LIRC@SFIT

Hijacked journals are duplicate or fake websites of legitimate ones utilizing the title, ISSN and other information of the reputable journal. They are often created by a malicious third party for the purpose of fraudulently offering academicians the opportunity to rapidly publish their research online for a fee [1,2]. In this blog Dr. Varun G Menon, Associate Professor at SCMS Group of Educational Institutions, India, alerts researchers to the threat posed by hijacked journals to their career and to the scholarly community, and provides tips for spotting and avoiding them.  In this article, the term ‘hijacked journal’ refers to the fake version of the original legitimate journal [3]. To read the full article, please visit: https://publons.com/blog/hijacked-journals-what-they-are-and-how-to-avoid-them/  (Accessed on July 23, 2019)

Despite UGC blacklist, hundreds of ‘predatory journals’ thrive, cast shadow on quality of faculty and research nationwide. In the world of academia, getting published in an international research journal is almost the holy grail, it helps bump up the CV for hiring and helps in the competition for tenure or promotion. It takes rigorous research, an original contribution, exhaustive peer or expert reviews, and dogged persistence. Advertising But then, there’s also an easy way — pay and publish. An investigation by  The Indian Express  shows that India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for a business in which over 300 publishers manage what are called “predatory journals” that claim to be international and publish papers for a listed “charge” or “fee” that ranges from $30-$1,800 per piece. From a plush office in the heart of Hyderabad, home to one of the world’s largest such publishers, to a one-room, one-man, one-laptop office at Richha in Bareil...

73 of the 344 papers offered for sale are from journals based in India An “online marketplace” claiming to facilitate sale and purchase of authorships for research papers that have been accepted for publication in scientific journals has been brought to light by the Web of Science, part of London-based Clarivate Analytics, which provides analytical services to journals and innovation companies. An investigation by the company showed that a Russian website (http://123mi.ru) claims to facilitate the fraudulent publication. Retraction Watch blog was the first to report the scam. A Google translation of the claims on the Russian website says, “We sell publications of finished articles in Scopus and Web of Science journals (articles written and accepted in journals; sold in parts or in whole).” It asks researchers to part with hundreds of dollars to become authors of papers that they never worked on, promising definite publication and indexing. The website lists 344 article...

Research published in pay-and-publish journals won’t count: UGC panel The four-member panel was formed by the UGC late last year after The Indian Express published a series of investigative reports on how India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for “predatory” publishers of substandard research journals. Suggesting sweeping reforms to promote the quality of research in India, a UGC panel has recommended that publication of research material in “predatory” journals or presentations in conferences organised by their publishers should not be considered for academic credit in any form. Advertising They include selection, confirmation, promotion, appraisal, and award of scholarships and degrees, the panel has suggested. The committee, which submitted its 14-page report to the UGC recently, has also recommended changes in PhD and MPhil programmes, including a new board for social sciences research. The four-member committee — headed by P Balram, former director...

A t the moment , Bank of England £50 notes feature James Watt, whose steam engines powered the Industrial Revolution, and his business partner Matthew Boulton. On July 15th, however, the bank announced that from 2021 fifties will instead depict Alan Turing, the man who built Colossus, the world’s first programmable, electronic, digital computer and who also developed much of the theory of computer science, especially the idea of algorithms. Colossus was used to break German codes during the second world war, shortening hostilities considerably. That won Turing scant recognition though, partly because of the project’s secrecy and partly because he was gay, and homosexual activity was then illegal in Britain. Which changed the world more, steam engines or computers, is debatable. But Watt died in his 80s, rich and lauded by his fellows. Turing died of cyanide poisoning, possibly self-inflicted, at the age of 41.  Source:  https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/...

The NDHM has proposed to provide the technology platform for collection of core health data from the providers and patients The government has proposed mapping health data of citizens and building a National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) on the lines of the Aadhaar database, and set up ‘digital health’ as public infrastructure. In a detailed National Digital Health Blueprint, which is open for comments until August 4, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has laid out standards, framework, and data analytics principles for a technology-based infrastructure. Authored under the chairmanship of the ex-Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman J Satyanarayana, the blueprint proposes that the NDHM be a hybrid of the goods and services tax network, UIDAI (the agency that administers Aadhaar), and the National Payments Corporation of India, given that health is a state subject, and to incorporate private sector, including service providers and insurance. ...