How to Spot and Avoid Hijacked Journals: A Guide for Academics

December 30, 2024

2025 Upcoming International Conference, Journal and Publication, Journal Publication, Scopus Indexed Journals, Scopus Journals

The world around us is filled with scams and fraudulent activities everywhere. It is important to be careful and alert to prevent ourselves from getting into any traps. The same applies in the field of academic research as well. There is a misconception that there cannot be any scams in the field of education but it is not true. In order to help you with avoiding such scams, Institute for educational research and publication (IFERP) has come up with many strategies.

In the field of academic research, the integrity of the publication process is very important. Unfortunately, a growing number of fraudulent individuals and organizations are trying to cheat the hardworking professionals and researchers through the creation of fake and hijacked journals. These scammers portray themselves as authentic and reputed scholarly publications, trying to cheat and get money from innocent researchers who lack awareness about this. Ultimately, this will compromise the quality of their academic journey and also makes them lose confidence.

This blog post aims to talk about the tactics employed by these fraudulent journals and provide practical tips to help academicians avoid getting trapped. By understanding the red flags and taking necessary precautions, researchers can safeguard their hard-earned money and maintain their academic reputation forever.

Impacts of Fake and Hijacked Journals

Fake journals are entirely fabricated entities, often created with the sole purpose of generating revenue by cheating people by collecting publication fees. They have fake websites, fake portals etc designed in such a way that it looks very authentic. Academicians become desperate and without checking for credibility, immediately pay the registration fees. Later after not getting any confirmation mail only do they realize that they have been cheated. 

Sometimes fake journals do exist but lack any editorial oversight, peer-review processes, or ethical standards. Hijacked journals, on the other hand, involve stealing the identity of legitimate journals, often through domain name spoofing or unauthorized access to their websites. These hijacked journals may even publish fraudulent articles or articles from other journals, further damaging the reputation of the original publication.

Tactics used by fraudulent Journals

• Pop-up Invitations: Researchers may receive random invitations frequently urging them to submit their work to unfamiliar journals, often promising rapid publication, huge exposure, research grants or high impact factors.
• Aggressive Marketing: Predatory journals frequently employ aggressive marketing tactics creating a false sense of urgency which pushes any common man to react immediately in their favor. This can be in the form of spam emails and social media advertisements in various social media platforms like instagram, facebook etc. , to attract unsuspecting authors.
• Misinformation: These journals often provide misleading information about their editorial board and its board members, indexing activities, and impact factors which seems very attractive, creating a false sense of hope and authenticity.
• Very High Publication Fees: Predatory journals typically charge very high publication fees, often without providing any value-added services, such as professional editing, proofreading, content organization, manuscript writing, cover letter writing ,  or marketing.
• Lack of Rigorous Peer Review: The peer-review process is a very important step of academic publishing because it provides the critical comments which helps to improve the quality of the research paper. It is often absent or compromised in predatory journals which makes it useless and substandard.

How to find a Predatory Journal?

To protect themselves from falling victim to these scams, researchers should be vigilant and employ the following strategies or take the help of well experienced people from IFERP:

1. Verify Journal’s background: Look for a well-designed website with clear information without any suspicion or ambiguity about the editorial board, aims and scope, its previous publications and peer-review process. Verify if the journal is indexed in reputable databases like Scopus Journals, Web of Science, or PubMed which are like the most trusted databases in the field of academic research. Seek advice from experienced colleagues or mentors such as IFERP services who can provide insights into the journal’s reputation and standard.
2. Be cautious about random Invitations: Always be alert about random and suspicious invitations to submit your work creating a sense of urgency, especially if they come from unknown sources. Since it is your many years of hard work, don’t be in a hurry to submit your papers anywhere. Patience and thorough ground work is important. If you receive an invitation, independently research the journal’s reputation by taking as much time as you want and avoid making hasty decisions without being thoroughly convinced about the journal’s authenticity.
3. Evaluate the Journal’s Editorial Board: Ensure that the editorial board members are experts in the relevant field from multiple countries or reputed organizations and have a strong academic background. Confirm the affiliations of the editorial board members to avoid potential conflicts of interest between your field of work and their streams.
4. Inquire About the Review Process: Ask the journal about the specific steps involved in the peer-review process, including the number of reviewers and the timeline for reviews. If possible, request copies of the reviewer reports of previous publications to assess the quality of the review process. Because the peer-review process cannot be compromised at any cost.
5. Beware of high publication fees: Be cautious of journals that charge unusually high publication fees, especially if they do not offer value-added services. The main aim of fake journals is to cheat researchers and make money. Try to explore open-access journals that charge reasonable fees or sometimes offer free publications for researchers from low-income countries or poor family backgrounds.
6. Use Online Resources wisely to Identify Predatory Journals: Utilize online resources like the “Beall’s List” or the “Predatory Journals List” to identify known predatory journals which have been blacklisted by many countries. Organizations like the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) provide valuable guidance on ethical publishing practices and also have databases that list down the names of those journals that have been banned or blacklisted.

Additional Tips to Avoid Publication Fraud:

• Work with colleagues who share your commitment to academic integrity and can provide valuable feedback on your research or seek the help of professional services offered by institutes like IFERP.
• Focus on producing high-quality research rather than rushing to publish in questionable journals because this haste of researchers is what is utilized by scammers to make money.
• The academic publishing process can be time-consuming, but it is essential to be patient and persistent in your efforts. Consistency is the key. Do proper ground work to find a reputable journal for your work.
• If you encounter any suspicious activities or suspect a journal of predatory practices, report your concerns to relevant authorities or organizations so that many people can be benefitted from your help.

By following these guidelines or taking the help of IFERP author services, researchers can significantly reduce their risk of falling victim to the scammers or frauds who try to easily steal the years of hard work of many researchers and academicians.