The Scientist : NewsBlog Print: Elsevier gets spammed
The Scientist: NewsBlog:
Elsevier gets spammed
Posted by Alison McCook
[Entry posted at 8th January 2008 05:33 PM GMT]
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Anyone get an Email that looks like it's from Elsevier, asking for papers? Only, it's not really Elsevier, and you shouldn't click on any of the links.

The Email, entitled "Elsevier: Building insights; breaking boundaries" and signed by Peter Throwher (Prof.), asks researchers to submit manuscripts in "all fields of human Endeavor."

The message is quite bizarre in spots. "Papers submitted will be sorted out and published in any of our numerous journals that best fits. This is a special publication procedure which published works will be discussed at seminars (organized by Elsevier) at strategic cities all over the world. Please maximize this opportunity to showcase your research work to the world."

Apparently, it's an efficient operation - authors get an answer within one week, and all relevant papers go through peer review.

But don't send your money to Nigeria, don't give your social security number to an Email from Citibank saying it needs it, and don't send in your manuscripts to the Email address included in the message. On Elsevier's Web site, the publisher announces that it has nothing to do with the Email, and researchers should ignore the request for papers. "The title of the spam email is a 'Call for Papers' and it attempts to lead the responder to make a payment. If you receive an email like this claiming to be from Elsevier, please be advised that it is not. Elsevier is in no way involved with or related to the email or its sender, nor is the email address an official Elsevier address."

The publisher adds that it is working with law enforcement to "counter the spread and effectiveness of the spam."




 

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comment:
And what about the legitimacy of these which I recently received?
by Ellen Hunt

[Comment posted 2008-01-09 13:11:18]

I wondered about this one:

ACI - Dr Gabor Patonay
Editor-in-Chief, Analytical Chemistry Insights
http://la-press.com/journal.php?journal_id=1
I am the Editor-in-Chief of "Analytical Chemistry Insights", an open access, peer-reviewed, electronic-only journal which offers authors:

...

I hope that you can submit a paper by April or May 2008? If you need a later date for submission please let me know and I will try to accommodate you.

NB: We will consider relevant papers that were submitted to other journals but deemed more suitable for specialty journals provided authors include the reviewer's critiques and their rebuttal. Such manuscripts will not undergo further review and a decision will be made to accept or reject them within 24 hours.

Yours sincerely

Professor Gabor Patonay
Editor-in-Chief, Analytical Chemistry Insights
http://la-press.com/journal.php?journal_id=1

Ps Some Frequently Asked Questions:
Q:What is this journal's impact factor?
A: Unfortunately none of our journals are old enough to have impact factors yet, but we have applied for impact factors for those journals old enough to be considered. We are currently working on unofficial impact factors, and these will be published on our website once complete.

Q: How much will I have to pay if my paper is accepted for publication?
A: The following publication processing fees apply:
North American/Canadian Authors: US$1075; UK Authors: ?525; Japan Authors: ?130,485; Europe and Rest-of-World Authors: EUR745

Q: Is this journal indexed by Pubmed?
A: Because most of our journals are so new, at present "Cancer Informatics" and "Evolutionary Bioinformatics" are indexed by Pubmed. Other journals are under review for inclusion in Pubmed. Once journals are accepted for indexing the previous three years of articles are indexed retrospectively.

Q: Is this manuscript or proposed manuscript suitable for this journal?
A: In general if a manuscript is within the journal's scope we will be willing to accept it for peer review. If you are unsure please submit your manuscript and we will inform you promptly if it is unsuitable.




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