My log of ‘journal’/‘conference’ spam (2017+)

Comments: a bizarre spam inviting me to be an Editorial Board member for a ‘journal’ on a subject I have absolutely no expertise in at all.

This is a follow up to a previous spam invitation sent at the end of 2016. The first invitation was to be a ‘Righteous Editor’, whereas this one was to be an ‘Honorable Editor’... I'm not sure whether ‘Righteous’ > ‘Honorable’ or not?

Complaint sent to Inmotionhosting. I'd already complained to them about the illegal spam sent to me at the end of 2016, but that did not put a stop to the abuse of spam from this ‘journal’. This time I got a prompt reply saying ‘we have investigated and resolved the issue concerning your complaint’, so I will wait and see if spamming from this source has been stopped.

Update: I do get further spam from Medwin Publishers (see also #85, #116).

Comments: yet another spam from this publisher, who sent me many similar spams in 2016.

This includes the incoherent solicitation

‘With pleasure to introduce SKIREC is one of the registered firm for publication of Research Papers…’

Complaint sent to google. I've already complained to them many times in 2016 about similar illegal spam sent to me from various @gejournal.net addresses via google groups mailing lists. But still this abuse continues.

Later I get many other spams from @gejournal.net addresses via google groups mailing lists, sometimes for SKIREC ‘journals’, sometimes for other sets of ‘journals’ (see #91, #92, #93, #94, #95, #96, #101, #102, #103, #104, #126, #127, #128, #129, #137, #138, #153, #154, #155, #155, #168, #169, #170, #171, #172, #173, #186, #187, #188, #189, #190, #191, #197, #198, #199, #200, #201, #202, #207, #208, #209, #210, #211, #212).

Comments: I think this is a new spammer. I've seen a lot of spam for various ‘International Journal of...’s, but this is a new one on me, ‘Invention Journal of...’!

This comes from the Editor-in-Chief, who is nameless in the spam.

Complaint sent to Microsoft. Update Jan 6th: positive response from Microsoft, that ‘We checked into it and found that it violated the Microsoft Services Agreement ... The email account has been suspended.’ However, I get another spam later for this journal (see #60, #71), again send via Microsoft.

Comments: spams sent from a nameless ‘Editor in Chief’ for these two ‘journal’s.

Bizarrely this spam, and the websites, associate these two ‘journal’s with a ‘Thomson Reuters ResearcherID’ -- such IDs are for individual researchers, not journals.

See also #107, #108, #109, #177.

Complaint sent to secureserver.

Comments: spam from a publisher who has spammed me before. The email uses redirection URLs, not their actual website, and comes from a nameless ‘Editorial Board’. The http://www.questjournals.org/ website does not provide a specific address. The whois for this domain shows it is India, for one Chetan Sharma, which makes sense given the payment webpage, which has an option for Indian authors, in Rupees, and another option for other countries. Others have provided a list of many other journals they say Chetan Sharma is responsible for (see also #11, #12, #25).

The homepage for this publisher has the amazing claim that ‘Quest Journals are focused on quick & fast high-level peer review process on behalf of some of the world’s most prestigious societies for over a century.' Wow, over a century is quite a claim. And for which ‘prestigious societies’?

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: spam from a medical publisher who claims to be based in the US (although others have suggested it is actually based in India).

Complaint sent to secureserver.

Comments: this is, I think, the first spam I've had for this particular ‘journal’. Although it is entitled ‘European Journal’... it is actually based in India!

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: I've had many spams previously from these ‘journal’s (from ISOR, ‘International Organization of Scientific Research’), but this is the first of the year (see also #61, #90, #110). This one from a nameless ‘Director General’. According to whois for the website, Chetan Sharma is also responsible for these dodgy ‘journal’s (see #8).

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: first of the year from these spammers, who sent several spams to me in 2016 for this ‘journal’ (all from various yahoo.com addresses).

These pair of spams is for a ‘journal’ that is published by the ‘American Research Institute for Policy Development’ (ARIPD). Curiously its website domain, aripd.org, is registered in the name of Mainul Islam in Bangladesh (as is the ‘journal’ domain). Doesn't look very ‘American’ to me!

On the website for this ‘journal’, the ‘Current Issue’ is from 2015 (Volume 3, Issue 2), with just 4 papers. The only other issue from 2015 has just 2 papers. Nothing from 2016.

This publisher has published an obviously fake/joke paper. The title of paper is ‘Robots No Longer Considered Harmful’, by ‘I.P. Freely, Oliver Clothesoff, Jacques Strap, Hugh Jazz and Amanda Huginkiss’! The full paper (in .pdf, with terrible formatting with random hyphens in the middle of lines, unembedded non-standard fonts, incoherent references), is available on the aripd.org website.

See also #13, #26, #27, #72, #73, #74, #75, #133, #134, #149, #150.

Complaint sent to yahoo, not that I expect this will put a stop to this abuse, since I complained to yahoo in 2016 about previous spams for this ‘journal’.

Comments: a new ‘journal’ spammer for me, as I don't think I've got an spam from this publisher before. The spam is advertising a new ‘journal’, with a publication fee of just US$99... whereas the usual publication fee for a research article is US$699. Wow!

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another email from a nameless Editor-in-Chief. From whois for the website domain, this is another ‘journal’ published by Chetan Sharma (see also #8).

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: spam for multiple ‘journals’ published by AARF ‘Associated with Green Earth Research Network, USA & Swedish Scientific Publications, Sweden’. I've had many spams from AARF in recent years. See also #31, #40, #41, #51, #67, #123, #124, #181, #194, #213, #218.

This spam states that authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection of submitted papers within 3 days. Wow!

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: I think this is the first spam I've had from this particular ‘journal’ (but see #23, #54 for a subsequent ones).

Bizarrely, although most of the URLs in the spam point to www.ijprajournal.com, one is to www.ijpera.com, which is a different ‘journal’... namely ‘International Journal of Precious Engineering Research and Applications (IJPERA)’. Precious!

Not at all clear who publishes this, as neither the spam nor the ‘journal’ website give details, and the domain registration obscures the owner's details.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: I used to get lots of spam from these publishers, although not last year. Now they are back to spamming me.

Complaint sent to singnet.com.sg, as this spam was sent from one of their IP addresses.

Comments: a spam similar to #17, including the same bizarre link to the ‘International Journal of Precious Engineering Research and Applications (IJPERA)’!

Another complaint sent to google, not that my previous complaint put a stop to the illegal spam from this ‘journal’.

Comments: first spam I've had this year for this ‘journal’, although I had many spams from them in the last year or more. The spam uses http://ow.ly/... in the spam, not that actual website address for the ‘journal’. The website is registered to Siva Ganesh Malla, and the (Indian) telephone number on the website is used for several other ‘journal’s.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: first spam from this particular ‘journal’. The spam, as is often the case, is from a nameless Editor-in-Chief. The ‘journal’ website has a contact form page, but does not give any specific contact details. The website domain is another one registered to Chetan Sharma (see #8).

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: a pair of spams for another ‘journal’ from the so called ‘American Research Institute for Policy Development’ (ARIPD), which actually is in Bangladesh given the journal website registration. See also #12 (and others).

Complaint sent to yahoo, not that my previous complaints to them have put a stop to the spams from ARIPD.

Comments: first spam from this ‘journal’, I think. The ‘journal’ website has a USA postal address, but the ‘journal’ website domain is registered in India, as is that for Cirworld (i.e. http://cirworld.com/) who publish this and several other ‘journals’.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another spam from AARF (see #16).

Yet another complaint sent to google, not that they seem to do anything at all to put a stop to these repeated spams.

Comments: another new ‘journal’. This is from an unnamed ‘Executive Editor’.

Complaint sent to mailjet.

Comments: another pair of spams from AARF. See also #16 etc.

Another complaint sent to google, not that previous complaints to them have had any affect, as AARF is still spamming me via google.

Comments: a new ‘journal’ spammer. Sent from an un-named Editor, but the website gives ‘Dr R. Joshi’ as the ‘Editor-in-Chief’. See also #118.

The spam has the incoherent statement that

‘The perception of the journal is to bequeath with an academic podium to researchers across the global to publish their original, innovative, pragmatic and high-quality research work.’

Complaint sent to contabo.de, from where the spam originated.

Comments: I've had spam from these ‘journals’ last year, but this is the first of this year from them.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: yet another spam from AARF (see also #16 etc).

Complaint sent to google, not that previous complaints to them have put a stop to spam from AARF.

Comments: yet another spam for this journal (see also #17).

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: another spam from this ‘journal’.

Complaint sent to Microsoft. A prompt response from Microsoft, saying ‘We checked into it and found that it violated the Microsoft Services Agreement ... The email account has been suspended.’ That is what they said about the earlier spam I got for this (see #4), yet I still got this spam, from another address.

Comments: another spam from IOSR (see also #11).

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: a new, incoherently entitled, ‘journal’. The spam says review reports will be provided within 3 days of paper submission. Wow! See also #86.

The spam comes from a nameless editorial board, but the website names Prasanjay Kumar as the Executive Editor, who is responsible for other spams for another ‘journal’ (see #4, and #60 from just a few days ago).

Another complaint sent to Microsoft. Again I'm told the account has been suspended.

Comments: more spams from AARF. See also #16, etc.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another spam from this ‘journal’. See also #4, and others.

Another complaint sent to Microsoft. Previous complaints have always had a positive response that ‘We checked into it and found that it violated the Microsoft Services Agreement ... The email account has been suspended.’ However, this abuse continues from different outlook or hotmail addresses.

Comments: more spams for this ‘journal’ from ARIPD. See also #12 and others.

Another complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: two more spams from an old spammer (ARIPD, see #12 and many others), but this time for a new ‘journal’.

Complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: yet another spam from this journal (see also #4 and others).

Another complaint sent to Microsoft.

Comments: two spams from a new ‘journal’ spammer. Yes, one of the journals named in the spam is given as ‘International Journal of Commerce and Low’!

They have a bizarre collection of journals: ‘… of Physical and Social Sciences’, two topics that do not go together; ‘… of Engineering, Science and Mathematics’ which covers a lot, but does not stop them having other engineering, science and mathematics journals. As I said, bizarre!

The spam contains links to both www.euroasiapub.org and www.ijmra.us. The former website contact page gives a gmail address, and lists postal addresses in various countries (including one not in Europe or Asia!). The only given telephone help line number is Indian. The latter website does not have any specific contact details, again only a gmail address. But the domain is registered in India. Hence I've concluded this is from India.

See also #3.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: first spam this year from ‘Isaac Scientific Publishing’, who have spammed me several times in recent years. See also #119, #160.

Complaint sent to versaweb.com, the ISP where the spam came from.

Comments: another spam from this ‘journal’ spammer, from a different email address, but still via google. See also #79 etc. This spam still lists one of their ‘journals’ as ‘… of Commerce and Low’!

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: another spam from Medwin Publishers (see #2).

Another complaint sent to Inmotionhosting.

Comments: another spam from this ‘journal’ (see also #65).

Another complaint sent to Microsoft.

Comments: another spam from IOSR for their ‘journals’. See also #11, etc.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: four similar spams sent to me today from various @gejournal.net addresses, all via google, for IJMR.

Previously spams from @gejournal.net addresses had been for another set of ‘journals’ (see #3). See also #183, #184.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another pair of spams from IJMRA, this time from a ‘Green Earth Research Network’ (see http://gejournal.net/) email address (see also #3, #16), rather than from the ‘Euro Asia Research and Development Association’ as previously (see #79 etc).

This spam has a rather different list of ‘journals’ than the previous spams from IJMRA. For example, the ‘Aryabhatta Journal of Mathematics & Informatics’ is no longer listed… although a ‘journal’ with this title was also listed as a ‘journal’ in spams from ‘International Journals Of Multi-Dimensional Research’ (IJMR) (see #91).

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: I think this is the first spam I've had for this ‘journal’… but not the last, see also #159.

Complaint sent to the Romanian ISP where the spam came from.

Comments: the first of 4 spams sent to me today for International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy (IJMRA) ‘journals’, all using google emailing lists that were recently used to advertise ‘journals’ from ‘International Journals Of Multi-Dimensional Research (IJMR)’ (see #91 etc). So, it looks like IJMRA and IJMR are are same outfit. See also #79 etc.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: a set of three spams pushing 3 ‘journals’ from Infogain Publication (see also #6, #7. All these websites list ORCID and/or ResearcherID identifiers (at least one in the name of ‘Sonal Gandhi’)… these IDs are for individual researchers, not for journals.

Also, these ‘publishers’ seem to have had problems with cut and paste when constructing their ‘journal’ websites, as the one for ‘International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Computers’ says:

‘We publish papers on a variety of topics, contexts and analysis strategies that examine the quickly evolving relationship between Agriculture and knowledge technology.’

Complaints sent to quadranet, where the spams came from.

Comments: another spam from IOSR see also #11 etc.

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: first spam from this publisher. Their website says they were first incorporated in New York State (USA), but the contact webpage gives an address in the United Arab Emirates, so it is not clear to me where they are actually based.

No only does this spam want me to submit an article to this ‘journal’, but also says they are seeking people to join as an editor. This is despite the fact that their website already lists 27 -- yes 27! -- members of the Editorial Board, in addition to an Editor in Chief, and one Regional Editor. One of the members of the Editorial Board is listed with:

‘Expertise: Gypsy/Travellers, Marginalised Groups, Seldom Heard Voices, Widening Participation, Diversity, Humanising Care, Phenomenology, Qualitative Research, Nurse Education, Nursing.’

Also, the website shows this journal has not been very active/successful, with the 5 most recent papers published on 2016 Nov 20, Apr 15, 2015 Nov, Oct 27 and Sep 22. Bizarrely the oldest of these is entitled ‘The Step of Kouros’, with an abstract of which starts with

‘The step of Kouros symbolizes a historical period of the Hellenic civilization, designating the decisive step of this civilization towards its geographical, social, cultural and noospheric expansion.’

See also #158 for subsequent spam from this publisher, for a different ‘journal’.

Complaint sent to UnifiedLayer.

Comments: another spam from Medwin Publishers, a second on for this particular journal (see #85).

Another complaint sent to Inmotionhosting.

Comments: another spam for this ‘journal’ (see also #44). Bizarrely the spam claims that this is a ‘Journal for All Subjects’.

Another complaint sent to contabo.de.

Comments: another spam from this ‘journal’. See also #83.

Complaint sent to psychz.net, the ISP where the spam came from.

Comments: a new ‘journal’ spammer.

Complaint sent to Microsoft. On this occasion I get a prompt response that says ‘We found it violated the Microsoft Services Agreement … The account is now suspended.’ So, I will see if I get any further spams from this journal via outlook.

Comments: I haven't had any spam for AARF for a while, but two spams today. See also #16 etc. This time that spams are sent via yahoo.com rather than google.com.

Complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: another batch 4 spams sent to me today for IJMRA ‘journals’. See also #79 etc.

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: two spams today for this ‘journal’. See also #12 etc.

Complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: another pair of spams sent to me today for IJMRA ‘journals’. See also #79 etc.

Another complaint sent to google, not that my previous dozen or so complaints have put a stop to this persistent spamming via google from various @gejournal.net addresses.

Comments: I think this is the first spam I've had from this ‘journal’ spammer. It is bizarre and incoherent, e.g.

‘Your time is my preference to confer about our Journal's concern.
…
For this instigate while I was in the process of framing the Board, I found your profile as a spark and I would like to have you on our Global Journal of Nanomedicine.’

The publisher's website lists a US postal address, but others have noted that in 2015 they had two postal addresses, one a US mail forwarding address, and the other in Dubai. So whether they are actually based in the USA is not clear to me.

The publisher's website also has the amazing statement that:

‘Juniper publishers have been established with the aim of spreading quality scientific information to the research community throughout the universe.’

Complaint sent to web.com, the ISP from where this spam was sent.

Comments: another new ‘journal’ sending me spam. They invite me (and others no doubt, since I was sent Bcc:) to be on the Editorial Board of this ‘journal’. Yet the ‘journal’ website already lists a remarkable 69 members of the Editorial Board (in addition to the Editor in Chief, Dr S.R. Boselin Prabhu, who seems to be responsible for this ‘journal’ and the spam).

Complaint sent to google.com.

Comments: a pair of spams from new ‘journal’ spammer. Their website give both UK and Indian postal addresses. The former address seems to be a forwarding address, but I think they are based in India. Half of the 24 ‘journals’ listed on their website are entitled ‘… An Indian Journal’, plus the publication fees are given in Indian Rupees for ‘Indian Authors’ and US Dollars for ‘Foreign Authors’.

They do seem rather desperate to get material for this ‘journal’, as the spam says, incoherently

‘We would be great if you can submit the Research, Review, Case reports, Short communication, Editorial, perspective, Image (or any kind of article) for our journal as it is required for our regular issue.’

On the website, the Editorial Board is listed with 52 members! The archive for this ‘journal’ has Volume 4 for 2016, with 10 papers … in 4 issues. Curiously Volume 2 appears to have 3 Issues, numbers 1, 3 and 4, with no Issue 2? Also, the .pdfs of earlier papers have the imprint of ‘Mehtapress’ (with website http://www.mehtapress.com/), not Trade Science Inc.

Also, the aims and objectives for this ‘journal’ give a comma separate list of subjects included, including ‘Extragalactic astronomy Stellar astronom’!

Complaint sent to Microsoft.

Comments: I've had many ‘conference’ spams from OMICS this year (see #20) etc.), but this is the first ‘journal’ spam from them.

Complaint sent to Microsoft.

Comments: yet another pair of spams for this ARIPD ‘journal’ (see #74).

Complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: it is a while since I've had any spams from these spammers (not since the 100 collateral spams), but they are back. This is another batch of four spams sent to me today… this time the spam only contains a .jpg, presumably to try to get around spam filters. See also #3 etc.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another spam this publisher, but for a different journal than last time (see #112), and sent from a via a different ISP.

Again, this Science Publications ‘journal’ does not appear to be very active/successful, with the 5 most recent papers published on 2016 Feb 15 (yes more than a year ago), 2015 Jul 6, Jun 15, Jun 4, 2014 Dec 6. So that is just 5 papers in the last two and half years or so!

Complaint sent to smtp.

Comments: second spam this year for this ‘journal’, see also #97.

Complaint sent to the Romanian ISP where the spam came from.

Comments: another spam from ‘Isaac Scientific Publishing’. See also #83 etc.

Complaint sent to psychz.net, the ISP where the spam came from.

Comments: another pair of spams from a new ‘journal’ spammer. The spam is from a nameless ‘Managing Editor’. The website is not informative about where this ‘Institute’ is actually based, nor does it gives any named officials of the ‘Institute’. But the website does give an Indian postal address.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another week, another batch of four spams from IJMRA. See also #3 etc.

Yet another complaint sent to google.

Comments: another pair of spams sent to me today for IJMRA ‘journals’, in addition to the previous 4 (see 168--172) sent today.

See also #3, #79 etc.

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: similar #6, #7. Again this spam, and the websites associate these Infogain Publication ‘journal’s with a ResearcherIDs, which are for individuals, not journals.

Complaint sent to secureserver.

Comments: yet another spam from AARF. See also #16 etc.

Another complaint sent to yahoo, not that my previous complaints to them have put a stop to spam from AARF via yahoo.

Comments: a pair of spams from IJMR (but this time not via @gejournal.net, see 91).

Really, it is not at all convincing that IJMR publish serious academic journals. The spams quote a ‘Thomson Reuters Researcher ID’ for their ‘journal’s, whereas ResearcherIDs are for individuals. And the Editorial Boards are ridiculous! For the ‘International Journal In Management & Social Science’, there are 178 – yes, 178! – names listed (although this number is inflated by the fact that several names are duplicated!).

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another batch of 6 spams from @gejournal.net email lists, this time advertising SKIREC ‘journals’ (see also #3).

Yet another complaint sent to google.

Comments: a shouty spam (mostly in CAPITALS) from a ‘journal’ spammer that is new to me. The website says

‘Launch of Next Issue:
Paper Submission: 20th June 2017
Author Notification: within 3 days from submission
Journal Publication: 27th June 2017’

Complaint sent to privatesystems.net, the ISP from where the spam was sent.

Comments: yet another spam from AARF, which still says ‘Notification to Authors (Acceptance/ Rejection): within 3 days of manuscript submission’. This is not consistent with serious peer review.

See also #16 etc.

Complaint sent to google.

Comments: another batch of 6 spams from @gejournal.net this time advertising EARDA ‘journals’ (see also #79), rather than SKIREC or IJMRA ‘journals’ (see #3 etc).

The website quotes a ‘Thomsonn Reuters Researcher ID’ (sic), which makes no sense, as ResearcherIDs are for individuals, not journals/publishers. It states that ‘All research work goes through a rigorous editorial process and review’. But it also says ‘The review period varies from a day to a week’, which is not consistent with serious review.

Yet another complaint sent to google.

Comments: I had many spams from this ‘journal’ last year, but this is the first of this year from them. Here OMICS are using the peerreviewedjournals.com domain to send the spam, and esciencecentral.org to host the ‘journal’.

Complaint sent to Microsoft.

Comments: today just 2 spams from @gejournal.net mailing lists, rather than the usual 6 copies (see also #3 etc). This time for one particular IJMRA ‘journal’, which is totally unfocussed, since it is seemingly for all of science, engineering and mathematics. This spam uses a different website than previously for the ‘journal’, which is still listed at http://www.ijmra.us/ … and also at http://gejournal.net/.

These spam emails are soliciting new members of their editorial board. How many people on their google group email list these spams were sent to I don't know.

‘It would be a matter of great honour for us to include the name of a person of your stature in our panel of “editors for IJESM.” In this connection, you are requested to give your kind consent for the same and encourage to your friends with respect to subject area of new Journals.’

Another complaint sent to google.

Comments: another day, and 4 more spams @gejournal.net (see also #3 etc).

The spam is bizarrely written. It gives one ‘journal’ (IJESM), and its website, then lists other ‘journal’s that have been advertised previously in spams from IJMRA … but with no websites given for them!

The IJESM website has a contact address of ‘IJMRA publication IJESM’ and these spams say ‘We “IJESM and SKIREC” inviting Quality Research Manuscripts to publish in July-2017’, so I have listed both IJMRA and SKIREC as the publishers.

Yet another complaint sent to google.

Comments: yet another spam from AARF. See also #16 etc.

Yet another complaint sent to yahoo.

Comments: another spam from AARF. See also #16 etc.

Another complaint sent to yahoo.