Science | Emerald City Journal

Juniper Publishers BAD Review! Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical

Published on May 15, 2017

Juniper Publishers Review

Early in February 2017, I was emailed by someone named Sylvia Rose working with
Juniper Publishers, and representative of Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical
Research. She asked me to write a mini review to be published in this Journal. I did
so and I submitted to them on 25th Feb 2017. Before it was published online, they
requested $519 as a processing fee, and I had not been told about this in advance,
and after some debates over the phone from an unknown number, they reduced the fee
to be $199 which I paid using PayPal. Later, they have been violating all ethics,
intellectual rights and everything. For example, each academic article nowadays has
its own digital object identifier (DOI) which could be checked at www.doi.org &
www.crossref.org

My article title: Cuminaldehyde: A potential drug candidate, and its DOI which is
mentioned in the article is 10.19080/JPCR.2017.02.555585, in Volume 2 Issue 2, 2017
DOI is extremely important to protect publications from Plagiarism and to be cited .
After some complaints to several DOI and Crossref, the journal had to activate my
DOI. One week later, I checked this DOI, and I found it not working, to be accurate
this DOI is still maintained in Crossref but the link to the publisher is not found.
I did not know that this journal/publisher is a predatory at the time they initially
emailed me. People, may be one person, does not follow any standards in publishing
research work. For instance, they do not have real peer-reviewing process. Also, I
discovered that DOI mentioned on most articles in this journal are not working. This
means this publisher receives money (publishing fees) to keep in their bank account,
and they do not pay a penny for DOI. Please note that as far as I was told by
Crossref, publishers have to pay fees to Crossref to activate DOI and have to
maintain the link to the article. Another point which they used to enforce me to
submit them another article has been that they limited searching features of my
article using Google. To make it clear, for my article compared to others in the
same journal, prior to complaining about fake DOI, my article as a PDF file used to
be found as a first suggestion in Google when my article’s whole title was searched
for. Now, it is not possible to find any direct link from this predatory publisher
to my article. I uploaded my article as a full text on my ResearchGate account to
make it exist online. The publisher have gone mad and I found so many visits to my
ResearchGate from USA downloading all full texts, in particular my PhD thesis, and I
had to remove full text of m y thesis. I think they did download many times,
thinking my account on ResearchGate could be blocked in this case, but thankfully I
could manage to stop them. I am accusing them of stealing my money and violating all
standard ethics. I have opened and escalated a dispute on PayPal. The last thing
was that this publisher, I do not know how, assigned 2 DOI for my article, the one
which I previously mentioned, and the second one is 10.19080/JPCR.2016.01.555585.
The second DOI is wrong indicating my article was published in 2016 in Volume 1 and
the link to this DOI is working!!

What I understand from this, the publisher wanted to make my article inaccessible at
all. Anyone could use the DOI provided in the article which is not working. I
complained about this to Crossref, and waiting for them to investigate this
terrifying act from this Juniper publisher’s journal.

Kindly, I could provide a PDF showing all communications by email with this journal.
The mentioned DOIs could be retrieved using Crossref.org/metadata
http://search.crossref.org/?q=cuminaldehyde%3A+a+potential+drug+candidate

I have uploaded my article on my ResearchGate account, Mohamed Elsaed Ebada.
Yours Faithfully

Dr Mohamed Elsaed Ebada
PhD, BPharm
Researcher
Pharmacology Department
NODCAR
Agouza, Giza, Egypt
ORCID: 0000-0002-1922-4376

UPDATE: 5/24/17

This is Part II following my recent report, published on 15 May 2017, about my bad
experience with Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Research, Juniper Publishers
violating my copyrights for my article ‘Cuminaldehyde: A potential drug candidate’,
published online on 08/03/2017, whose right originally assigned DOI has been
10.19080/JPCR.2017.02.555585. I said in my previous report that a dispute was opened
on PayPal against this publisher, and they refunded me $199 two days ago without
responding to my case. However, nothing else has much changed.

Before refunding me, the journal’s and publisher’s websites had gone through a phase
of maintenance over the past week! No one could access any articles or submit a
manuscript. After refunding me, their websites returned back, thinking money is the
only concern. They also left a message in PayPal asking me to remove my bad
comments. I thought they had changed and I emailed them asking them to complete 4
points to remove my fair comments and to act positively describing how they have
fixed this problem at a professional level. Unfortunately, they could not be
trusted.

After making my article searchable on Google as a PDF file like all other articles,
only for 2 days after I received the refund, my article disappeared again today,
Sunday 22/05//2017, from Google as a PDF file like other articles.

I do not want to receive any emails from them again. Just accomplishing these 4
points would be enough.
1- Sylvia Rose, someone has been emailing me working with this journal, shared my
article’s abstract on LinkedIn without showing my name/affiliation, and this shared
file appears in Google when anyone searches for my article’s whole title under the
name of Sylvia Rose! I have requested to remove this file or to add my details.
2- There are still 2 working DOIs, digital object identifiers, on Crossref, the one
above which is right, and the second one which is wrong
10.19080/JPCR.2016.01.555585. Juniper Publishers maintains links to both DOIs,
meaning at any time they could, as they had already done, inactivate the link to the
right DOI and let the other DOI working making my article inaccessible and unlikely
to be cited. I requested them to only maintain the right DOI. I also emailed
Crossref to provide an explanation telling how they could assign two DOIs to the
same article with exact details but they have not replied yet.
3- Because I can not and I should not trust them, I asked them to provide me with an
official print of my article or, because they only have online journals, an official
letter (signed and stamped) showing details of my articles, volume and dates of
submission & publication. They sent a piece of paper showing sufficient details but
no signature or stamp, which I refused to accept. They also refused to add their VAT
code, although they claim that their journals are registered in the USA. I believe
VAT code is not confidential.
4- Because they list a number of indexes at the bottom of this Journal, I only asked
them to make my article indexed in Google Scholar (piece of mind) to avoid any
interaction with them regarding appearance of article in Google.
They have not completed any of these points, and have made my article unsearchable
again in Google. Only could be found from my ResearchGate account as a full text or
inside the Journal’s website (until now). Finally, all articles in this Journal have
DOI but most of them had not been working and now about a half of articles have an
active link to their DOI. This has only happened after I raised this issue
everywhere. I have more to say, but the space may be limited and the publisher does
not deserve.

I would like to thank Emerald City Journal who has given me the chance and published
my previous report in order to tell people about my worst ever experience with
Juniper Publishers.

Everything is documented and could be provided upon request.

Yours Sincerely

Dr Mohamed Elsaed Ebada
PhD, BPharm
Researcher
Pharmacology Department
NODCAR
Agouza, Giza, Egypt

*User submitted. Statements do no reflect the views of the Emerald City Journal.

Club13 A Newcomer’s Guide To The Kratom-Verse

Published on May 1, 2017

You’ve seen the charts with the little gold stars that outline specific benefits of the different strains of kratom – Red Bali gets two stars for stimulating and five stars for pain relief, Maeng Da gets five stars for stimulating and enhancing mood but only two stars for pain relief, Ultra Indo gets five stars for pain relief and mood enhancement and two stars for pain relief. But can any of this information be trusted? The answer is: it depends where you read it and who you speak with. Different consumers have different experiences and there isn’t any true guidelines on how it may help you or not. Companies are not allowed to speak of their results, however, many customers have spoken about how great they have been for them.

Club13 Herbals is a Kratom company located in St. Augustine, Florida. Their website sells pure Kratom powdered and capsules. Their products are lab tested to make sure everything is free of contaminants. Learn more about Kratom and Club13.com here on the Emerald City Journal.

Much of what you get out of Kratom depends on what your goal is going in. Calling Club13 customer service was very helpful to me. So are you looking for an alternative to prescription medication? Are you looking for a relaxing feeling after a long day? Are you looking for a companion to your morning cup of coffee that will provide a jolt of energy as you start the day off right? Some users online have expressed it helps.

When I first began researching Kratom, I wanted it all. I’ve long had chronic pain from peripheral neuropathy, and I was looking for relief. I was also looking for something to balance my mood, and a boost or energy is always nice, as is relaxation. I’ve heard that Kratom could be the solution so I looked and researched the Internet. I found the Club13 Herbals website.

My multiple needs led me to Green Bali for its multiple benefits, and I had pretty much stuck to that until recently. I was happy with its effects, it worked for me on several levels.

But I realized recently there was no harm in experimenting, and after some more reading decided to try Red Vein Maeng Da because of positive reports on its ability to stimulate and add energy to your day without making it hard to sleep at night.

Going in, I was kind of convinced that any difference in effect would be minimal. I didn’t think my kratom-ometer was refined enough to tell the difference in strains. Hey, I used to drink wine out of a box.

But the first time I swallowed a few capsules of the Red Vein Maeng Da, I knew right away that it was different. It was energizing, it was vibrant, it had just a tinge of euphoria glittering around the edges, but it was very smooth. Caffeine makes me jittery at times, kratom did not.

My lovely wife has tried kratom a couple of times. She found the Green Bali sedating and wasn’t a fan.I offered her a few Red Vein Maeng Da capsules, and an hour later I could tell by her delighted laughter that she enjoyed it. She said it was stimulating and just made her feel good.

So there you go. Turns out reading or looking at a chart only gets you so far. Words are helpful, but they’re just words. We need to branch out, experiment, try new things for ourselves. Try different vendors like Club13 and ask questions if needed.

That’s how I found kratom in the first place, and as a neophyte kratomnaut I’m going to try a white-veined variety next. I’ll let you know what I think.

How about you? What strain of kratom works for you, and why? What other strains have you tried, and to what effect?

And, most importantly, what are you going to try next?

Elon Musk and the Mission to the Moon

Published on March 14, 2017

Elon Musk is one of the most ambitious entrepreneurs on the planet. Most CEO’s or business owners struggle to juggle one company, and Elon Musk has his hand in multiple companies and ambitious projects. SpaceX started as one of those ambitious ideas. When Musk announced that he was going to colonize Mars someday, most people were very skeptical. Musk at the time was known for helped to create PayPal and his involvement in Tesla. So when he started his company, SpaceX, industry experts were quick to point out that Musk doesn’t know the first things about space travel. SpaceX was created to build cheaper, reusable rockets designed for interplanetary space travel in order to help realize his dream to colonize Mars.

SpaceX has grown into a company that is changing the way that the world approaches space travel. SpaceX has already successfully engineered and launched their own spaceship and now they announced that they are going to send two astronauts to the moon. If successful, this space mission will be the first time that the people have gone as far as the moon since the famed Apollo missions.

SpaceX announced that two unnamed individuals have paid in advance to take this historical trip to the moon in the second half of 2018. In a company statement, “Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration,” This feat has not been attempted in 45 years so this trip to the moon hopefully will mean the revitalization of the space program.

Although their names have not been released, Musk has stated that both individuals have paid a significant deposit in advance for the trip and that they are very serious about the trip. The only thing that Musk will say is that, “It’s nobody from Hollywood.” The mystery has led to a lot of speculation. The two individuals will be taking the Dragon spacecraft. There have been many names that have been thrown around but no definite identification has been made yet. SpaceX and Elon Musk have been keeping the names tightly under wraps. He says that he does not have permission to release those names.

The proposed plan is to travel to the moon in the SpaceX designed and produced Dragon 2 capsule and to also bring supplies to the International Space Station. The Falcon Heavy rocket will be used for the mission. The mission should take about a week and there will be no landing on the moon. Lift-off is slated to take place at the Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral. This is the same pad that was used for the Apollo program for its lunar missions. According to Musk, the would-be astronauts will travel to Moon and back around the Earth covering about 300,000 to 400,000 miles.

Even though SpaceX has made several successful trips to the International Space Station, the space community has raised some obvious concerns about sending two individuals into space who are potentially untrained. Even though the passengers will have to have some type of training , it is doubtful that in the short time frame that Musk announced, that the potential astronauts will receive the full training that traditional astronauts receive. The mission is scheduled to take place in early 2018 and that is only a year and a half away. To put it into perspective, the NASA Astronaut Candidate program has some very rigid and intense physical and educational requirements. Educational requirements include a bachelor’s degree in “engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics, and that degree must by followed by 3 years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience or at least 1,000 pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Also, the astronauts should have 20/20 vision in each eye.

Even though the names of the future space travelers have not been released, it is highly unlikely that either person has the same qualifications that NASA requires for their candidates. NASA also requires a two-year training program once the candidates are selected and Musk’s time frame does not allow for a two-year program. Former Chief Scientist for the NASA Human Research Program, Mark Shelhamer, expressed his doubts about the announcement. He told the popular online publication Gizmodo that, “I applaud Musk’s efforts and his enthusiasm and what he’s accomplished,” Shelhamer told Gizmodo. “But sending two amateurs to the moon in a new spacecraft on a new rocket, in less than two years? It won’t happen.”

Musk did address some of the concerns that experts have voiced about this future moon mission. In interviews he gave post announcement, he does not seem worried about the concerns brought up by industry experts. He acknowledges that the mission is risky but is very confident about the mission and SpaceX’s rockets. He also stated that the two potential space travelers understand the risk that they will be taking if they go through with this moon mission. During a phone conference with reporters he said, “They’re certainly not naive, and we’ll do everything we can to minimize that risk, but it’s not zero. But they’re coming into this with their eyes open,” said Musk, adding that the pair will receive “extensive” training before the flight.

Musk also would not say what he meant by “extensive” training nor would he say how it would compare to that training that NASA puts their astronauts through. However, Musk told did tell Gizmodo that, “If health checks are good (no heart conditions particularly) and they have good bone density, as there will be some bone density loss in zero g, which is regained on the ground, most of the risk is probably reentry or having to deal with a system malfunction in deep space when passing through the deep shadow of the moon, where we may lose comms briefly,”

Musk, as always, is confident in SpaceX’s latest monumental announcement. He is hoping that this mission will renew America’s interest and excitement in interplanetary space travel. NASA has publicly commended SpaceX on the latest announcement and Musk has said that NASA is more than welcome to join a SpaceX mission if they so choose. This mission is the next big step for SpaceX and one step closer to making Musk’s dream of making interplanetary space travel a reality for everyone.

Club13.com Herbals – Learn About Kratom

Published on February 15, 2017

Even though the kratom plant, also known as mitragyna speciosa, has its origins in Southeastern Asia, it has a worldwide user base that consumes it in different methods for a variety of reasons. Naturally, enthusiasts from each country want to support vendors based in their own country to benefit the national economy, as well as have a greater guarantee of their product.

Club13.com Herbals is an American-based business located in the town of Saint Augustine, Florida. Ever since its establishment in 1999, the company has based its operations in that location, despite its main form of business being online. Even though the plants have origins from other countries to maintain product integrity, the products themselves are tested and packaged in the United States. This creates products that provide a rich experience, derived from the cultures of other nations.

Club13’s Roots

Club13.com began around the 2000s, an era where the traditional and recreational use of kratom was just beginning to grow. The company saw how the products derived from this plant could benefit people in the United States and used this opportunity to establish itself in a young market. The business itself has between two to ten employees, but it runs with the efficiency of a larger store. Therefore, customers are not only benefiting from an American vendor, but also supporting a small business that has lasted for a long time.

The kratom products, as well as akuamma seeds and kava roots that the store offers come from farmers who helped establish the business as the reliable name it is today. The kratom plant favors tropical climate and suffers under colder conditions. While the plants’ growth in Southeast Asia guarantees its optimal quality, the state of Florida provides the ideal conditions to keep the products in strong form.

Club13’s website features a variety of kratom products that the customer can consume via their preferred method, including both regular and extra strong capsules, powder, vape juice, and extracts. The company also offers different types of kratom, such as Horn, Bali Red, Indo White, and Green Malay. They also have Maeng Da in green, white, and the bestselling red, which is the strongest among its kind as well as compared to other red Maeng Da products in the market. The Connoisseur mix is a special powder that blends all other kratom powders.

In addition to kratom products, Club13 offers other herbal products, such as akuamma and kava. Three different drug test kits are available that test for a variety of drugs, including marijuana, morphine, cocaine, and more.

Quality Guarantee

The company has a 100% satisfaction guarantee for all its products. They have customer service contact points through phone, email, and an online form, and have a refund and replacement policy in place. The store also goes an extra step in establishing customer trust by offering lab-testing results on all its products. Each item receives local testing, using good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, and consumers can request a lab report to guarantee the safety and quality of each product. Club13.com has good reviews online from what we’ve seen.

Saint Augustine, Florida

Noted above, Club13’s headquarters are in the city of Saint Augustine. This location has the distinction of being the oldest European establishment in the United States, founded on September 8, 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles. The territory was under Spanish control until Spain ceded it to the U.S. in 1819. The town’s unique, multicultural history has made it an appealing tourist location.

Even though Club13.com is mainly an online business that sells herbal products to individual customers and larger retailers, it also benefits from the city’s welcoming stand on the manufacturing and sale of these products, particularly kratom. Several stores in the city also sell kratom products.

The Saint Augustine community has also stood up for consumers and vendors of kratom products recently. A drug task force recently targeted the plant due to concerns over its easy availability, requesting a ban. A county board meeting on April 2, 2019 voted on the proposal. After hearing from 19 citizens supporting kratom use, the board voted 5-0 against the ban. Businesses like Club13.com benefit from the community’s meaningful support.

Kratom products provided by Club13 combine the quality of Southeastern Asian conditions and American practices to provide a strong, multicultural experience with the benefits inherent in the plant.

Origin and Early Use

During the last several years, kratom has seen an increase in use due to the numerous desired effects it has on the human body. The plant’s features have made it a popular choice in countries around the world, with their inhabitants creating a variety of products and consumption methods based on it.

The kratom plant, is native to Southeastern Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea. However, the plant now grows in several countries around the world, which has led to increased consumption. It is a member of the Rubiaceae family, which also includes coffee and gardenia.

The tropical conditions of these countries provide a perfect growing place for kratom, as cooler temperatures can stunt growth and force harvesters to keep them inside containers and indoor growing locations. A fully-grown kratom tree can extend as long as 25 meters, or 82 feet. Indigenous populations used the leaves of this plant as coffee and consumed it due to its effects as a stimulant and aphrodisiac.

Dutch botanist Pieter Willem Korthals gave the plant the scientific name of mitragyna because he believed the components of the plant resembled a bishop’s miter. The plant has also gone under other names, including krakuam, thom, ithang, and krathom in Thailand, as well as ketum or kiak-kiak in Malaysia, and mambog among users in the Philippines.

Methods of Consumption

Traditional ingestion methods of kratom leaves include eating them outright or crushed, and brewing them as tea. The addition of lemon juice to the hot beverage reduces its opioid-like effects, and the addition of sugar or honey can reduce the plant’s naturally bitter taste. People who chew the leaves tend to consume one to three leaves at a time, usually removing the veins and adding honey to apparently reduce constipation risks. After direct consumption, the users drink warm water, tea, coffee, or sugar syrup. Dried leaves are usually smoked.

Modern use of kratom has led to several other methods of consumption, including pills and capsules, or powder. In addition to traditional smoking, kratom is now also available as a vape liquid alternative to tobacco. Southern Thailand has also seen the rise of a cold beverage known as 4×100, which combines kratom, soda, and cough syrup to create an effect much like that of alcohol.

Reasons for Consumption

The earliest users of the kratom plant were Thai and Malaysian workers and native people. For years, they have consumed the plant either directly or via tea to increase stamina. Specifically, it increases mental and physical energy, as well as limiting fatigue and general lethargic effects. They claim that it acts as a sexual stimulant as well.

Modern day use of kratom includes recreational purposes, since it can create a similar “high” effect to other opioids. However, kratom is neither a drug nor an opioid. When consumed, it allegedly can trigger an effect similar to other drugs, such as cocaine in small doses, or morphine in large doses, even though kratom acts as a mu-opioid receptor agonist that only stimulates the opioid receptors. Other foods such as breast milk, coffee, chocolate, and coffee also activate these receptors as well.

Due to this specific effect, according to wikipedia, kratom can relieve chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Other times, it offers a general energy boost. Some people recovering from opioid addiction and withdrawal symptoms use it as an opioid substitute to ease the transition process. The Emerald City Journal hasn’t verified these claims by Wikipedia and you should do your own research into the plant.

Seattle Washington does sell kratom in many stores. It is important to purchase from a quality producers who keeps the plant and powder in its purest condition.

Standalone Journal is One of the Worst-Ever Open-Access Journals

Published on January 5, 2017

Here’s a quick description of the Journal of Biospectracal, a journal I learned about and added to my list last month.

The first thing one notices about this journal is the strange title. What does “biospectracal” mean, if anything? It’s not explained on the journal’s website.

Googling the term, one only finds links to the journal itself, except for this Budapest Open-Access Initiative page, in which someone identified as “editor biospectracal” has signed the now passé petition.

The journal proudly displays its ResearcherID and ORCID numbers, identifiers reserved for individual researchers, not predatory journals.

It promises, “Acceptance of manuscript in 15–20 days,” longer, perhaps, than average for most journals on my lists.

The journal has published five articles so far, all published in either issue five or six of volume 1, with no indication of where the earlier issues are, if they even exist.

The journal appears to be the sole effort of S. Narendhran of Coimbatore, India, and he’s also the editor-in-chief.

Most of the journal’s “Instruction to Authors” is lifted from other websites. It costs USD $100 to publish in the journal, with additional charges for papers having over two authors.

Overall, the quality of journals from India is decreasing greatly, and journal publishing there is mostly carried out as a means of generating quick and easy income for publishers.

Hat tip: Dr. Kathryn H Jacobsen

By: Jeffrey Beall
Follow on Twitter
Source: Scholarly Open Access

Comments:

Wim Crusio says:

January 5, 2017 at 9:12 AM

Perhaps that’s a typo for “Biospectacle”?

BG says:

January 5, 2017 at 10:09 AM

Or maybe just lifted from “SpectraCal”, an apparently legitimate US based video calibration company?

Lynn Huntsinger says:

January 5, 2017 at 9:25 AM

I went to the website and…it has an Orchid ID!

Lynn Huntsinger says:

January 5, 2017 at 9:28 AM

Sorry, I see you mentioned that in your article–I leapt ahead. I so appreciate your work. There is an art project in all this somewhere.

Hank says:

January 5, 2017 at 10:15 AM

and they have a Facebook page with 25 “likes” — sucker list?

stevelaudig says:

January 5, 2017 at 1:32 PM

I agree it might be “biospectacle” or “biospectacular” and could be related to “bio-exorcism”. It would be a “miscreant” journal….. “Adam and Barbara remain invisible to Charles and Delia, teenage Lydia can see the ghost couple and befriends them. Against Juno’s advice, the Maitlands contact the miscreant Betelgeuse, Juno’s former assistant and now freelance “bio-exorcist” ghost, to scare away the Deetzes.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetlejuice

Cora says:

January 5, 2017 at 1:33 PM

Look to archive (vol. 1 only so far): “Downlad PDF” :::)))

Bonbon says:

January 5, 2017 at 3:07 PM

The horse logo of this journal also brings to mind the Springer logo.

Andy Mabbett says:

January 5, 2017 at 4:14 PM

The ORCID account has already been suspended.

Ahmad Hassanat says:

January 5, 2017 at 5:03 PM

What you have done Jeff?
now you increased the results of the Google search !

matthewjholland says:

January 6, 2017 at 1:12 AM

You can report abuse of ORCID to support@orcid.org

Bill says:

January 7, 2017 at 7:51 AM

I entered “Biospectracal” into “Google Translate” (within “Detect language”). Nothing shows up except “Biospectracal” again. What does the suggested alternative spelling “Biospectacle” add to our understanding? Can anyone find a dictionary definition of this re-spelled term? Explanations, anyone?

Is It Time to Retire ResearcherID?

Published on December 29, 2016

A ResearcherID profile for a predatory journal.

ResearcherID is a unique, persistent identifier for individual researchers set up by Thomson Reuters. ORCID, which came later, has made it mostly obsolete. Moreover, ResearcherID is also being colonized by predatory journals, who are registering as if they were individual researchers and polluting the database with spam.

It appears that Thomson Reuters’ successor, Clarivate Analytics, is not maintaining the integrity of the ResearcherID database.

Part of a spam email claiming a predatory journal is “indexed” in ResearcherID.

Moreover, predatory journals, such as the bottom-feeding International Journal of Innovations in Engineering and Technology (IJIET) are using their ResearcherID numbers to make themselves look legitimate to unsuspecting researchers.

In the screenshot from a spam email above, the journal says:

Thomson Reuters ReseacherID indexed Journal

ReseacherID: P-8165-2015

All Published papers will be indexed on Thomson Reuter ReseacherID with above reseacherID

This is complete nonsense. ResearcherID is not an academic index, and it was never intended that journals register for a ResearcherID number.

If you see a journal advertising its own ResearcherID number, — or any other identifier designed for individual researchers — let this automatically disqualify the journal from all consideration.

The use of ResearcherID numbers for journals is deceptive and wrong. The best solution to this abuse may be to retire ResearcherID altogether.

Hat tip: Dr. Kathryn H. Jacobsen

Appendix: Selected additional journals that also advertise using ResearcherID
o Journal of Biospectracal
o International Journal of Advance Computing Techniques and Applications (IJACTA)
o International Journal of Advance Foundation and Research in Computer (IJAFRC)
o International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Science Archive (IJPBA)
o Journal of Biological Sciences and Medicine (JBSM)

By: Jeffrey Beall
Follow on Twitter
Source: Scholarly Open Access

Comments:
John says:

December 29, 2016 at 9:23 AM

Scopus has also provided an ID for researchers and in many cases, researchers’ articles maintain different IDs but Scopus team will merge them if authors inform them. This article ID like ORCHID can be used for author identification but has nothing to do for publishers to receive credit.

Wim Crusio says:

December 29, 2016 at 9:30 AM

One thing ResearcherID does that ORCID doesn’t do (yet?) is provide a citation analysis for a researcher. I would say that the best solution for the moment would be for Clarivate Analytics to start curating their database and delete such spam accounts. Should not be too difficult to search for accounts like that “search words could be “journal”, “reviews”, “essays”, “international”, etc).

Mr Hobbs says:

December 29, 2016 at 1:23 PM

If you say that “Clarivate Analytics, is not maintaining the integrity of the ResearcherID database” – what will then happen to Journal Citation Index (aka ISI) in the future? Perhaps one day OMICS and Co. simply buy the real impact factors instead of faking them…money rules the world. And science will be completely busted.

davidl53 says:

December 29, 2016 at 2:51 PM

ORCID has potential but I struggle to understand the organization’s priorities. Today, a search on my first and last name brings 19 results. 12 of these have no additional information that could be used to disambiguate one from the other. Only 5 of these (my record included) provide any information useful for disambiguation. I’m disappointed that the ORCID identification string isn’t useful for indexing.

Further, The ORCID ID is a subset of the ISNI author database. However, ORCID did not allow me to register with my ISNI number. So, now, I have two identifiers within the ISNI record format.

ORCID discourages multiple registrations under the same name. However I know someone who has three ORCID IDs. She didn’t make note of her earlier ID and the ORCID interface didn’t make it easy to know which of the more than 30 ORCID records with her name so, to submit a manuscript, she simply registered again. (I pointed out that she could have looked up her publication and found her ID but she didn’t think of that.

Another problem is that the system to enter publication metadata allows free-text entry and entering structured metadata isn’t really possible. The system for metadata entry is still (after several years) so unfriendly that one stray character outside a field closes the entire entry box and data entry must begin again.

ORCID membership is expensive and there are many powerful supporters. Unless my arithmetic skills fail, the annual budget is quite large. Yet, it is clear from their staff list that their emphasis is not on LIS because of the 20 employees only one has a LIS degree and her job description doesn’t include much other than web design and user interface work for connecting with WordPress and Drupal.

My organization was an ORCID launch partner. I had high hopes for its success. I still have hopes but those have been tempered by my experience. I have offered not only suggestions about fixing problems but also the programming time to implement the solutions. I volunteered to serve on advisory committees but was told that the current ORCID priorities — improving the interface with ResearcherID, Scopus, and CrossRef — are not in line with mine (which were structured metadata, duplicate work identification and record merging, alignment with the ISNI database, and protections against authors with duplicate ORCID IDs. I offered that, because I was offering actual code, not merely suggestions, that their priorities and my improvements were quite compatible.

John says:

December 30, 2016 at 7:05 AM

David

Could you please tell me what would be the advantage of ORCID against Scopus ID? Good and motivated researchers could refine their Scopus ID by cooperating the Scopus team and manage to have an ID which shows citation, h-index, etc.

ORCID is not a non-for-profit organisation since it charge alot for subscription.

Wim Crusio says:

December 30, 2016 at 9:49 AM

?? As far as I know, ORCID can be used free of charge by any researcher.

davidl53 says:

December 30, 2016 at 5:34 PM

There is no cost to an author to get an ORCID ID.

ORCID _should_ be “the best thing since sliced bread” (if that is a good thing). ORCID hasn’t yet reached that height.

I desperately want to love all things ORCID but so far I’m disappointed. Like Christie’s Miss Lemon I dream of a filing system that allows a perfect author search system. I fear that ORCID is going to be focused upon its organizational needs for quite a while and that its author-disambiguation role is slipping away. I hope that things improve soon.

Bonbon says:

December 29, 2016 at 3:13 PM

ResearcherID is dead. ORCID killed it.

It should be retired (for reasons completely unrelated to predatory journals). It just doesn’t serve any purpose anymore.

Fake “Institute” Has Fooled Many — Even Harvard

Published on December 16, 2016

One of their four broad-scoped journals, each with a fake impact factor.

The Institute of Research Advances is a backward open-access publisher based in Chandigarh, India. Like the Clute “Institute,” It’s not really an institute in any honest sense of the term. Instead, it’s a sole proprietorship aimed at separating researchers from their money.

This fake institute publishes four open-access journals, listed below in the appendix. They are all broad in scope, typical of greedy OA publishers seeking to generate as much revenue as possible from researchers.

Each journal sports a bogus impact factor, false information that fools some people needing to publish in impact factor journals.

This publisher’s marketing trick involves trying to make itself look legitimate by claiming association with numerous legitimate organizations and scholarly services. Its main page displays dozens of logos from respected organizations. Part of this display is here:

One database that the publisher has managed to penetrate is Harvard Dataverse. This service is supposed to be an open-access data repository, but in the case of the Institute of Research Advances the “datasets” are just PDFs of the articles previously published in its four paltry journals. You can access these “data” files on their website.

Why on earth would a data repository sponsored by Harvard re-publish and archive articles from a predatory publisher based in India? Is there some political reason? A personal connection?

Moreover, this fake “institute” is profusely spamming, mentioning Harvard Dataverse in the emails’ subject line:

From: International Journal [journal1@research-advances.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2016 7:35 PM
To: [Redacted]
Subject: Harvard Dataverse archived Journal

I have the bogus Institute of Research Advances included on my list of publishers to avoid. This publisher leeches status from other organizations, to improve its stature and attract fees for its pay-to-publish journals.

Given that Harvard Dataverse is re-publishing all this “institute’s” papers, I find it questionable as well.

Hat tip: Fiona A.E. McQuarrie, Ph.D.

Appendix: List of Institute of Research Advances journals as of 2016-12-05:
1.IRA International Journal of Education and Multidisciplinary Studies
2.IRA-International Journal of Applied Sciences
3.IRA-International Journal of Technology & Engineering
4.IRA-International Journal of Management & Social Sciences

By: Jeffrey Beall
Follow on Twitter
Source: Scholarly Open Access

Rocket Scientist, ScientificSpam DNSBL says:

December 13, 2016 at 4:33 PM

Predictably, listed as a spammer by ourselves under the domain names scholarlyresearch.org, research-advances.org, irajournal.org, researchref.org.

Wolfgang Muß (= MUSZ or MUSS) says:

December 13, 2016 at 7:28 PM

Rather intriguing, fallacious(?) and time-consuming work to go into detail by looking into most of the URL’s that are provided …. Institute of Research Advances as well as Harvard Dataverse.

Concerningthe given “Mailing Address [of:]
Institute of Research Advances, Opp. Sector 22C Mini Park, Sector 22C, Chandigarh, UT-160022 India. Email: editor@irajournal.org Web: http://www.journal.research-advances.org” See/cf:

https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=RESEARCH-ADVANCES.ORG. (same as for: journal.research-advances.org):

Registrant Name: Registration Private,
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC.

“The whois info on the site comes back with Domains by proxy. About the only time a company hides their ownership is when something nefarious is going on or doesn’t want to be directly associated with it such as porn sites and so on” [cited from: https://plus.google.com/+JeffJarvis/posts/ZBqENFQTJ2x
in this thread find (in „previous 28 replies“) the post of :
George Hayes 06.09.2014 ].
BTW:

There exist a lot of (Google) search results concerning:

Wolfgang Muß (= MUSZ or MUSS) says:

December 13, 2016 at 7:31 PM

continued: There exist a lot of (Google) search results concerning:Complaints, reviews, scams and fraud reports about address 14747 N Northsight Blvd Suite 111, PMB 309. Scottsdale -Arizona -85260 – USA

kpmitton says:

December 13, 2016 at 10:07 PM

Reblogged this on Biomedical Research Laboratory: Ken Mitton, PhD and commented:
A fake set of journals that has evened fooled a database at Harvard.

Sharada Tupkere says:

December 14, 2016 at 6:19 AM

I am Dr Sharada Tupkere and I am a regular follower of your post. I am one of the editors of a recently launched journal and we are five editors, with all of us five editors believing in being moral. Hence I, along with my colleagues, commend you on the wonderful job that you have been doing.
But posting your data online serves no purpose, as most of the authors hardly go through posts. The notice of predatory journals, needs to be widely and loudly publicized, in order to prevent the crores of innocent authors from being cheated of their money. In India,the postgraduate students are at the mercy of their professors. They force the students to publish their substandard articles in the journals for – Dental Council of India points, Their refusal to do so, results in their failure during the final exams. So you can understand the pressure in publishing articles, in any random journal, within their 3 years of postgraduate course.

behalbiotech says:

December 14, 2016 at 8:27 PM

First of all we must support “Something is better than nothing”. So this blog is serving good cause. Main problem in India is that universities adopted Academic Performance Index and a parameter that journal should have ISBN/ISSN number, which every fake journal in India get easily. Both are leading to increase in use of predatory journals. Students are not aware how to check quality of journals and at same time their supervisors are also either unaware of it or want to increase number of papers. Even Indian PhD students are never taught about publication process.
If dental Council has made it mandatory to publish then Dental association can have their own journal(s) to publish papers of their own student and issue them proper guidelines. Just one notification can start solving problem. A good start can lead to more ideas, improvement and good future..

*Visitor Submitted Content – Opinions & Reviews do not necessarily represent the views of the Emerald City Journal.

Hyderabad, India — City of Corruption

Published on November 22, 2016

Hyderabad India

Hyderabad, India is one of the most corrupt cities on earth, I think. It is home to countless predatory open-access publishers and conference organizers, and new, open-access publishing companies and brands are being created there every day. All institutions of higher education, all funders, governments, and researchers should be especially wary of any business based in Hyderabad.

The tacit rule of thumb of Hyderabad-based businesses is: Use the internet to generate revenue any way you can.

There are numerous internet-based businesses in this over-crowded city, many located in a special enterprise zone called HITEC City, which some refer to as “Cyberabad.” The city is the home OMICS International, a notorious publisher I have been following since 2010 that has exploited, abused, and victimized countless researchers, as I’ve documented here on my blog.

I have been told that OMICS treats its employees as poorly as it treats researchers. Accordingly, many have left the company to start their own scholarly publishing houses, with most copying the malevolent business practices pioneered by OMICS.

At this point, it’s too late, and the publisher refuses to withdraw the paper unless a fee is paid. The authors are then left with the choice to either pay a fee to withdraw the paper or pay a fee to publish it. The publishers know that you cannot submit a paper to a good journal when it’s already been published in a bad one.

Given the city’s poor reputation, many businesses based in Hyderabad lie and claim to be based in Western countries. They use the addresses of virtual office companies or mailbox rental firms. OMICS International does this, deceptively claiming offices in Henderson, Nevada and Foster City, California.

Again — be very careful with any online-based business that originates in Hyderabad, India. Corruption is the rule in Hyderabad, and businesses based there are world leaders in ripping off honest consumers, including researchers.

Starting a new online business — such as a publishing operation — costs very little, especially in India.

Typically, the newly-launched predatory publishers use spam email to solicit manuscript submissions to hastily-launched, broad-scope journals. They quickly accept submitted papers, skipping peer review. Then they send an invoice to the surprised authors, who, realizing the journal is fake, request that the article be withdrawn.

At this point, it’s too late, and the publisher refuses to withdraw the paper unless a fee is paid. The authors are then left with the choice to either pay a fee to withdraw the paper or pay a fee to publish it. The publishers know that you cannot submit a paper to a good journal when it’s already been published in a bad one.

Given the city’s poor reputation, many businesses based in Hyderabad lie and claim to be based in Western countries. They use the addresses of virtual office companies or mailbox rental firms. OMICS International does this, deceptively claiming offices in Henderson, Nevada and Foster City, California.

Again — be very careful with any online-based business that originates in Hyderabad, India. Corruption is the rule in Hyderabad, and businesses based there are world leaders in ripping off honest consumers, including researchers.

By: Jeffrey Beall
Follow him on Twitter

A Pakistani Publisher to Avoid: Academic Research Publishing Group

Published on November 8, 2016

Whenever an open-access publisher uses the phrases “Academic Research” or “Publishing Group” in its name, researchers should be very wary. Here’s a low-quality, rent-seeking, open-access publisher that combines both phrases: Academic Research Publishing Group. I recommend keeping a safe distance from it

The publisher is based in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. It publishes 11 super-broad-scoped journals, publications that duplicate the scope of hundreds of pre-existing subscription and open-access journals. For example, one of their journals is called Scientific Review, and it will publish pretty much anything.

Their journal cover images are uniformly amateurish in appearance, all adorned with pirated images.

In addition:
o ARPG spams and promises a fast peer review.
o They charge for “Modification/After Publication,” a practice that disincentives the correction of errors in papers.
o The journals claim to be indexed/abstracted in SlideShare, which is not an academic index (not even close).
o The published articles do not bear any licensing statements, and the author guidelines don’t say how the published articles will be licensed, a sign of an unsophisticated publisher.
o The publisher is not associated with any standard digital preservation services or organizations.

Conclusion

Academic Research Publishing Group is a rip off. Authors pay to publish their papers, but the services provided are way below standard. The publisher has managed to trick researchers from many regions, including Scandinavia, into publishing in their quick, easy, and cheap journals. I recommend avoiding all of this publisher’s substandard, third-rate journals.

Appendix: List of Academic Research Publishing Group journals as of 2016-11-02:
1.Academic Journal of Applied Mathematical Sciences (AJAMS)
2.Academic Journal of Computer and Electronics (AJCE)
3.Business, Management and Economics Research (BMER)
4.English Literature and Language Review
5.International Journal of Economics and Financial Research (IJFER)
6.International Journal of Healthcare and Medical Sciences (IJHMS)
7.International Journal of World Policy and Development Studies (IJWPDS)
8.Journal of Agriculture and Crops (JAC)
9.Research Journal of Education (RJE)
10.Scientific Review (SR)
11.The Journal of Social Sciences Research (TJSSR)

By: Jeffrey Beall
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Source: Scholarly Open Access

Comments:

Keith says:

November 8, 2016 at 9:54 AM

Impressive – my university’s Internet security service has already blocked the website of “Scientific Review”.

si says:

November 10, 2016 at 4:21 AM

Academic Research Publishing Group recently start new publication company with the name of Noble Academic Publisher: Please click on that link: http://napublisher.org/?ic=info&id=1. The 4 journals title are as follows:
1. Noble International Journal of Economics and Financial Research
2.Noble International Journal of Social Sciences Research
3. Noble International Journal of Business and Management Research
4. Noble International Journal of Scientific Research

The aim & scope, and Author Guidelines just copy from different websites.

*User submitted. Statements do no reflect the views of the Emerald City Journal.

*Note: First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech – paragraph 4(c)(iii) of the overall Policy.

The Academic Research Publishing Group or napublisher.org are own their respected trademarks.

Bogus British Company “Accredits” OMICS Conferences

Published on October 13, 2016

Notorious open-access publisher OMICS International operates a scholarly conference division called Conference Series LLC. I learned recently that a London-based corporation called The CPD Standards Office has “accredited” all of OMICS International’s exploitative conferences.

A linked logo now appears on all of OMICS’ conferences. The logo reads “Accredited CPD.” Clicking on the logo brings one to a page like this one [PDF] called the “CPD Standards Factsheet.”

In actuality, the facts are that OMICS has paid this firm to accredit its bogus conferences. Any accreditation agency that grants accreditation to OMICS International or its divisions has no value as an accreditor.

This is confirmed by the CPD’s website which says,

“The CPDSO accreditation services do not have a pass / fail philosophy, our friendly assessment team will work with you to achieve CPDSO accreditation successfully.”

Indeed, all a firm has to do is pay, and the accreditation is granted. If this agency accredits OMICS and its conferenceseries.com brand, then surely it will accredit anything.

It is clear why OMICS International / Conferenceseries.com wants to emblazon its conference websites with the bogus CPD logo. It tricks people and universities into thinking the conferences are authentic, when they are really just a predatory means of exploiting university travel funds.

In fact, this is how CPD markets its automatic accreditation services to conference organizers such as OMICS.

I recommend that researchers avoid all journals published under the OMICS International umbrella and avoid all conferences organized by conferenceseries.com.

Moreover, I recommend strong skepticism towards anything “accredited” by the CPD Standards Office.

By: Jeffrey Beall
Follow on Twitter
Source: Scholarly Open Access

Comments:

Manfred Raida says:

October 13, 2016 at 7:51 PM

Just checked “conferences” starting in 3 days have no program up, no speakers, quite late. Many photos of speakers are presented in an offending way, either stretched or squeezed, same people show up again and again. Some “conference” are run in parallel, great if organizers can do this :-). Universities should be warned not to allow spending money for these bogus events.

Lalitha Pasam says:

October 14, 2016 at 1:30 AM

Jeff,

what about CME and CE accredits for OMICS events???

PS: http://diabeticmedications.conferenceseries.com/
http://www.dentalcongress.com/europe/

Thanks
Lalitha

Jeffrey Beall says:

October 14, 2016 at 6:26 AM

Good question.

The Philosopher says:

October 15, 2016 at 4:33 AM

Dear Beall – “INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN BASIC ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY” http://www.ijarbest.com – SCI indexed ?

Jeffrey Beall says:

October 15, 2016 at 5:01 AM

You yourself can check here. I do not see it appearing in SCI.

Marco says:

October 18, 2016 at 9:08 AM

The (sad) thing is that CPD is a genuine organization that has done some useful stuff and actually has an important role in continuing professional development.

Somewhat interesting, however, is that according to the CPD Standards Office, conference series LLC “…is currently under CPDSO investigation”
https://www.cpdstandards.com/?sfid=690&s=Conference+series+LLC

Jeffrey Beall says:

October 18, 2016 at 9:53 AM

Thanks for the link. I am happy to see they are re-considering. However, an accreditation agency should not make such blunders. They are supposed to be the experts and do proper vetting. It appears they completely fell asleep at the wheel here, or the prospect of earning money to “accredit” the many hundreds of OMICS conferences was too much for them to resist.

Marco says:

October 19, 2016 at 10:03 AM

Remember that this is OMICS. It is possible they never accredited any OMICS conferences, but rather that OMICS requested it, and CPDSO is still investigating. Just like people who have been asked to give a presentation or be part of the Editorial Board have seen themselves listed as presenting or Editorial Board member well before they responded (or after, and even if their response was negative).

tekija says:

October 18, 2016 at 12:41 PM

Good grief, I did not know that Finland has annexed Texas and UK

http://www.conferenceseries.com/finland-meetings/

Marco says:

October 19, 2016 at 10:06 AM

All your base are belong to Finland!

Wolfgang Muß (= MUSZ or MUSS) says:

October 20, 2016 at 7:02 AM

‘LONDON, Finland’
( to be found below the header-line(s)

Upcoming Finland Conferences
Finland Conferences 2017 )

for sure only was a unique “misspelling [ Freudian slip] for “Helsinki” ! (:-))

Conference Series Ltd
19th Nano Congress for Next Generation
August 21-22, 2017 Helsinki, Finland

missrosalindh says:

October 20, 2016 at 4:55 AM

I wouldn’t say the CPD Standards are a bogus company personally – Google are actually partnered with them and one would think the ‘owners’ of the world wide web would be wise to a scam! Perhaps an oversight to support Omics on the part of CPDSO?

MC says:

October 24, 2016 at 2:05 PM

Yes, google owns the internet. Finally, a reasonable comment on this blog.

Ed says:

October 21, 2016 at 5:52 PM

I think you might want to write about the ConferenceSeries event that accepted in three hours a gibberish paper generated with iOS auto-complete, and perhaps contact Christoph Bartneck of the University of Canterbury, NZ, who “authored” the work. Two relevant references:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/22/nonsense-paper-written-by-ios-autocomplete-accepted-for-conference
http://www.bartneck.de/2016/10/20/ios-just-got-a-paper-on-nuclear-physics-accepted-at-a-scientific-conference/ and per