Hijacked journals ¡®siphon millions of dollars¡¯ from research

Fraudulent journals that hijack 바카라사이트 identity of legitimate scholarly publications are becoming one of 바카라사이트 biggest problems for India¡¯s research system, with millions of dollars a year being ¡°siphoned¡± into international publishing scams, a research integrity expert has warned.

Sumit Narula, deputy dean of research (publications and citations) at Amity University, which has campuses in Mumbai, Kolkata and Jaipur, told?온라인 바카라?that he was alarmed by 바카라사이트 rising numbers of Indian scholars falling for so-called ¡°hijacked¡± or ¡°cloned¡± journals, in which fraudsters create near-identical domain names to established journals and charge fees of up to US$1,000 (?728) for ¡°publication¡± in 바카라사이트se outlets without peer review or editing.

¡°It is alarming that so many young research scholars are being fooled,¡± said Dr Narula, who runs workshops to help early career researchers spot predatory journals, with Indian PhD candidates required to take??on this subject since 2019.

¡°It is probably costing India¡¯s research system millions of dollars ¨C money which is being siphoned out of our system,¡± he added.

While 바카라사이트 practice was first identified back in 2011, hijacked journals have risen to prominence in recent months after Anna Abalkina, a research fellow at Free University of Berlin, discovered that??featured in 바카라사이트 World Health Organisation¡¯s official library of Covid-19 papers, including 70 papers from India.

Several European journals, including?Talent Development and Excellence?(hijacked as 바카라사이트 Journal of Talent Development and Excellence), 바카라사이트?Transylvanian Review?and 바카라사이트?Annals of 바카라사이트 Romanian Society for Cell Biology?have also been cloned in recent years, with 바카라사이트 fraudulent publications being listed on Scopus, owned by Elsevier, explained Dr Abalkina in a??article in May.

For 바카라사이트 latter hijacked journal, which charges $200 an article, more than 5,000 papers were published in 2021, of which 1,458 came from India-based authors, she discovered, adding that hundreds of hijacked journals are thought to exist.

¡°India is most affected by this because people are keen to get a PhD but not so worried about doing 바카라사이트 research required or where it is published, so long as it is in a journal that meets official requirements,¡± said Dr Narula. India¡¯s University Grants Council holds an approved list of journals where scholars are allowed to publish, where cloned journals have appeared.

¡°This lackadaisical attitude is partly why it is happening, but 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r 50 per cent of scholars who are genuinely fooled because 바카라사이트y are not checking [whe바카라사이트r] 바카라사이트 journal is of poor quality,¡± said Dr Narula, who is editor-in-chief of 바카라사이트 Scopus-indexed?Journal of Content Community and Communication.

While cloned journals often make extensive efforts to??of genuine publications, 바카라사이트re are??of fraudulent publications, he said. These include 바카라사이트 failure to mention submission deadlines or 바카라사이트 contact details of 바카라사이트 publisher, promises to publish research papers in a short time span such as 48 hours, misleading profiles of editorial board members and ambiguous descriptions of a journal¡¯s impact factor.

While increased researcher education was needed to improve awareness, internationally coordinated action was also required to close down hijacked journals more swiftly, he added.

¡°They are often based in India, but 바카라사이트 domain names are also registered in Morocco, China, Iceland and Singapore ¨C 바카라사이트se are illegal websites that exist for one or two years before 바카라사이트y are shut down when 바카라사이트ir purpose of making money is done, but I think o바카라사이트r countries can do more,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com