waived. These offers are usually accompanied by tempting promises like rapid acceptance or guaranteed acceptance, which are designed to lure authors quickly.
The most concerning issue is that the names of these predatory journals are often so attractive and credible-sounding that many people assume, just by looking at the name, that it is a well-known and prestigious journal. In many cases, they change only one or two words in the name of an established journal to create a similar-sounding name, making it seem like it is part of the original journal. For example, instead of Journal of Biomedical Science, they use Journal for Biomedical Sciences, or instead of International Journal of Clinical Research, they create International Clinical Research Journal. Such subtle differences in the name can make it difficult to distinguish between the original and the fake without thorough verification.
There are some common characteristics of emails from predatory journals. If you pay close attention to these, you can avoid falling victim to their scams.
Such as:
1. The emails are usually unprofessional, contain spelling errors, and are written in poor language.
2. The emails are addressed as Dear Dr., Respected Researcher, or Esteemed Professor, but the recipient’s name or identity is not mentioned correctly.
3. Attractive offers are made such as waiving the Article Processing Charge (APC) or offering a 50%-70% discount.
4. They guarantee that your paper will be accepted or promise guaranteed publication if you submit.
5. They claim that only one paper from you is needed to complete their issue.
6. They prominently mention fake or fabricated impact factors in the email.
7. They misleadingly claim their journal is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, or DOAJ.
8. The ISSN number is suspicious; upon checking, you may find it belongs to another journal or is fake.
9. The email subject is usually strange or unusual.
10. Most of the time, the email claims the journal is published from the USA, UK, or Europe.
11. The email invites you to submit files directly and lacks any authentic submission system.
12. The email domain is not like that of a professional journal.
13. Sometimes, they steal the names and identities of renowned researchers to make the journal seem trustworthy and high-quality.
14. The journal often has a misleading name, such as “International,” “Global,” “Modern,” or “Advanced,” to appear more credible.
15. The journal name often closely resembles that of an established journal, altering just one or two words to imitate the original.
16. There is no discussion of scientific topics or research quality in the email—only promotional talk.
17. There is no system for plagiarism checking.
18. The email sets a tight deadline for publication, saying things like “Submit within 2 days” or “Last call for immediate acceptance.”
19. Sometimes, you are invited to join as Editor-in-Chief or Reviewer as a way to influence you.
20. They send repeated follow-up emails to apply pressure.
21. The same email is sent to several researchers at once; often, names or email addresses of others are also visible.
22. The email states that the journal is Web of Science, Scopus, or PubMed Indexed.
23. The contact information, phone number, or official designation in the email signature are unclear or fake.
24. When you visit the journal’s website, most links don’t work or the number of journals and published papers is unusually high.
25. Some emails offer lucrative “Co-authorship opportunity” deals.
26. The email promotes business offers under titles like “Discount Offer” or “Special Issue Call.”
27. Words like Quick, Fast-track, or Rapid appear frequently in the emails.
28. In some cases, the publisher’s name is crafted to resemble those of renowned publishers (such as: Science Publishing Group, Nature Journal Press, etc.).
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