AMMAN — Numerous Jordanian researchers and
professors from various local universities have warned
researchers to
diligently check the entities that they communicate with when it comes to
publishing their latest academic work through scholarly scientific journals to
avoid cases of fraudulent publishing.
اضافة اعلان
A professor from a private Jordanian
university, who declined to be named, told
Jordan
News that these scammers “are highly professional … What they do is they
pretend to be authentic scientific journals, by stealing logos for example, and
they ask the researchers to send them money in exchange for publishing their
work,” he stated.
The professor elaborated that the researchers
would then be notified that the address they sent the money to was invalid and
that they needed to resend it. When the researchers ask for their money back to
send the paper to a new address, the scammers become unresponsive, and the
money is never reimbursed; “hence it is an act of theft, and the article is
sometimes is never published.”
Dean of Scientific Research and Graduate
Studies at
Yarmouk University Ayman Hammoudeh clarified precisely how the
scamming occurs through fake entities posing as authentic journals for higher
education.
Hammoudeh told
Jordan News that most professors and researchers working for
Jordanian universities must have their latest research published through two
particularly trusted databases that compile authentic scientific journals that
publish new research, particularly the databases known as Scopus and Clarivate Analytics.
“The promotion of our professors in Jordan
largely depends on their capacity to procure a reputable database like Scopus as the selected database that
will publish their latest research. Their monetary incentives are much greater
if they are able to publish their work through Scopus, making this
database particularly pursued by Jordanian scholars,” he said.
According to Hammoudeh, the act of fraud
occurs when an exploitative for-profit organization that masquerades as an
authentic journal offers researchers to publish their work through Scopus in exchange for a fee. Jordanian researchers that knowingly engage
with these scammers to publish their works could be subject to legal penalties.
Researchers who don’t know that they are being scammed, will most likely be
exempt from legal consequences.
He also noted that: “Scientific journals
wishing to publish any researcher’s work through Scopus will have their
work rigorously evaluated and checked by Scopus
to ensure that all professional standards are met. Scopus is deemed to be
the most respected database to publish one’s work on, according to a vast
majority of higher education institutions in Jordan.”
An unignorable factor to this issue, in
Hammoudeh’s view, is the overreliance on middlemen that offer to connect the
researcher to a legitimate scholarly journal, who would then supposedly publish
their work.
“While some middlemen are honest and
trustworthy, a good portion of them are fraudulent individuals that mustn’t be
trusted. That’s why it is highly advisable, in my opinion, for scholars to
avoid these middlemen in general.”
Hammoudeh remarked that it is crucial that
individual researchers directly contact the journal that they wish to
collaborate with to get their work published, as a means of preventing cases of
fraud. “By directly engaging with the journal, researchers gain a more in-depth
understanding about the true nature of those that they are communicating with,”
he added.
Tayseer Abu Arja from the
University of Petra,
told
Jordan News that it was of
paramount importance for all researchers in Jordan to try avoiding the use of
social media platforms as a medium to select appropriate scientific journals
when attempting to publish new research.
“Most of our universities in Jordan recommend
using more trusted channels, beyond social media, to find respectable journals
for publishing, and this is what should be done to prevent future cases.”
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