The misleading, so-called hijacked journals are difficult to recognize: they create pseudo-pages of reputable, highly prestigious scientific journals where the data of the “real” journal are included to mislead those who wish to publish. Real journals on their website try to draw attention to the pseudo-page. It is important to double-check the website of the selected journal: the existence of older issues, contact details - these are often incomplete for misleading journals, etc. Journals that are generally reputable but have a lower impact factor are victims of counterfeiters.

More information:

• Unofficial list of misleading, counterfeit journals: https://beallslist.weebly.com/hijacked-journals.html
• Tips on the blog of Clarivate: https://clarivate.com/blog/hijacked-journals-what-they-are-and-how-to-avoid-them/
• Retraction Watch
  • Post on Retraction Watch site: "Want to know whether that journal is scamming you? Introducing the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker"
    • The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker:
      https://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-hijacked-journal-checker/
  • Exclusive: New hijacking scam targets Elsevier, Springer Nature, and other major publishers (by Anna Abalkina, Retraction Watch, Nov 25, 2024): https://retractionwatch.com/2024/11/25/exclusive-new-hijacking-scam-targets-elsevier-springer-nature-and-other-major-publishers/
• Archived list of possible counterfeit journal’s websites (not updated, last modified: 11/01/2017): http://web.archive.org/web/20170111172313/https://scholarlyoa.com/other-pages/hijacked-journals/
• Recommended article: Jalalian, Mehrdad & Mahboobi, Hamidreza (2014). Hijacked journals and predatory publishers: Is there a need to re-think how to assess the quality of academic research? Walailak Journal of Science and Technology 11(5), 389-394. DOI: 10.14456/WJST.2014.16

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