I was recently invited to be a speaker at a conference but it seems rather strange. I had to pay USD 700 for registration. The website is beautiful, and it is organized by this "Longdom Conferences" which apparently works in the production of many other conferences. They insisted that I registered quickly and the contact was through my whatsapp (I provided my phone number when I had to make a pre-registration, but they never mentioned they would contact this way...). When I mentioned the high price for an unknown conference, they kept giving me discounts and insisting that I register soon. Well, there are names of professors from universities all over the world. I checked this "Longdom Conferences" and it is on the recent Dolos List of predatory conferences:
https://www.professeur-alexandre-georges.info/dolos-list
To be honest, I was not even aware this list existed. The conference name is: " New Frontiers in Renewable Energy and Resources" and this is their website:
https://www.longdom.com/euro-renewableenergy
Any advice would be helpful.
While the website is beautifully designed, I think there are some red flags in the website.
In their sponsor page, they wrote on the address section "Mail us to know more! No doubt you have lots of queries... Why not get in touch..! Drop us your query with details and we will call you right away", instead of the physical address which is a little bit unprofessional for a credible conference.
In their contact page, they only gave the contact number and the email address, and not the recipient name who is usually an academician tied in an institution.
In the about page, there is no definite and specific introduction about the people behind the conference. Regarding this matter, the committee is usually listed (e.g., Organizing Committee, Conference Program Committee, Publications Committee, etc.) although the Organizing Committee is on a separate page but it has only 3 members. Imagine running an international conference with only 3 people.
Their publication "Bioenergetics: Open Access" is not also SCOPUS-Indexed although the other one "Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Power Generation Technology" is.
Nevertheless, I'm not saying that the conference is entirely predatory, however, I'm giving you an advice to validate it more thoroughly. If you know another conference with a history of publishing articles for a long time, with a credible organizing committee, and tied with known industry and academic institutions, then I think it's better if you choose it instead.
Dear Julio Chiquetto ,
The publisher linked to (or behind) the conferences you mentioned is “Longdom Publishing SL” and is listed in the update of Beall’s list:
https://beallslist.weebly.com/#update
One example of their journals is “Advances In Medical Ethics (Longdom Publishing)” with the critical remark (2019): "When asked, one editor attest to the fact that his editorship was forged. Publisher is on the Beall’s list". See:
https://ethicsblog.crb.uu.se/2018/05/02/where-to-publish-and-not-to-publish-in-bioethics-the-2018-list/
There are some indications that this publisher is originally (or at least somehow linked to) OMICS (‘known’ for their dubious conferences and publication practices). Like their journal “Endocrinology & Metabolic Syndrome” see for example:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/63d1/efbbcb301c617ad3a921413d6fce814a64b1.pdf
https://www.longdom.org/open-access/rare-genetic-cases-of-heterotopic-ossification-2161-1017.1000105.pdf
If you go to the OMICS journal “Journal of Metabolic Syndrome” and go to 'related journals' and click on “Endocrinology & Metabolic Syndrome” you are redirected to Longdom Publishing.
Back to your question, it is better to check first and use for example:
https://www.exordo.com/blog/9-signs-this-is-a-fake-conference/
Best regards.
Dear Manuel B. Garcia and Rob Keller,
thanks a lot for your answers.
Well, I did have a strange feeling about it, and all these aspects you mentioned helped to explain the situation more clearly.
After a little thought, I decided not to go.
I replied their e-mail today saying that I was no longer attending the conference and my message was returned because the e-mail address no longer exists! It makes everything even more dodgy...
I really appreciate your help and instructions. Nowadays, it's really easy to fake something, but now I am more aware.
Best regards,
Julio
Dear Julio,
Thank you for posting this here. I was recently invited as a speaker to a Longdom conference in London under similar circumstances. First of all, I found it odd that an international conference would invite speakers on LinkedIn and WhatsApp messenger instead of sending out a formal email. Also, they seemed very persistent with regards to an early registration. They offered a remarkable discount plus accommodation fees, which was fine. Although I had to withdraw my abstract because I was teaching on the day of the conference. A few days later I was invited to another conference in Vancouver, this time by Scientific Federation, and on LinkedIn again. Also it might be a coincidence, but both persons contacted me from India. I declined the second offer as the conference website looked veeery not authentic!
It is sad that scammers have begun to pray on academics, as if we have so much money to give away so easily!
Best regards,
Makan
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