I, like probably all of you whose email address is out there on a mass mailing list, get daily requests to submit a paper to a journal. Before deleting them, I like to see if there is something to laugh at (in the nicest possible way). I am not implying there is anything wrong with the journals. All strength to them, but they should try a bit harder to target their potential customers. I have three recent examples:
1) We have read your worthy paper etc ....“Do mollusks use vertebrate sex steroids as reproductive hormones? Part I: Critical appraisal of the evidence for the presence, biosynthesis and uptake of steroids.” and would like to invite you to submit a paper to the Integrative Gynaecology and Obstetrics Journal [!!]
or
2) We had a glance at your published article “Out-of-season production of 17,20β-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one in the roach Rutilus rutilus”. Being impressed by your quality work, we are contacting you to know if you can associate with us by submitting your upcoming research to SOJ Materials Science and Engineering
or
3) We had a glance at your published article 'Out-of-season production of 17,20β-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one in the roach Rutilus rutilus.'
With the theme of ‘Serving Scientific Community for a better mankind’, International Journal of Poultry and Fisheries Sciences is publishing articles dealing with all aspects of etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of liver diseases. Being impressed by your quality work, we are contacting you to know if you can associate with us by submitting your upcoming research.
[I also had a request from a journal dealing with neonatal nursing, but that got junked a long time ago]
Dear Professor Scott,
Here's one for you. I work on human pharmaceuticals and how they affect the behavior of aquatic organisms. A few years ago, I published a paper on how antidepressants cause foot detachment from the substrate in marine snails in a good journal in my field. About 6 months ago, I got a request to submit a paper to an online, open access journal called Foot and Ankle Research (or at least it was something like that). I could not stop laughing.
You are being perhaps too kind. There is indeed something wrong with these journals. In addition to being laughable, the are mostly predatory knock-offs with little or no quality control.
Dear Truman,
I laughed at the journal because of the particular situation (foot in snails vs. a Foot and Ankle journal) and your point about predatory journals is very well taken. There are over 100 online, open access PUBLISHING "COMPANIES" with hundreds of journals, and many if not most are predatory. I think most of get requests for manuscripts and sometimes for membership on their editorial boards.
No, don't tell me that Truman! I had just started drafting a paper on the liver function of Bombay duck for the esteemed Journal of Poultry Science and Fisheries.
I am always over-cautious about saying anything bad about anyone or anything on an open forum, but I would agree that the quality of these journals is likely (allegedly) as you suggest.
Very often indeed. Especially when open the junk/spam folder. I am sort of an ecologist and recently i have a persistent journal for biomedical sciences. I also have been approached by engineering journals, etc.
Here is another good laugh:
Greetings!! Hope you are doing well. We respect your commitment towards time & work but I am writing this email since our scientific committee had a glance at one of your research publications titled “Out-of-season production of 17,20β-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one in the roach Rutilus rutilus. ” which is very impressive. Your work is a perfect fit for our summit. So we hereby take immense privilege to extend heartiest welcome to you along with your colleagues to participate and deliver a lecture at International Conference on Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Nursing during July 23-25, 2018 at Rome, Italy
Why do these people only ever seem to 'glance' at my publications?
Good old robots! The funniest yet...
We are enthralled with your research entitled “Is there any value in measuring vertebrate steroids in invertebrates?” and would like to invite you to submit a paper for publication in our Pregnancy and child care
Hello Alexander P Scott,
It is a pleasure to talk with you again; Your question is very interesting, because it happens more everyday than is think.
Well, it happens to me just like you and I also laugh and I self amazed.
But the biggest astonishment and problem is the naivety of some of our students (because they get the same email because they are co-authors), when them received this email that make them be encouraged to send something to those "journals.
Therefore it is good that them to ask me on this subject to be able to guide them.
Due previous, I have incorporated a class for students on how to search information and how to select a journal to publish and in the topic working; either in Scopus or WOK, the two most relevant browser internationally.
Well, I thinking not everything is lost and what I can rescue from this is that the "keywords" fulfill their function well that even the predatory journals find us, hehehehe, if our topic of research is reached by them, then I think it also reaches the audience that us want.
Well, I hope this comment to will help to be careful with this "predatory journals".
Cheers,
Omar
(Avila-Poveda OH).
[email protected] sent me the link http://smjournals.com/hematology-oncology/index.php
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