Landing : Athabascau University

Scam open access journals

There are a growing number of scam open access journals that for the 
most part use "gold open access" in which the author pays. And, as noted 
in the discussion, it is difficult for new scholars to discern the 
difference (and for more experienced faculty in many cases!).  Before 
submitting an article to any journals contributors should type the name 
in google and add "scam". For example: "Canadian Center for Arts and 
Sciences SCAM" and see what comes up. Then if it does not show up on any 
scam lists, they should consult a colleague in the field to make doubly 
sure. Note that I suspected a scam with the "Canadian Center" 
immediately because in Canada we normally spell it "Centre" not the US 
"Center". In any case it does appear on at least one scam list.
See:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/archplan-postgrad/ZBmEmyuodfs/kvYc1R7Kxp4J

See another list of scam journals:
http://scholarlyoa.com/

See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/health/for-scientists-an-exploding-world-of-pseudo-academia.html?pagewanted=all

This is unfortunate. I think that it is best to assume that if you have 
to pay, it is scam. Even legitimate commercial journals now offer "gold 
open access" in which the scholar pays to have the article in an open 
database. This too, in my opinion, is a scam.

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