Removing the veil

By Ruth Carol, Contributing Writer, July 1, 2024

Few things impact a physician’s career more than speaking at prestigious conferences or getting published in renowned medical journals. But what if these opportunities are not as described? Even seasoned physicians can find it hard to distinguish predatory medical meetings and journals from legitimate ones.

Given how lucrative these scams are, it’s likely that requests to speak at a predatory conference or submit a manuscript for a predatory journal will continue to flood your email inbox for some time to come. Learning how to identify these fraudulent opportunities will keep you from being taken in.

Predatory conferences are not fake because some of them do take place. When they do occur, however, the number of presentations is limited, the presenters are not as esteemed as advertised, and the networking opportunities are nil. Often, these conferences lack scientific and editorial integrity, are poorly organized, and are combined to cover a wide range of topics.

Predatory journals offer a quick turnaround, claim to have a robust peer-review process and distinguished individuals serving on their editorial board, and boast a high impact factor (used to measure a journal’s importance), all of which are untrue. These publishers also lack transparency upfront about the costly article processing charge (APC) they levy once a manuscript is accepted.

They are everywhere.

Unfortunately, predatory conferences and journals reportedly now outnumber legitimate meetings and publications.

According to a two-year study published in 2022 by InterAcademy Partnership — a global network of 140+ science, engineering, and medical academies — of more than 1,800 researchers working in 112 countries who were surveyed anonymously, 80% reported that predatory journals and conferences either were already a serious problem in their country or were becoming one.

An estimated 30,000 medical journals are published around the world, more than 16,000 of which are predatory journals, according to Cabells’ Predatory Reports. Even more worrisome, predatory journals have been identified in such indexes as PubMed, PubMed Central, MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Web of Science. Forty-one predatory journals were hijacked in Scopus, reports a 2023 study published in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. Hijacked journals refer to fraudulent publishers who clone the title and International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) of legitimate, peer-reviewed journals, register expired internet domains, or create fake websites mimicking authentic journals, explained Lara Graf, MS, the Academy’s director of medical journals publishing.

Factors contributing to their growth

Predatory journals exploited the open access movement that was launched in the early 2000s. This new publishing model ensured widespread access to pioneering research across the global scientific community, noted Jane Grant-Kels, MD, FAAD, deputy editor of JAAD. On the flip side, it allowed predatory journals to proliferate. Instead of relying on subscription fees from readers, open access journals charge APCs to cover publication costs. Reputable OA academic publishers also charge APCs, but the difference is that they have a peer-review process, copyright policies, and article archives.

“Predatory journals existed prior to the growth of open access, but the sheer volume of online-only journals that create very credible-looking websites and manipulate indexing databases has contributed to this issue,” Graf stated.

Predatory conferences followed the same path to success as predatory journals. It doesn’t help that many of the organizers of predatory conferences operate outside of the United States, making it nearly impossible to trace or track them, stated Tim Moses, the AAD’s senior director of meetings and conventions. “The Academy attempted to do this so many years ago when this was just becoming an issue, and even then, it was extremely difficult to locate these perpetrators, let alone be able to bring any legal action against them,” he added.

Lucrative scams

Both predatory conferences and journals are big business. The organizers of these conferences make their money from the exorbitant registration fees they charge and hotel packages they sell. The organizers target organizations with large memberships, Moses noted.

An estimated $393 million has been paid in APCs to predatory publishers, resulting in nearly 800,000 articles as of 2021. And that number is believed to be on the rise. “They keep popping up, so that tells me there’s big money to be made,” noted Brett Sloan, MD, FAAD, editor emeritus of JAAD Case Reports.

Indicative of just how profitable predatory conferences and journals are, in 2019 the OMICS Group, Inc. was ordered to pay more than $50 million to resolve charges filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for deceptive practices. OMICS and its two sister companies were involved in both promoting academic conferences and publishing journals, which they count at more than 700.

Why it matters

While the driving force behind the scammers is money, they ultimately weaken the validity of medical research on a global scale. Academic and professional conferences provide an opportunity to share cutting-edge research findings, disseminate important new information, and build networks with peers and potential collaborators. None of this occurs at a predatory meeting where unvetted or fraudulent research is presented. When predatory conference organizers misrepresent legitimate associations as part their fraudulent scheme, it could damage the association’s reputation as well, Moses added.

“Putting out unvetted research is not good science,” Dr. Grant-Kels stated. These articles may be cited in other publications, further spreading untrustworthy information. Readers might think the information was vetted and use it to treat their patients. Because anyone can read articles in open access journals, patients could be given inaccurate information or false hope.

Because some predatory journals don’t allow researchers to withdraw their article and getting a published article retracted often requires a legal battle, potentially solid research is being diverted from legitimate scientific publications, Graf noted. “It’s a disservice to authors and readers that there are so many journals that dilute the publication of good science,” she added.

Predatory meeting organizers’ modus operandi

Organizers of predatory meetings send unsolicited email invitations in which they excessively praise the researcher’s latest published work, using flattering language that is often filled with grammatical errors, according to a recent systematic review published in BMJ Open. Anyone who pays to attend can become a speaker. Presenters are typically required to pay for their own travel and accommodation, and there are often surprise, last-minute fees.

They create bogus internet domains and websites complete with photos and bio sketches of presenters, most of whom have not agreed to speak at the fictitious event, Moses said. They often reference a legitimate association to align with and build their credibility. They do this by using various forms of an organization’s name and/or acronym on their website, he explained. The name of their meeting is very similar to a well-known conference.

Tell-tale signs of a bogus website include typos, grammatical errors, and fuzzy or manipulated logos and artwork. The webpages focus on the online registration and housing process while limiting information about the meeting content, he noted. They typically require large amounts of money upfront, either through registration or housing deposits. Many of these organizers misrepresent themselves as offering these services “on behalf of the association.” Unfortunately, these meeting imposters have become much more sophisticated over the years, and it has become increasingly difficult to identify a bogus meeting website, added Moses. As an example, some fraudulent organizers illegally lift the legitimate organization’s logos and meeting materials to post on their own website, he said.

“The Academy encounters several of these perpetrators annually, either by locating them ourselves or by our registration and housing contractor, members, or exhibitors bringing them to our attention,” Moses said. Some members and exhibitors have been deceived by these fraudulent organizations, paying money to attend or exhibit at a non-existent event.

Weeding out sham meetings

An invitation to speak should come directly from an association, Moses said. If unsure of its origin, reach out to the association directly via a trusted web address or phone number found in association communications.

Dr. Sloan receives numerous invitations to speak at conferences. When the conference isn’t related to dermatology, that’s a red flag for him. Similarly, Dr. Grant-Kels receives multiple requests to present at meetings. “If I haven’t heard of the meeting or it’s not a friend emailing me, I just delete it,” she said. “The more prestigious the meeting, the less likely they will pay you, but some will pay for your hotel and travel,” she said. Not doing so or asking for a significant amount of money would set off a red flag.

Dr. Grant-Kels also recommends researching the meeting organizer online. Has this group organized other legitimate conferences in the past or is it associated with other predatory conferences? Explore the event website. Is it affiliated with a reputable institution, or academic or professional organization? Pay attention to the sponsor. Is it a known academic institution, professional organization, or dermatology pharmaceutical company? Contact the organizer. Is the organizer open or hesitant to answer questions about its peer-review process, meeting agenda, and venue? Check the website Think. Check. Attend. — a site that aims to help researchers judge the legitimacy and academic credentials of conferences.

Predatory journals are relentless.

Fraudulent publishers solicit authors and editorial board members exclusively through email. Their grammar is poor, but oh so flattering. The journal has a similar name to an established, reputable journal. Information about APCs, editorial policies, and the peer-review process (other than to say it is quick) are not clearly stated in the email or on the website. Often, APCs aren’t mentioned at all. The only form of contact is through email; still, communication is extremely difficult. In some cases, contact ends abruptly once the author fee has been paid.

Predatory journal publishers often target early-career physicians, perhaps because they are not yet familiar with society-run journals or well-known publishers in their field, Graf said. “If you are young or hungry and want to get your name out there, you might fall prey to them,” Dr. Grant-Kels said. Scientists in developing countries are another target, the majority of whom unknowingly publish in these journals, she added. That said, these publishers have become so sophisticated and their offers so appealing that even seasoned physicians may be fooled, Graf added.

Sylvia Hsu, MD, FAAD, is one of them. A few years ago, Dr. Hsu was asked to be the editor of a journal issue on bullous diseases, an area in which she specializes. She was told that it wouldn’t cost her anything to publish. The publisher agreed to her request to work with a co-editor but then kept changing the rules. First, Dr. Hsu was told she had to submit 10 articles. Then she was told she could write only one or two articles and must solicit other individuals to write the remaining articles. Dr. Hsu thought she could ask medical students and residents to write many of the articles as they are always looking for projects. “They were guaranteed to be published because I was the editor,” she said. When Dr. Hsu provided topics and the author list, she was told that the other authors must have at least 50 hits on PubMed. She was upset as she could not help the students and residents, but she found other researchers who agreed to write the articles.

“Her co-editor bargained the publisher down to $6,000. 'If it was just us, we would have said forget it, and taken our articles to another journal,' she said. 'But now we had all these other people involved.'”

Six months later when all the manuscripts were submitted, the publisher told Dr. Hsu that it would cost $17,000 to publish the issue. Dr. Hsu complained that she never would have agreed to those terms. Her co-editor bargained the publisher down to $6,000. “If it was just us, we would have said ‘forget it,’ and taken our articles to another journal,” she said. “But now we had all these other people involved.” Not wanting to disappoint the others, they paid to publish the issue. Dr. Hsu recalls it was very frustrating because her only means of communication was email; she couldn’t talk to anyone. Without a contract, Dr. Hsu had no recourse. She later discovered that the journal was based in a different country. “How do you sue someone on a different continent?” she asked.

When Dr. Hsu was recently approached to serve as the editor of a special journal issue, she asked how much it would cost. After hearing the $3,500 price tag, she declined. “At this point in my career, I don’t need to pay to publish an article in a journal that nobody is going to read,” Dr. Hsu said.

Every time Dr. Sloan publishes an article, his inbox is flooded with emails from predatory journal publishers. “I publish a lot and because I’m often the corresponding author, they have my email address,” he said. “Anybody who publishes I’m sure gets inundated with these emails,” he added. “If I don’t recognize the person sending the email, I delete it.” Dermatology is such a small field that most people, at least those in academia, know the reputable journals.

Dr. Sloan estimates that he receives hundreds of emails weekly from journal publishers. When this first started happening about eight years ago, he was flattered that so many publishers asked him to serve on their editorial board. After a Google search, he was baffled as to why because many of the journals were not about dermatology.

Like Dr. Sloan, Dr. Grant-Kels receives multiple emails daily asking her to write articles. “The sad thing is maybe some of these are not predatory, but if I don’t know the journal, I delete it. I can get my work into known journals that have a good reputation,” she said. The librarian at her institution recently contacted Dr. Grant-Kels when she saw the doctor’s name on the editorial board of a predatory journal. “I don’t know how my name got there, but I immediately contacted the journal and had my name removed,” she said. Since then, Dr. Grant-Kels has notified colleagues who have unknowingly had the same thing happen to them.

Staying clear of predatory journals

Research is key to determining whether a journal is predatory or legitimate, Dr. Sloan stressed. Start by asking colleagues and looking up its website. Poor spelling and grammar signify a low professional standard.

Make sure there is a clear explanation of the journals’ APCs, manuscript submission process, peer-review process, and publication agreement on the website. If a journal requests a submission fee before the article is accepted, that’s a red flag. If it promises a quick turnaround, dig deeper to make sure it has a viable peer-review process, Dr. Grant-Kels noted. Does the journal have an ISSN or Digital Object Identifier, or DOI? It should if it’s legitimate, she said. Because some predatory journals have snuck into index databases, she suggested calling the medical university’s librarian for verification.

Check who serves on the journal’s editorial board, Dr. Sloan suggested. This can be tricky because the publisher could create fake researchers or list real ones without their permission. Check their professional online profiles on their listed institution page, LinkedIn, or Research Gate. If they don’t mention the journal, reconsider.

Confirm the journal’s contact information. Does it match the advertised nationality of the journal? Often, fraudulent journal publishers state that their offices are in one country, but their contact information is in another. In other cases, their addresses are private residences, fictional locations, or the priciest real estate in big cities.

Read through past issues of the journal. Are they missing or listed as coming soon? Does it have articles about orthopedic surgery when it’s supposed to be focused on dermatology?

Look up the journal’s impact factor, Dr. Hsu recommended. It can be verified at Journal Citations Reports or Scopus.

Check if the journal is a member of the Directory of Open Access Journals; Committee on Publication Ethics; Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association; or International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers. These organizations, which promote ethical practices in scholarly publishing worldwide, post reliable, vetted white lists, Graf noted. Well-known blogs that act as publishing watch dogs include Retraction Watch and Publishing with Integrity. Retraction Watch maintains a database of hijacked titles, and regularly reports retractions and other publishing ethics issues via its blog and social media. Cabells Scholarly Analytics offers a subscription-based white list. Think. Check. Submit. provides a simple checklist for authors to assess the integrity and reliability of a journal before submitting their work.

When it comes to predatory conferences and journals, Dr. Grant-Kels is reminded of the adage: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Additional DermWorld Resources