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Scholarly publishing currently is faced by an upsurge in low-quality, questionable "predatory/hijacked" journals published by those whose only goal is profit. Although there are discussions in the literature warning about them, most provide only a few suggestions on how to avoid these journals. Most solutions are not generalizable or have other weaknesses. Here, we use a novel information technology, i.e., blockchains, to expose and prevent the problems produced by questionable journals. Thus, this work presented here sheds light on the advantages of blockchain for producing safe, fraud-free scholarly publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer review is the most important aspect of reputable journals. Without it, we would be unsure about whether the material published was as valid and reliable as is possible. However, with the advent of the Internet, scientific literature has now become subject to a relatively new phenomenon: fake peer reviews. Some dishonest researchers have been manipulating the peer review process to publish what are often inferior papers. There are even papers that explain how to do it. This paper discusses one of those methods and how editors can defeat it by using a special review ID. This method is easy to understand and can be added to current peer review systems easily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this opinion piece, we present a synopsis of our findings from the last 2 years concerning cyber-attacks on web-based academia. We also present some of problems that we have faced and try to resolve any misunderstandings about our work. We are academic information security specialists, not hackers. Finally, we present a brief overview of our methods for detecting cyber fraud in an attempt to present general guidelines for researchers who would like to continue our work. We believe that our work is necessary for protecting the integrity of scholarly publishing against emerging cybercrime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invalid journals are recent challenges in the academic world and many researchers are unacquainted with the phenomenon. The number of victims appears to be accelerating. Researchers might be suspicious of predatory journals because they have unfamiliar names, but hijacked journals are imitations of well-known, reputable journals whose websites have been hijacked. Hijacked journals issue calls for papers via generally laudatory emails that delude researchers into paying exorbitant page charges for publication in a nonexistent journal. This paper presents a method for detecting hijacked journals by using a classification algorithm. The number of published articles exposing hijacked journals is limited and most of them use simple techniques that are limited to specific journals. Hence we needed to amass Internet addresses and pertinent data for analyzing this type of attack. We inspected the websites of 104 scientific journals by using a classification algorithm that used criteria common to reputable journals. We then prepared a decision tree that we used to test five journals we knew were authentic and five we knew were hijacked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, identity theft has been growing in the academic world. Cybercriminals create fake profiles for prominent scientists in attempts to manipulate the review and publishing process. Without permission, some fraudulent journals use the names of standout researchers on their editorial boards in the effort to look legitimate. This opinion piece, highlights some of the usual types of identity theft and their role in spreading junk science. Some general guidelines that editors and researchers can use against such attacks are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, web-based applications extend to all businesses due to their advantages and easy usability. The most important issue in web-based applications is security. Due to their advantages, most academic journals are now using these applications, with papers being submitted and published through their websites. As these websites are resources for knowledge, information security is primary for maintaining their integrity. In this opinion piece, we point out vulnerabilities in certain websites and introduce the potential for future threats. We intend to present how some journals are vulnerable and what will happen if a journal can be infected by attackers. This opinion is not a technical manual in information security, it is a short inspection that we did to improve the security of academic journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current status of academic publishing is worrying. Cybercriminals are now targeting academic audiences, making it necessary to inform both editors and authors about such issues. The latest involves bogus impact factors, which are challenging scholarly publishing. Legitimate impact factors are used by authors and editors to get a general idea of the audience, if any, for a particular piece or journal. The bogus metrics only add confusion in support of the cybercrimes of their initiators. In this paper, we discuss bogus impact factors, victim countries, and try to clarify the phenomena for both authors and editors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the academic world has been faced with much academic misconduct. Examples involve plagiarizing papers, manipulating data, and launching predatory or hijacked journals. The literature exposing these activities is growing exponentially, and so is the presentation of criteria or guidelines for counteracting the problem. Most of the research is focused on predatory or hijacked journal detection and providing suitable warnings. Overlooked in all this is the fact that papers published in these journals are questionable, but nevertheless show up in standard citation databases. We need some way to flag them so future researchers will be aware of their questionable nature and prevent their use in literature review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to the articles in the previous issues including the "Hackers Spy Scientists," "Concomitant Infections Should not Deter Clinicians from Diagnosing Kawasaki Disease," and "Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis."

The authors discuss the integrity threats of the expanding open access (OA) movement. Topics include the predatory open access journals (POAJs), the publishing threats of hijacked journals and journal phishing, and the ethical implications of hijacked journals. Several charts are also presented which show the similarities and differences between phishing and hijacking, the hijacked journals from Google page ranking, and the metrics for citation level assessment of journals and researchers.