Anna Abalkina and Retraction Watch have begun tracking scientific journals which show signs of having been hijacked by frauds, mountebanks and whatnot: The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker. Sometimes this is crudely accomplished by displacement, through replicas and confusingly-similar names, but there are examples of shady publishers buying a real journal and turning it inside-out.
Tracking these journals is no mean feat but knowing which journals may have been hijacked is vital to the world of publishing integrity. Anna Abalkina became involved in the process when she and her colleagues, investigating allegations of plagiarism, came across several titles including the Journal of Talent Development and Excellence, which drastically increased its indexing of papers in Scopus in 2020, and Waffen-und Kostümkunde, a journal which cited a paper on psychology absolutely unrelated to the weapons and costume specialization of the journal. Abalkina then began analyzing these journal archives and found overlaps with other apparently hijacked journals, devoting huge swaths of time locating and cross-checking the validity of journals suspected of hijacking or of being hijacked.
In partnership with Retraction Watch, Abalkina created the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker. This resource is dynamic; more journals will be added as their hijacked status are uncovered. That means it requires ongoing resources, and we hope that you will consider supporting the effort by making a U.S. tax-deductible donation using Square or by sending a check made out to The Center For Scientific Integrity, with "Checker" in the memo field, and sent to 121 W. 36th St., Suite 209, New York, NY 10018.
There are already 306 on the list! Evokes an Onion item headlined "Social Text: Well, Well, Well, Not So Easy To Find A Journal That Doesn't Suck Shit, Huh"
