Last year, we explored an unsettling incident involving Walsh Medical Media, where a scholar faced a fee to withdraw a paper he never authored. This year, similar stories continue to emerge.
Laertis Ikonomou, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo, found his name listed as an author on a commentary he had never seen. After discovering this in September, he requested the journal remove his name. Instead of complying, the journal suggested he pay a fee for the withdrawal. Eventually, they changed the author name to someone else.
Walsh Medical Media operates 77 journals, claiming to be a leader in open access publishing. However, concerns have surfaced about the integrity of their practices. For instance, Graham Kendall from MILA University recently pointed out potential ties between Walsh Medical Media and OMICS, a publisher that was fined $50 million by the U.S. government for deceptive practices in 2019.
Interestingly, the Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis, where Ikonomou’s name appeared, boasts an impact factor of 3.02 but is not indexed by major databases like Clarivate’s Web of Science. This raises questions about its credibility. In fact, the journal has been flagged in Cabells’ Predatory Reports due to issues related to peer review and integrity.
Ikonomou’s initial email to the journal asked how such a submission was accepted, especially considering the submission was made with a fake email address. The response he received indicated that he would need to pay between 400 and 499 Euros to have the article removed—a puzzling demand given the circumstances.
Rui Amaral Mendes, one of the journal’s co-editors, stated that his name was used without his consent. He had previously tried to have his name removed from the editorial team but reported that the journal never responded.
The latest author listed on the problematic paper is Teresa Partmans from Hospital del Mar Research Institute in Barcelona. However, there appears to be no record of her at that institution, which raises more doubts about the journal’s integrity.
Ikonomou suggested this could be part of a broader trend of name misuse by predatory publishers. As the academic community grapples with these issues, raising awareness and promoting transparency in publishing remains vital. For further insights into academic publishing challenges, the Journal of Scholarly Publishing provides valuable resources.
In a world where scholarly integrity is crucial, incidents like these highlight the need for vigilance. As researchers strive to maintain quality and authenticity, understanding the publishing landscape becomes more critical than ever.
For more information about predatory publishing practices, check out Cabells’ Predatory Reports and how to navigate these challenges.
