I received an email invitation to publish in the journal Twist (https://twistjournal.net/). The journal boasts that it is indexed in the Scopus database. Actually, a journal with the same name and ISSN is indexed in the Scopus database. However, by checking the published articles and the articles in the Scopus database, I found that the articles on the journal's website do not match the entries in the Scopus database. Thus, it is probably a fraudulent journal masquerading as another journal. The aim of these stolen journals is to extort a publication fee (APC) from the authors. The problem is that articles from such a fraudulent journal will never be indexed in databases such as Scopus or Web of Science.
Compared to regular fraudulent journals, where a quick scan of their website can easily reveal that it is a scam, this scam is more sophisticated. The main danger is that this journal's website is built on a real publishing platform and thus it is impossible to identify at a glance that it is a scam. The authors of the site have also gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the journal's archive and other information are filled in.
When receiving an invitation to publish in a journal in person, I recommend making a few simple checks:
1. scan the magazine's website to make sure it is not just the home page and the other subpages are not functional
2. Check the journal's archive - most predatory or stolen journals have an empty or inaccessible archive - even this scam journal only has abstracts in back issues
3. Check that the journal is actually indexed in the databases to which it subscribes (WoS and Scopus are important to us as they are included in the Methodology 17+ assessment)
4. For online journals, check that the link from the WoS or Scopus database leads to the same journal
Does anyone have experience with this journal?
Dear Libor Ansorge ,
Great find. I think you are absolutely right, the link you received from these people refers to the fake/hijacked version of the legit trade journal “Twist”. Thanks to homepage link mentioned in the SCImago link of this journal (https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=12600154713&tip=sid&clean=0 ) I found the original website https://www.wtin.com (only accessible after registration).
Examples of how the real magazine looks like I found here: https://issuu.com/contactokmd/docs/modern_thai_silk
https://www.ebay.com/itm/373957461355
https://twitter.com/iwto_wool/status/1252166389550497793
http://www.asiasun.com.tw/newsdetail_en.php?id=541
https://www.mohair.co.za/mohair-blog/twist-issue-121-october-november-2022 here they provide a link, not sure how long this one will be accessible but here is a complete issue readable: https://publications.wtin.com/view/766512005/2/
I see resemblance with another trade journal “TEST Engineering & Management” see for example here on RG https://www.researchgate.net/post/Test_Engineering_and_Management and https://www.researchgate.net/post/Correction-of-Name-and-Affiliation-in-TEST-Engineering-Management-Magazine
Anyway, even if one is unable to find the proof of the legit journal it is clear that for the fake one, we can find numerous red flags:
-The indexing info mentioned on their homepage https://twistjournal.net/twist is full of so-called misleading metrics (https://beallslist.net/misleading-metrics/ ) like Cosmos, DRJI. No serious (Scopus) index journal will mention these so prominently on their site
-The prominently mentioned logo of Clarivate WoS (and impact factor) is misleading since they are not indexed (one can check that here https://mjl.clarivate.com/home )
-The SCImago link mentions that Twist is a trade journal (which most of the time looks more like a flashy magazine), while the fake journal presents themselves as a “real” journal
-The contact info lacks a physical address
-The link to the SCImago page is not working (this is suspect since otherwise one can easily check that the homepage mentioned there is different)
-Etc. Etc.
So, indeed we cannot warn enough against this plague. Hijacking of journal titles is (if possible) even worse than ‘traditional’ predatory journals. See for more info for example here:
https://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-hijacked-journal-checker/
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Hijacked_journals_in_Scopus
https://www.researchgate.net/post/New_very_misleading_type_of_scam_Anyone_with_recent_examples
Best regards.
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