Withdrawal of accepted manuscript from predatory journal
Case number:
16-22
Case text (Anonymised)
Our journal has been contacted by an author who would like to
submit a review article. The author responded to a request for an
invited review from a predatory journal without realizing it was a
predatory journal. The author submitted the article only to receive an
unexpected invoice and clear evidence of no peer review. The author
investigated the journal and then realized the predatory nature of this
journal.
To remove the submitted manuscript from this journal, the author
communicated via email, phone and certified letter, and also contacted
members of the editorial board, but has received no return
communication. Periodically, the manuscript has disappeared from the
journal’s website, only to reappear in a later issue. The author never
signed a copyright agreement and never paid the journal to publish the
article. The author would like to have the manuscript published in a
legitimate journal but does not wish to be guilty of duplicate
publication.
As the former editor-in-chief of the journal, the only advice I could
offer was to contact the present editor-in-chief of the legitimate
journal to which the author wishes to submit the manuscript, explain the
situation and see what advice is given. If accepted and published, a
statement could be included that this is the only valid version of the
paper.
Question(s) for the COPE Forum
• What advice can be given to the author about submitting the
manuscript to a legitimate journal without the author being guilty of
duplicate publication?
submit a review article. The author responded to a request for an
invited review from a predatory journal without realizing it was a
predatory journal. The author submitted the article only to receive an
unexpected invoice and clear evidence of no peer review. The author
investigated the journal and then realized the predatory nature of this
journal.
To remove the submitted manuscript from this journal, the author
communicated via email, phone and certified letter, and also contacted
members of the editorial board, but has received no return
communication. Periodically, the manuscript has disappeared from the
journal’s website, only to reappear in a later issue. The author never
signed a copyright agreement and never paid the journal to publish the
article. The author would like to have the manuscript published in a
legitimate journal but does not wish to be guilty of duplicate
publication.
As the former editor-in-chief of the journal, the only advice I could
offer was to contact the present editor-in-chief of the legitimate
journal to which the author wishes to submit the manuscript, explain the
situation and see what advice is given. If accepted and published, a
statement could be included that this is the only valid version of the
paper.
Question(s) for the COPE Forum
• What advice can be given to the author about submitting the
manuscript to a legitimate journal without the author being guilty of
duplicate publication?
Advice:
The
Forum agreed with the advice of the former editor-in-chief. As there
was no copyright transfer, the paper could be published in the
legitimate journal, ideally with an editorial note on the paper
explaining what has happened. Otherwise, the author may have to write
off this paper to experience and lessons learned.
The Forum noted that this case highlights the importance of the Think.Check.Submit. initiative, which provides tools to help researchers identify trusted journals for their research.
Another suggestion was to threaten legal action—the predatory journal may back down if legal action is threatened.
Forum agreed with the advice of the former editor-in-chief. As there
was no copyright transfer, the paper could be published in the
legitimate journal, ideally with an editorial note on the paper
explaining what has happened. Otherwise, the author may have to write
off this paper to experience and lessons learned.
The Forum noted that this case highlights the importance of the Think.Check.Submit. initiative, which provides tools to help researchers identify trusted journals for their research.
Another suggestion was to threaten legal action—the predatory journal may back down if legal action is threatened.
Follow up:
The
editor conveyed the Forum’s advice to the author. She sent another
letter via certified mail to the predatory journal, but it was returned
unopened (as no one was present at the address to accept the letter).
She did not threaten legal action because her university’s legal counsel
would not endorse that approach and she was unable to obtain a response
from anyone at the journal via phone, email or certified letter in
order to communicate that threat effectively. However, she then sent a
message to the publisher of the predatory journal: “Immediately remove
my article from your website. If you do not do so immediately, I will
take legal action. I will also lodge a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission, which is already taking you to court”. The publisher
responded by asking her for the article title and associated journal.
The author provided this information and indicated she would proceed
with legal action if the article was not removed from the journal’s
website by a given date. She will now proceed with submission to a
legitimate journal, and the editor of the legitimate journal is
comfortable that duplicate publication is no longer a problem.
editor conveyed the Forum’s advice to the author. She sent another
letter via certified mail to the predatory journal, but it was returned
unopened (as no one was present at the address to accept the letter).
She did not threaten legal action because her university’s legal counsel
would not endorse that approach and she was unable to obtain a response
from anyone at the journal via phone, email or certified letter in
order to communicate that threat effectively. However, she then sent a
message to the publisher of the predatory journal: “Immediately remove
my article from your website. If you do not do so immediately, I will
take legal action. I will also lodge a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission, which is already taking you to court”. The publisher
responded by asking her for the article title and associated journal.
The author provided this information and indicated she would proceed
with legal action if the article was not removed from the journal’s
website by a given date. She will now proceed with submission to a
legitimate journal, and the editor of the legitimate journal is
comfortable that duplicate publication is no longer a problem.
Resolution:
Case Closed
Year:
Classifications:
Withdrawal of accepted manuscript from predatory journal | Committee on Publication Ethics: COPE
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