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Journal Scam Targets Top Science Publishers (retractionwatch.com)

(Friday November 29, 2024 @11:01AM (msmash) from the new-pains dept.)


Major academic publishers including Elsevier and Springer Nature are [1]grappling with a sophisticated new journal hijacking scam that precisely mimics their websites to deceive researchers.

The fraudulent operation, reported by Retraction Watch, has cloned at least 13 legitimate journals through fake domains, according to Crossref data. The scam, the publication reports, features high-quality website clones that replicate even cookie consent popups. The operation assigns its own DOI prefix to published papers and offers paper-writing and peer review services typical of paper mills.



[1] https://retractionwatch.com/2024/11/25/exclusive-new-hijacking-scam-targets-elsevier-springer-nature-and-other-major-publishers/


It's their own fault. (Score:1)

by J. L. Tympanum ( 39265 )

They have only themselves to blame. Their ridiculously high prices literally invite this kind of stuff.

Spams and Scams (Score:2)

by Roger W Moore ( 538166 )

I regularly get scams sometimes asking me to submit to journals but mainly to attend scam conferences. What I do not understand is how these scams flourish. I would never determine a journal to publish in because of an email advertizing it. In some way though Nature and other publishers opened the door to this by agressively advertizing their journals a few years ago that started to normalize getting emails from publishers hoping to persuade you to publish in their journal. My best advice is to ignore any e

Re: (Score:2)

by godrik ( 1287354 )

Oh, it is very easy to understand. You would not fall for that because you (if googling your login point to the right person) have been doing research for 30 years.

There are many universities which at this point require students (PhD, but also some MS) to have published papers to graduate. So if you are a not too bright student, you might be tempted to pay for publications in these venues. If no ones pays too much attention, it will appear legitimate enough, you'll graduate and move on with your life.

There

The doctrine of human equality reposes on this: that there is no man
really clever who has not found that he is stupid.
-- Gilbert K. Chesterson