The Indian open-access publisher SCIENCEDOMAIN international invited a professor from Montclair State University to complete a peer review on a manuscript it had received, and he agreed. Less than a week later, the professor got a surprising email from the publisher.
SCIENCEDOMAIN international emailed the professor to tell him they no longer needed his peer review, for they had already received enough and had accepted the paper. The professor was just about to complete his review.
Here’s the email the professor received:
Dear Dr. James J. Campanella,
Thank you for agreeing to review this manuscript.
You may appreciate that, we are committed to complete the peer-review formalities within a strict time frame, to help the authors. As a result of constant effort of our editorial team, we have already received minimum number of quality review comments to complete the peer review of this manuscript. Final decision was also communicated to authors at the end of deadline (i.e. 21 days).
So, very politely we want to inform you that in this occasion, we would not be able to use your valuable comments. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
As per our policy, when we receive minimum number of review comments, we inform other agreed reviewers to save their precious time.
But we will be delighted if we can get your expert comments for our future manuscripts. We are thankful to you for agreeing to spend your valuable time for this review.
With regards
Partha Dey
SCIENCEDOMAIN international
Reg. Offices:
UK: SCIENCEDOMAIN international, Third Floor, 207 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH,UK,Registered in England and Wales, Company Registration Number: 8988029
USA: SCIENCEDOMAIN international, One Commerce Centre, 1201, Orange St. # 600, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, USA, Corporate File Number: 5049777
India: SCIENCEDOMAIN international, U GF, DLF City Phase-III, Gurgaon, 122001, Delhi NCR, Corp. Firm Registration Number: 255 (2010-11)
Editorial office: SCIENCEDOMAIN international, Guest House Road, Street no – 1/6, Tarakeswar, Hooghly, WB, 712410, India, Corp. Firm Registration Number: L77527.
So, it appears SCIENCEDOMAIN international casts a wide net for peer review but then cancels outstanding requests when it gets enough positive reviews.
It is unethical to abuse peer reviewers in this way.
The publisher’s email is signed by Partha Dey. I found this LinkedIn profile from a Partha Dey who works for SCIENCEDOMAIN international:
He looks quite young and lists his occupation as “Database operating at Science Domain International.” So it appears they have a kid working in IT managing their peer review process.
ScienceDomain has been doing a massive amount of spamming recently. The publisher has been on my list for several years, and I stand by this listing.
I recommend that researchers not submit papers to — or accept peer review requests from — SCIENCEDOMAIN international.
Appendix:
List of ScienceDomain international journals as of 2015-03-28:
Advances in Research
American Chemical Science Journal
American Journal of Experimental Agriculture
Annual Research & Review in Biology
Archives of Current Research International
Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology
British Biotechnology Journal
British Journal of Applied Science & Technology
British Journal of Economics, Management & Trade
British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science
British Journal of Environment and Climate Change
British Journal of Mathematics & Computer Science
British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research
British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
British Microbiology Research Journal
Cardiology and Angiology: An International Journal
European Journal of Medicinal Plants
European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety
International Blood Research & Reviews
International Journal of Biochemistry Research & Review
International Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Case Reports
International Journal of Plant & Soil Science
International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health
International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal
International Research Journal of Pure and Applied Chemistry
International STD Research & Reviews
Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology
Journal of Advances in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research International
Journal of Applied Life Sciences International
Journal of Cancer and Tumor International
Journal of Geography, Environment and Earth Science International
Journal of Scientific Research and Reports
Ophthalmology Research: An International Journal
Physical Science International Journal
