Hijacked Journals Masking as Elsevier, Springer, and AMA Titles

A news litem hot off the press from Retraction Watch, Exclusive: New hijacking scam targets Elsevier, Springer Nature, and other major publishers, highlights an ongoing problem in scholarly publishing.

“The company will most likely offer to publish papers in legitimate and reputable journals, but submitted papers will instead appear on cloned versions of the websites. This new scam represents high-quality fraudulent websites, with a remarkable resemblance to legitimate ones, capable of deceiving even experienced researchers. Be aware!”

Scammers looking to make a quick buck create counterfeit websites of legitimate scholarly journals. They then solicit manuscript submissions and walk away with the authors’ money. Unfortunately, we are seeing it happen to frequently used journals in our library holdings. When finding journal articles, if something sees off, reach out for us to assist in verifying its authenticity at hsl@geisinger.edu.

Journals affected at this time include:

• Ophthalmology
• Women’s Health Issues
• The Surgeon
• JAMA Ophthalmology
• Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
• Clinical Psychology Review
• American Journal of Public Health
• American Journal of Ophthalmology