Predatory Invitations from Journals: More Than Just a Nuisance?

Mark Clemons; Miguel de Costa E Silva; Anil Abraham Joy; Kelly D Cobey; Sasha Mazzarello; Carol Stober; Brian Hutton

doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2016-0371

Predatory Invitations from Journals: More Than Just a Nuisance?

Oncologist. 2017 Feb;22(2):236-240. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2016-0371. Epub 2017 Feb 10.

Authors

Mark Clemons^{1

2

3

4}, Miguel de Costa E Silva⁴, Anil Abraham Joy^{5

6}, Kelly D Cobey^{7

8

9}, Sasha Mazzarello⁴, Carol Stober⁴, Brian Hutton^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ School of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Preventative Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada mclemons@toh.on.ca.
² Division of Medical Oncology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³ Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴ Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵ Department of Oncology.
⁶ Division of Medical Oncology, University of Alberta, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Canada.
⁷ School of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Preventative Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁸ Clinical Epidemiology Program, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁹ Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.

Abstract

Physicians and academic researchers are frequently targeted with spam invitations to submit manuscripts to predatory journals. This study was conducted to understand the nature and characteristics of these invitations. All spam e-mails received by an academic medical oncologist over a 3-month period were collected and categorized. Presumed predatory journal invitations were analyzed and cross-checked against Beall's list of "potential, probable, or possible predatory" journals and publishers. Invitations to submit to predatory journals were the most common single type of spam received. The Oncologist 2017;22:236-240.

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Electronic Mail / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Journalism, Medical*
Publishing