Journal hijacking: Challenges and potential solutions

Moussa, Salim

doi:10.1002/leap.1412

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Twenty‐two papers of questionable provenance were published in hijacked journals. Hijacked journals are cyber‐criminal publishers; in most cases, they create a clone website of legitimate journals, steal their identity (title, ISSN) and fraudulently collect fees for rapid publication without providing peer review (Abalkina, 2021a; Jalalian & Dadkhah, 2015; Moussa, 2021). I detected papers of questionable provenance in three hijacked journals: Journal of Talent Development and Excellence (Abalkina, 2020a), Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University , and International Journal of Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: Evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill

Abalkina

2023

Learned Publishing

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This study attempts to detect papers originating from the Russia‐based paper mill ‘International Publisher’ LLC. A total of 1,063 offers to purchase co‐authorship on a fraudulent papers published from 2019 to mid‐2022 on the 123mi.ru website were analysed. This study identifies at least 451 papers that are potentially linked to the paper mill, including one preprint, a duplication paper and 16 republications of papers erroneously published in hijacked journals. Evidence of suspicious provenance from the paper mill is provided: matches in title, number of co‐authorship slots, year of publication, country of the journal, country of a co‐authors and similarities of abstracts. These problematic papers are co‐authored by scholars from at least 39 countries and are submitted to both predatory and reputable journals. This study also demonstrates collaboration anomalies in questionable papers and examines indicators of the Russia‐based paper mill. The value of co‐authorship slots offered by ‘International Publisher’ LLC from 2019 to 2021 is estimated at $6.5 million. Since this study only analysed a single paper mill, it is likely that the number of papers with forged authorship is much higher.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: Evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill

Abalkina

2023

Learned Publishing

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“…The same pressure helps explain the rise of journal hijacking as a multifaceted and complex problem (Abalkina, 2021b). The lack of author awareness of journal hijacking also contributes to the high number of reported scams (Moussa, 2021). Human beings comprise the weakest link in cybersecurity (Aldawood & Skinner, 2018), and there is an urgent need for awareness and action to address the threats that hijacked journals pose to the integrity and credibility of contemporary scientific publishing (Dadkhah, Maliszewski, & Teixeira da Silva, 2016).…”

Section: Roots Of the Journal Hijacking Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘hijacking’ of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems: Implications for the information systems community

Müller,

Sæbø

2023

Information Systems Journal

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Journal hijacking, which refers to the attempted brand takeover of a journal by a third party, is a nascent threat confronting the information systems (IS) community, as evidenced by cybercriminals having established an online presence, masquerading as the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (SJIS). The SJIS hijacking damages the journal's reputation, leads to payment and publication scams, involves identity theft among unsuspecting IS researchers, and results in tarnished author reputations. Beyond SJIS, journal hijacking presents a threat, not only to the IS community, but also to science and academic integrity in general if researchers and readers cannot distinguish between fake publications by hijacked journals and real publications by legitimate journals. In this opinion article, we relate the story of the SJIS hijacking from the victims' perspectives. We describe its many aspects, draw attention to the key factors that contribute to the problem, and offer our perspectives on different response strategies in the absence of simple solutions. We hope to create awareness about the problem and stimulate a discussion in the IS community, not least in the face of digital innovations, such as ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence technologies that may inadvertently support paper mills and the production of fake research results.

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“…The email invitation may be laced with flattery-filled language, giving a false sense of pride or offering false promises or hyped claims (Sousa et al, 2021). Such email-based invitations might guarantee peer review even when none is provided or claim that the journal has metrics, even when these are false or hijacked, giving the impression of a valid scholarly journal (Dadkhah et al, 2016;Moussa, 2021). ECRs, therefore, need to be aware of risks and dangers when selecting a target journal, conscientious of the fact that the discernment of predatory from non-predatory (Grudniewicz et al, 2019), or the characterisation of scholarly and unscholarly are becoming increasingly difficult parameters to claim with certainty, with a wide grey zone in between (Frederick, 2020; Teixeira da Silva, 2021d).…”

Section: Additional Challenges In Research and Publishing Environments That Ecrs Might Encountermentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges that Early Career Researchers Face in Academic Research and Publishing

Silva¹

2021

EIRJ

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the academic community. Yet, in some respects, they occupy a selectively inferior niche due to structural constraints, as well as personal and professional limitations. ECRs, who are at an initial stage of their careers, face multiple challenges in research and publishing due to a relative lack of experience. These may make them vulnerable to abuse and cause stress and anxiety. Those challenges may have been amplified in the COVID-19 era. ECRs' efforts may unfairly boost the reputation of their mentors and/or supervisors (Matthew Effect), so greater credit equity is needed in research and publishing. This opinion paper provides a broad appreciation of the struggles that ECRs face in research and publishing. This paper also attempts to identify extraneous factors that might make ECRs professionally more vulnerable in the COVID-19 era than their established seniors. ECRs may find it difficult to establish a unique career path that embraces creativity and accommodates their personal or professional desires. This is because they may encounter a rigid research and publishing environment that is dominated by a structurally determined status quo. The role of ECRs' supervisors is essential in guiding ECRs in a scholarly volatile environment, allowing them to adapt to it. ECRs also need to be conscientious of the constantly evolving research and publishing landscape, the importance of open science and reproducibility, and the risks posed by spam and predatory publishing. Flexibility, sensitivity, creativity, adaptability, courage, good observational skills, and a focus on research and publishing integrity are key aspects that will hold ECRs in good stead on their scientific career path in a post-COVID-19 era.

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Journal hijacking: Challenges and potential solutions

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: Evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill

Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: Evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill

The ‘hijacking’ of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems: Implications for the information systems community

Challenges that Early Career Researchers Face in Academic Research and Publishing

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