Council of Scientific & Industrial Research

Phone : 23710519 Fax : (91-11) 23730937, 23730682 E-mail : cvo csirresin

tVri:4T 3frellfrM 311*-Tr9 31-TitiT9 '41-49, 2, -ir1;61 mut ;T-4"1,L - 110001 COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH Anusandhan Bhawan, 2, Rafi Marg, New Delhi - 110001 11,(9-11 1E(-- F- 15-1(152)/2017-Vig. , 2018 No. Oxiw From 3tset eicicat 340Weit Chief Vigilance Officer To kil-cM3frafR.k-u1-1111-tr WA+ I-4110 laftRIPTA The Directors/Heads of all National Labs. /Instts. of CSIR

Subject: Publication of Research Papers -reci.

Tregt1T, 11-61-41r/Madam/Sir,

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I want to draw your attention to the rigging of research general/research papers by various newpapers and forwarding the copies of the news reports pubished in the newpapers for information. Such act on the part of Scientists/Researchers is a serious scientific misconduct.

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Therefore, Scientific and technical employees working in CSIR lab./Instt. should refrain themselves from indulging in this kind of misdemeanor and do not use such tactics for thier personal interest.

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You, are, therefore bring this to the notice of all staff working in your lab./Instt.

1-1-1tEE/Yours faithfully,

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Separately, 6,000 kg or contaminates mu •" 4 was seized at Walayar in Palakkad district In And the Kochi-based Central lnsfitute•Of the biggest cnances or TOP ibruin How the pay-and-publish business works '" open-access publishing that involves charg- numbers". Each publication in "Conference aged the Auraria Library in Denver, US, until SHYAMLALYADAV ing publication fees... without following the proceedings as full papers, etc." fetches 10 March this year, predatory publishers are NEW DELHI, JULY'S editorial and publishing policies and services marks. Under the Regulations, the Academic "giving a bad name to India". associated with legitimate journals". It is im- Performance Index (API) score for a paper is UGC response . AN INVESTIGATION by The Indian Express portant to note that not all open access jour- augmented based on the "impact factor" — a (published on Page 1 of this edition) has re- nals — whidi anyone can read and download measure of the frequency with which the av- UGC has a Standing Committee on vealed India to be one of the biggest global for free, with authors paying for the publica- erage article in a journal has been cited in a Notification of Journals, currently headed by hubs for the "pay-and-publish" business, a tion of their papers — are particular year — of the ref- ProfVS.Chauhan.Lastyear, the UGC published "approved journals" on its practice in which "predatory journals" that "predatory" in nature; sev- ereed journaL The API provi- a list of over 32,000. often exist only online, publish research with- eral reputed journals with sion was scrapped for college website, wtiich meant that artides published out any rigorous checks or expert review, for strict peer review policies, ---) '. teachers last month so they in these journals would be considered in pro- a "fee" ranging from as little as a couple of too, follow the model of ac- could focus on teaching motions and recruitments. UGC had earlier .-.i. s: . .,;,----.• without feeling pressured to asked universities to recommend journals for thousand rupees to well over a lakh. cepting "processing charges" from authors. -.,- undertake research, but the list — an exercise that allowed several Predatory journals continues for universities. poor-quality publications to slip throtigh. As found questions were raised, the UGC slashed 4,305 The American librarian Jeffrey Beall first A market for #FAKE The Indian Express around 300 publishers from journals from the list bringing the number of used the expression "predatory open access 'research' SCIENCE India publishing more than approved journals down to 25,784. The con- publishing" in 2010, and published a list of 6,000 journals and organis- cern over predatory publishing is, however, "predatory publishers" on his blog that year. The UGC (Minimum . He subsequently started updating the list fre- Qualifications for Appoint- ing hundreds of conferences global: the International Committee of quently, but was forced shut down his blog ment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in the country and abroad. The pressure to Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) expressed in 2017 under threats of lawsuits. But a major in Universities and Colleges and Measures for publish, and to present papers at conferences concern in December 2017 over "the growing global debate had been opened. The UGC the Maintenance of Standards in Higher in order to collect the marks needed for re- number of entities that are advertising them- is- website defines predatory journals Or pEeda- Education) Regulations, 2010 award 15 marks cruitrnents/promotions often incentiv is es selves as 'scholarly medical journals' (but are)... nt tory publishers as "unscrupulous open access for each. article published in "Refereed pay-to-publish practices. It is important to 'fake', 'predatory', or 'pseudo' journals (that) journals or publishers who publish articles Journals", and 10 marks for those published in note, however, that only a small share of the misrepresent their peer-review and publica- on payment but with little or no real peer re- "Non-refereed but recognised and reputable clientele of predatory publishers based in tion processes,.. for the sole purpose of mak- view. (They) exploit the business model of journals and periodicals, having ISBN/ISSN India are from India. Says Beall, who man- ing money".

‘utttikEre-2M001 -tion."i tic ‘i,vuunecraresun- der aquaculture, which produces harvests in the monsoon, when trawlers from most states do not go to sea, and supplies dry up. la Kerala officials recalled a case ofVannamei ',zedout theirprejudices; and the impunity by Vnt, thpxy shrimp, an export variety from Andhra, which was sold at an inflated price of Rs 350 per kg,

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM IINAGARY 42; THURSDAY, JULY 19., 2018

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE Al, t4AGPUR, PUNE, VAD-ODARA

AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION -eh rsijige T 's f (e rese lish, r aper S 7 L V-Cs, ARMS, RT profs on list: 'Students I. sent it, we don't 'mow'

SI-IYAMLALYADAV NEW DELHI, JULY 18

FROM VICE-CHANCELLORS to FROM BIGGEST IN HYDERABAD TO ONE MN BAREILLY ABMS directors and IIT profes- Omits, from this building (lefinHyderabad, hosts over 700 journals and faces action in US; sors, from Pulwama to Irshad Ahmad in Richha near Bareilly hosts 13 journals from his one-room home office Behrampur and Roorkee, the range and reach of names linked to articles and conferences or- Despite UGC blacklist, hundreds of 'predatory journals' thrive, ganised by publishers of "predatory journals" is staggering. cast shadow on quality of faculty and research nationwide Most of them figure in publications brought out by before publication. Hyderabad-based OMICS is, Hyderabad-based OMICS and W which JAt SHYAMLALYADAV in fact, facing legal action by the Turkey-based SET,rch Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claim to organise NEW DELHI, JULY 18• in the US for fraudulent claims — ferences across the world. the home page of WASET's a charge the company denies. to IN THE world of academia, toe "These so-called predatory website lists a conference sched- getting published in an interna- E jourpals have brought a bad ule that runs up to theyear 2031, tional research journal is almost #FAN name for the country and also with links leading to titles of 1 the holy grail, it helps bump up SCIENCE many of its sincere pers to be presented and their Yk the CV for hiring and helps in the for many PART 1 researchers," S C Lakhotia, pro- authors. However, a closer look . • competition for tenure or fessor emeritus at Bananas reveals a different picture. promotion. It takes rigorous lasflisted Hindu University, told The Indian ' For instance, the research, an original Contribu- event is . the International listed"Charge" orfee"thatranges Express. • • tion, exhaustive peer or expert from $30-$1,800 per piece. Ten months ago, Lakhotia Conference on Psychology, reviews, and dogged persistence. From a plush office in the resigned from a committee set Arrstedarn,TheNetherlands.ori But then, there's also an easy heart ofHyderabad, home to one up by the University Grants July 14-15. 2026. One of the pa- • .pers to be presented is QUCilitatiVe way — pay and publish. of the world's largest such pub- (UGC) to assess The Indian Co m rn issi o n Analysis of Current.Cligd Cu od An investigation by lishers, to a one-room, one-man, publications recommended by ,..4,3, g , .. ( CONTINUED ON r A9,, .Express shows that India has one-laptop office at Richha in universities for inclusion in an emerged as one of the biggest Bireilly, The Indian Express found approved list of 32,659 journals markets for a business in which that most of these publications maintained by the national "RELATED REPO RP. have a list over 300 publishers manage exist online, claim to PAGE.13 of experts as editors, and employ regulatory(—CON bodINUED ON PAGE 1 what are called "predatory jour-- nals" that claim be nterna minimal or no editorial checks to papers for a FROM THE FRONT PAGE 13 journals, editorial team of V-Cs, MIMS, HT profs on list: 'Students sent it, 150, and one room in Bare fly we don't know' "THE UST had many bogus or that they never received any Moneygram, etc — in the names ARSEAM The ofatieastfourotherindividuals 440.0F.100RHALS 13 EvalitationfhadionbyCanalyn J Auto . jourrals,"Lakbotiagaid. manuscripts to review." Ortega andStepheriEBerger.But ifridinnExpresscontaciedvero identified esJeferinamtais Art, OriMay Z.theUGOremeaved anattachedPDFshowsthe paper 4308 journals from the list, say- experts listed as editors on the Ahmed, Aasif Khan and Jabbar Management Khan. Alchtar describes himself CHARGE Not Gated, website says was published in WASET's ing they were of "dubious na- OMICS website — Rajesh of Malhotra, professor of or- as a "B. Tech. in Computer 'fairly reasonable' International Journal ture". Over the last month, The Psychological and Behavioural Indian Express visited hundreds thopaedics, AIIMS-Delhi, and Science and Engineering in Run from a single room in Ravi Kant. director, AIIMS- A_K_E 2014_ currently pursuing the Bareilly's Richha by Irshad Sciencestwoyearsago. ofthese websites, criss-crossed When contacted byThe Indian the country from Ghaziabad to Rishikesh — and both denied SCIENCE M.Tech in CSE".Two REDO jour- Ahmad, who identifies himself nals were on theUGClistbefore as a research scholar, Academic Express, the Indian experts who Mandsaur and Hyderabad, and this claim by the publisher.The PART I company claims to have pub- being removed on May 2. The Research in Science, were listed either denied any interviewed owners, experts links to these publications and and -editors", to find an ecosys- lished over 1 million articles. IndionExpresssentemails seek- Engineering, Art and charges 5500 per artide but of- ing detalisto 21 members ofthe Management (ARSEAM) lists conferences or attributed their tem thriving in a grey zone. REACTION: Srinubabu juniors" Gedela: "(The FTC charge) is fers discounts of up to 96% on editorial team of IJRDO Journal 150 names on its editorial team. presence on the list to - One company was behind who had sentartides forpublica- over 700 journals, another completely wrong-They don't this pricelCuadlycontactto ed- of Business Management. Only The Indian Express emailed know the definition of journal. [email protected] to one, identified as Buddhi queries seeking details to all, tion. Others said they were not brought out 10.0ne website of- avaiethatthesejoumalsMarged WASEI's home page lists conferences till 2031 fered a 96% discount another They don't know what peer re- know payment instrudions for PralcashChauhan, responded to and received responses from view is. They are illiterates. bankwiretransfer,"itstates.The say that "perhaps, they did not two who said they had never money for publishingarticles. did not list its fee but said it is On July13, a day after he was "fairly reasonable". And while Scientists are not illiterates. website claims that four of its take my consent". Asked how edited an article for ARSEAM. many articles he had edited, One of then. Dr Sandeep Kumar contacted by The Indian Express, UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND all your efforts. So this is just an all the owners claimed they They know which. article to journals are on the UGC list but oddslip.You regretitalways later The Indian Express found only Chauhan said: "None." Kesarwani.• who is Assistant Rajesh Malhotra, professor of or- TECHNOLOGY, PULWAMAJAK were running legitimate "open publishinwhichjoumal."(Note: II Listed as author in journal of as good research work goes in The full interview will be pub- one — British Journal of REACTION: Naeem Akhtar. Professor at IBS Dehradun, said: thopaedicsat AUMS-Delhi filed access" operations, the editors a police complaint against Carcinogenesis & Mutageriesis, vain withoutany recognition" who responded to a question- lished tomorrow). Economics, Management & "We do not pay our editors or "No one has approached me." although its new ver- reviewers. They review the The other, N Ra mu of OMICS for naminghimas an ed- OMICS . naire said they were yet to edit Trade — "The journal at that time was SARMAN SINGH AUSTIN sion, Journal of Economics, manuscripts voluntarily. Annamalai University.said, -The itor ofjoumal of Osteoarthritis. a single artide. Malhotra is also listed as the co- not known to be of a predatory DIRECTOR AIIMS-OHOPAL NO.OFJOURNALS: 202 Manageinent and Ttride,is miss- Currently,weare improving our publisher sought my willing- Most of these journals cov- . author of three articles on the nature The work was published • Listed as co-author in ered the fields of medidne; en- TOPICS: Methane, Pharmacology ingThe comcianydaims to have standards by focusing on quality ness to become the editor of a journaL I sent my CV with my publisher's database: "I had no withthem after imitation by the MycobacterialDiseasesandjoumal gineeringand management,the CHARGE:PAW published over 20,000 articles. research papers. So anyone can't °MKS expectto publishtheirartide by consent I haven't reviewed any idea it was a fake journal_ The journal's editor without any de- ojVaccines & Vaccination, range diverse: From fourna/ of The group, which has also REACTION: Dr (Ms) M B -0MICs is a predatory organi- Mondal: "We strongly protest just paying the publication article." moment the article was pub- mand for money. It was only af- Aging Research and European published over a dozene7books, ter publication that their ac- sation, but this was realised na- attempt to label charges. However,we do ask for REACTION: Irshad Ahmad: lished we started getting de- Journal of Medicinal Plants to is run by a Hyderabad-based any. counts officer demanded tionally and internationally only Sdencedomain International as the publication charges after an 'We do not charge for publica- . mand for money, and I have a Journal of Religious Studies,' couple, Mahendra Reddy China article-processing charges, about two years ago. Before that and Siva Parvathi Chirra. Its a predatory publisher... (Our) editorial decision is taken." tion. We charge only for hard trail of mails that were ex- Buddhism and Living. changed," Malhotra told The which we refused to pay." many oftheconfetencesand jour- The Indian Expressinvestip- websites show a web of ad- journals follow the transparent copies ofjoumals.We have different charges for foreign au- Indian-Express. nalsweremanaged bylndiandoc- don is part a global project in- dresses for various entities — open peer review model, so the IOSR JOURNALS tors who started requesting sen- main criteria of predatory pub- NO.OF JOURNALS. 24 thors." TheOMICSandWASETdata- KR S RAO volving 60 reporters led by from New Jersey in the US to VICE-CHANCELLORMIZORAM iorprofmsorsofreputedinstitutes Andheri-Kurla in Mumbai. lishing cannot be applied." SUBJECTS: Engineering, base includes hundreds of arti- German broadcasters NDRand des listed against the names of UNIVERSITY to help them and submit articles Registrar of Company docu- Management. Pharmacy, Applied IASTEM WDR, and Suddeundie &Rung faculty, researchers and experts • listed as co-author in Journal orabstractmAs emotionallndians, with 18 partners, including Le ments show that Austin IAEME Science, Mathematics NO. OFJOURNALS:10 TOPICS: Science,Technology, from premier institutions such of Marine Science: Research & some of us submitted a few arti- Monde and The New Yorker. Publishers Pvt Ltd was incorpo- NO.OFJOURNALS:126 CHARGE $75 cles and abstracts. However, I VVitha list of 24 journals, ios- Engineering,Managernent as AIIMS, RML Hospital-Delhi, Development, OMICS The' International rated in Hyderabad on February TOPICS: Engineering. Management wanttomalce itdearthatnoneof rjoumals.org the websiteof CHARGE:$120-$200 SGPGI-Lucknow, JIPMER- 'Thatwas published in 2011. Consortium of Investigative 13, 2014. They show that its CHARGE:$170-$550 It wasa review on invitation not thetwopaperswerepublished for name was changed to Austin The website of IAEME International Organization of Run by Bijoy Kumar Barik, Puducherry, IITs, NITS. JNU Delhi Journalists (ICIJ) provided the a research article and not with' any fee paid by me or ARMS or Info Consultancy Pvt Ltd in (International Association of Scientific Research (IOSR), who is listed as the chairman. University. Aligarh Muslim. online platform to share find- University, Banaras Hindu our findings, and we did not pay anybody else on my behalf" ings on 175,000 publications August 2015, with Mahendra Engineering and Management states: "Congratulations, Most IASIEM(IntemationalAcade_my Education) shows that it is run of IOSR Journals are'approved of Science, Technology, University and several other for publication. We never pro- published by some of the most Reddy and Siva Parvathi as di- mote the 'pay and publish' pol- PROF A '

'FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UR, PUNE, VADODARA. OURNALISM OF COURAGE

iSSUES AN EXPRESS iNA7 STIGATION

ye 4.s: Hy er is ition charge ub t p Face behind BUSINESS AS USUAL SHYAMLALYADAV P Ashvin HYDERABAD, JULY19 Kumar runs Avens biggest of all: FROM THE first journal brought and Open out by OMICS ten years ago to an Science `40 countries, estimated 1,500 publications today, Hyderabad has emerged as million articles' the Indian hub of predatory journals that publish research articles on a range of subjects from SHYAMLAL YADAV medicine to management for a HYDERABAD, JULY19 MR vs OR fee, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed. "We have published nearly a mil- leatiassamsai4 Most of these journals exist IfFAKE lion articles, including thosefrom online and are operated by com- conference proceedings. This year, panies based across the city, in- SCIENCE we are organising more than ily 2008, exactly ten years duding the posh Banjara Hills, 2,000 conferences, 500 sympo- PART 11 siums and 500 workshops in 40 then Prime Minister but flauntaddresses from abroad imohan Singh had souglita on their websites, mostly in the countries." :vote after the withdrawal of US and UK. ' erators with over 700 journals. INSIDEAN imposing glass-cased support to his government "An academic in India can get The Indian Express tracked CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 credit for publishing in an 'inter- down many others, including building in Hyderabad's national' journal in the UK or the Avens Publishing Group and Gachibowli, the 36-year-old face US, when in fact it is typically a Open Science Publications run behind more than 780 research PARLIAMENT small operation run out of a by 32-year-old P Ashvin Kumar, journals and companies operat- E6 house jn the West," Jeffrey Beall, who said that he had completed ing in 40 countries, has confi- the Denver-based former librar- an MTech in Biotechnology and dence written all over it ian who coined the term "preda- worked with OMICS earlier. But behind all the plans, tory publishing", told The Indian Kumar, who operates from Srinubabu Gedela is at the cen- Express. a small office in the Manikonda tre of a storm that's threatening Beall was among the first to area, said that Avens has an his business empire. Gedela is the raise the red flag against such office in US and that over 70 per CEO of OMICS, labelled as one of publishers in a widely read blog cent of articles published on its the largest "predatory publish- eight years ago. And among the journals "come from abroad". ers" of research articles on topics scores of Hyderabad-based pub- "Our journals have published in medicine, pharmaceuticals, lishers flagged by Beall is OMICS, more than 1,000 articles, engineering, technology which is among the biggest op, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE Seer's death after suspected f d poison hg sparks row in Karnataka • l of the eight mathas or the Ashta

,in- li`i1(;74:;;i Paris, the French roreign.n states to protect the classifiedclassified P sere i_tseIfclrilgged_ tie'{ information provided by nuanuoou information n -- - CONTINUED Oil PAGE 9 a(1440no - _ z Sabha which, at the end of the NEW DLLHI, JULY 20 12-hour discussion, was defeated 126-325 votes. IN A point-by-point rebuttal to This was the closest he came allegations levelled against him to point at violence against by Congress president Ra hul minorities and Wits, cow vigi- Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra lantism and mob lynching — Modi called the Nehru-Gandhi incidents over which his party has family "thekedar" (contractor) come down heavily against the and "saudagar"-(trader), and said ruling BJP over the last four years. the no-confidence motion 'Negative politics by so In contrast, the Prime against his government by - Minister, sensing that the "some people" was only to Opposition was not keen to proj- spread instability in the country Sabha Friday, Modi took a s ect a prime ministerial candidate through "negative politics". at the Congress and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Replying to the debate in Lok CONTINUED ON P1 SC Collegium reiterates Justice Joseph's name, recommends 2 others

ANANTHAKRISHNAN G& SUSHANT SINGH ,e NEW DELHI, JULY 20 Uttaralchand DESPITE THE Centre's reserva- ChiefJustice tions, the Supreme Court Colle- K M Joseph . gium has "reiterated" its decision to recommend Uttarakhand Chief Justice IC M Joseph as an Collegium, on due consideration apex courtjudge. The Collegium of all the aspects mentioned in also said that it had found "noth- the aforesaid two letters, resolves ing adverse regarding" his to reiterate the afore-mentioned "suitability" ih two letters sent recommendation, especially by Law Minister Ravi Shapkar since nothing adverse regarding Prasad asking the Collegium to suitability of Mr Justice IC M reconsider its decision. Joseph has been pointed out in The CollegiUm met on July 16 the aforesaid letters.", and said in its resolution: "The CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

' z 'AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION Behind locked doors, Mandsaur is home t research paper shops

SHYAMLALYADAV MANDSAUR (MP), JULY 20

IT'S KNOWN as a hotspot of opium farming and ground zero of a violent protest by farmers that led to police firing and five WFAK1F, deaths last year. SCIENCE • Today, Mandsaur on Madhya PART III Pradesh's border with Rajasthan Karol Bagh is quietly gaining a new reputa- ejMulcherjee Nagar tion in an unlikely field — the around over 100 journals cover- j world of pay-and-publish ing science to. management, a C LUCKNCIV4 • research journals. few names and many locked B4613022022 Unlike Hyderabad, which is houses. home to heavyweight "predatory 'CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 publishers", such as 750-journal OMICS, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed that RELAILD REPORT the Mandsaur business revolves PAGE 10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE INDIAN EXPRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018

1c1 SO FROM MT FRONT PAGE Or 3cl hs st f all: ra ut ne `40 countries, rti T,.les' re and management for charges ranging 2i from $149 to $1,819. On May 1, the US Federal Trade 'US FTC ARE ILLITERATES, SCIENTISTS ARE NOT' le Commission (FTC) filed a motion in the :o District Court of Nevada, seeking "prelim- OMICS chief Srinubabu Gedela responds to key charges levelled by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against his company: n inary injunction and other equitable re- :o lief' against OMICS. It alleged that most of the claims found on websites of OMICS FTC: Academics who agreed to serve e journals — on peer reviews, list of editors, websites. a on OMICS editorial boards stated GEDELA: Every journal has 50-60 access to credible databases — are "phony". that they never received any h. • editorial board members. Some of On July 13, Rajesh Malhotra, professor manuscripts:to review. e the members are active and some • of orthopaedics at AIIMS-Delhi, filed a po- GEDELA: Peer review is taken care 0 lice complaint against OMICS for allegedly not that much. The number of active of by editorial boardspf the members, which FTC assessed, is falsely naming him as an editor of one of its respective journals. Every journal journals. . around 15,000... For every journal, has 40-50 editorial board members. Gedela, however, is unfazed. Speaking we divide 10 members for one If they accept the article, we will subject, 10 for another, like that. If to The Indian Express, he described the FM publish them. But we do d the journal is publishing an as "illiterates". He claimed that all the not have any control over tt article related to a charges against OMICS are "completely editorial policies. The particular subject, that wrong"(read the full interview at www.in- editor is the main means the remaining 40 dianexpress.com). stakeholder. The authors members may not be But The Indian Express spoke to ex- have equal responsibility. perts who have been tracking OMICS over active. the years and found that they were far FTC: Several listed editors FTC: OMICS induced from impressed by such claims. indicated that they had Asked to identify the biggest predatory authors to write for paid never agreed to be affiliated Srinubabu publisher in India, S C Lalchotia, professor journals, with charges with OMICS. Gedela owns emeritus at Banaras Hindu University ranging from $149 to GEDELA: That is OMICS. Express $1,819. (BHU), told The Indian Express: "I under- completely wrong. stand that the OMICS group is based in GEDELA: The FTC don't Normally, the FTC takes know the definition of India and most of its journals would qual- around six months for each ify to be in that category," (Read the full in- journal. They don't know case. Against us, they have taken what peer review is. They are terview at www.indianexpress.corn) , three years but not proved a single Until last year, Lakhotia was a member illiterates. Scientists are not ' thing. We have filed our response. illiterates. They know which article of a UGC cortanittee formed to assess such We have also filed a suit against journals. to publish in which journal. If, after them for $3.11 billion in working for a year on their Jeffrey Beall, a former librarian at the compensation due to loss. University of Colorado in Denver who research, they publish in a journal, coined the term "predatory publishing" they know better than the FTC: OMICS has submitted only illiterates at FTC. five years ago, was more direct 14,598 unique individuals as :The worst case is OMICS International purported editors and reviewers, (Full interview at based in Hyderabad. It publishes hundreds and not 50,000 as claimed on its of low-quality, open-access journals... It www.indianexpress.com) uses deceptive practices and does not carry out a proper peer review, publishing sci- rate. It was possibly lifted from the cover entific papers without proper quality con- "Our articles from India are very few, of one of my earlier books." less than 0,01 percent... 99.99 percent of trol. It has hurt many academics through- Gedela completed his B. Pharm and out the world, giving a bad name to India," articles are from outside. So we are not M.Tech (Biotechnology) froin Andhra concerned about India, indexing, UGC, etc. Beall told The Indian Express (read thefiill Uniyersity and post-doctoral degree from interview at www.indianexpresscom). This is all nonsense. Our services are all ex- Stanford University in the US. Hailing from port and there is no business from India," Gedela claimed that Beall has a bias. Allana village in Andhra's Srikalculam dis- "Because of open access journals, their jobs 'he said. trict, he established his first company Gedela said that he formed entities are at stake," he said, referring to librari- OMICS Group Inc in Nevada in 2007, ans. He claimed that his company had sent over the last two years in the UK and started his first journal Journal of Singapore, including Meetings a notice seeking $1 billion in damages to Proteomics & Bioinformatics in 2008, and Beall but did not pursue it because "he is International, Allied Academics Ltd, retumed to India in 2009. Euroscion Ltd, Pulsus Group Ltd. He is also not capable of paying the damages". The Indian version was founded' as However, a number of experts in India linked to two DelaWare-based companies, OMICS Online Publishing Pvt Ltd in iMedPub LLC and Conference Series LLC. told The Indian Express that their names Hyderabad. In 2015, the company's name were wrongly used by OMICS. Besides, The Gedela has informed the Nevada court was changed to OMICS International Pvt Ltd. that OMICS Group,iMedPub, Conference Indian Express found, at least 177 OMICS Registrar of Companies (RoC) records journals Series, Allied Academies, Puls us, Trade Sri, did not list their ISSN, the stan- show that Gedela is linked today to a web dardised international ID code. SciTechnol and EuroSciCon are sub- of subsidiaries and entities, such as OMICS sidiaries of OMICS International. Sanjeev Mishra, Director, AIIMS- • Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Versant Online Jodhpur, is listed in the "proceedings" of at The FTC estimates that between Solutions and Srinu SciTechnol BioSoft Pvt August 25, 2011 and July 31, 2017, OMICS least two OMICS conferences -.September Ltd. 15-17, 2014, in Lucicnow and October 20- earned "gross revenues, in the form of Records show that OMICS 11111rAtinn 3nei 11 "I MA : 44- T I, • •• . • • •• • Aso enyuig uic udilldgeb . ne airman ifr5!on was toUndect as linked to two Delaware-based companies, However, a number of experts in India OMICS Online Publishing Pvt Ltd in iMedPub LLC and Conference Series LLC. told The Indian Express that their names Hyderabad. In 2015, the company's name Gedela has informed the Nevada court were wrongly used by OMICS. Besides, The was changed to OMICS International Pvt Ltd. that OMICS Group,iMedPub, Conference Indian Ekpress found, at least 177 OMICS Registrar of Companies (RoC) records Series, Allied Academies, Pulsus, Trade Sci, journals did not list their ISSN, the stan- show that Gedela is linked today to a web SciTechnol and EuroSciCon are sub- dardised international ID code. of subsidiaries and entities, such as OMICS sidiaries of OMICS International. Sanjeev Mishra, Director, AIIMS- Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Versant Online The FTC estimates that between Jodhpur, is listed in the "proceedings" of at Solutions and Srinu Sci Technol BioSoftPvt August 25, 2011 and July 31, 2017, OMICS least two OMICS conferences -September Ltd. earned "gross revenues, in the form of 15-17, 2014, in Lucicnow and October 20- Records show that OMICS publication and conference registration 21, 2014, in the US. Mishra told The Indian Entertainment took a loan of Rs 5 crore fees from consumers, of at least approxi- Express that he "never attended" them. from Punjab National Bank in March 2016; mately $50,740,100.05..." Sarman Singh, Director, AIIMS-Bhopal, Versant showed a net loss of Rs 4.68 crore One of the charges levelled by FTC is is listed in two OMICS conferences. in 2015-16 after taxes; and, Srinu Sci that OMICS falsely claimed that"their pub- "Neither me nor any of my students at- Technol BioSoft's turnover in 2015-16 was. lications are included in NIH's indexing tended these conferences," Singh said. Rs 16.89 lakh. databases" and used the logo "to advertise Rakesh Bhatnagar, Vice-Chancellor, BHU, But Gedela claimed that when it came theirjoumals". The trade commission was said he "did not attend" the four OMICS con- to OMICS, "our revenue from India is al- referring to PubMed Central (PMC), a free ferences where his name was listed. most zero". "Europe has 40 per cent of our full-text archive of biomedical and life sci- Malhotra, from AIIMS-Delhi, who is business, US has 7-8 per cent, China has ences journal literature at the US National listed as an editor of OMICS's Journal of nine. India is not our market. Out of 3,000 Institutes of Health,'s National Library of Osteoarthritis, said: "I am neither on the conferences we are conducting this year, Medicine. rolls of OMICS nor am I the editor of any of not a single one is in India," he.said. Gedela confirmed that some OMICS those joumals:I didn't even Icnow that they This is why, he said, his companies have journals were removed from PubMed in were using my name on their website. In nothing to, do with education regulatory 2013. "It was also because of Jeffrey Beall's fact, my affiliation on the site is not accu- authorities in India, such as UGC. blog," he said.

US address on its website, which is regis- The addresses of such publishers criss- Pay & publish tered in:the name of Ramchandra Reddy cross the city's map, The Indian Express of Guntur. found. and we do not pay editors and reviewers. There are hundreds more with dual Among them are Annex Publishers We are publishing 46 journals now and all identities — Clerisy's website is registered with 83 journals from Begumpet, of them are regular, We have ISSN for 44 in the name of "Mr Ashok, Hightech City" Excelytics with seven from Nehru Nagar, of them," he said, referring to the standard- and Heodun Research Access has its web- Meghana Publications with 10 from ised international ID code. site registered in Mossapet. Banjara Hills and Scientific Future Group Asked about the editorial strength of And most of these websites have little with four from Madhopur. Avens journals, Kumar said, "In all, we have or no details of their editorial staff. Then, there's Cafet Innova, a "non- nearly 1,500 members' on our editorial "Cenetri Publishing Group is highly profit organization", which Claims to run boards. 1 have put their names only after conscious about the word it believes, the four journals from Hyderabad. "We are getting their approvals and receiving their word it says, the word it publishes. We en- . into service to encourage young people," biodata and photographs." sure to have highly professional, real-time said one of its "founder members", Raju Kumar said he launched his second researchers as our expert team and a per- Adela. company, Open Science Publications, re- fect list of researchers as authors," claimed The Indian Express investigation is part cently with 17 journals. Asked whether he one website, with addresses in Sydney and a global projectinvolving 60 reporters led had tried to get his journals listed by the Hyderabad. However, pages linked to the by German broadcasters NDR and WDR, University Grants Commission (UGC), he 'Editorial Board' icon on at least three of and Suddeutsche Zeitung, with 18 part- claimed: "Initially, I contacted them but their websites were blank. ners, including Le Monde and The New they never responded." Openventio, with a US office, publishes Yorker. The International Consortium of Another publisher, Bio Accent, runs 47 40 journals from Hyderabad, with an "ar- Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) provided the journals, and lists a US address on its web- ticle processingcharge" ranging from $127 online platform to share findings on site. However, the website itself is regis- to $1,027 depending on the article's length 175,000 publications. tered in the name of Ravi Shankar and author's country. Scientific Open Kuppalla of Pravathi Nagar in Hyderabad. Access Journals runs 24 journals, with an TOMORROW: WHAT LIES Similarly, CRESCO Publications, which "article processing charge" of $500 for 20 BEHIND THE LOCKED claims to run 116 journals, has provided a of them. HOMES IN MANDSAUR?

tive response," the Centre noted. and the rampant abuse happening in the Check fake news Following the lynching of five men in country leading to the repeated commis- Dhule in Maharashtra under similar cir- sioning of crimes pursuant to rampant cir- If they remain mute spectators they are li- cumstances, on July 3, the IT Ministry had culation of irresponsible messages in large able to be treated as abettors and there- written to WhatsApp asldng the company volumes on their platform have not been after face consequent legal action," the to take immediate steps to taclde the mis- addressed adequately by Whatsapp". . Centre said in a statement. use of their platform "wherein inflamma- WhatsApp has announced measures "Reports in the media resonate the tory messages were circulated that led to to counter the spread of rumours and un- general sentiment that there is much more unfortunate incidents". On the same day, verified information, including letting that needs to be done by VVhatsApp.There WhatsApp responded and highlighted only group administrators decide which is a need for bringing in traceability and their initiative to mark forwarded mes- members can post and labelling for- accountability when a provocativefinflam- sages and to step up efforts to detectfalce warded messages to distinguish be- matory message is detected and a request news. tween the messages that have been for- is made by law enforcement agencies." "Subsequently, an unfortunate incident warded from the ones that have been An e-mail query sent to WhatsApp did has occurred in Bidar where a 32-year old created by the sender. not elicit any response. software engineer.Mohammed Azam was Apart from the messaging app, Twitter, The Centre said that the problems have killed and this was preceded by viral cir- too last week announced it was expand- not been adequately addressed by culation of rumours on WhatsApp about ing its effort to fight abuse and spare on its WhatsApp. "It has been conveyed to them child lifters," the Ministry said. platform by removing the accounts that in unmistakable terms that it is a very se- The Ministry also said that it was re- have been locked on account of suspicious rious issue which deserves a more sehsi- gretted that the "enormity of the challenge behaviour. •

New Delhi FIR1

VVWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM rErf WORK THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2018 one

The Indian Express on whether According to his website, TRIVEDI he applies his theory at his nurs- Trivedi offers the "Biofield treat- SHYAMLALYADAV. ing home. He said he runs a ment" for groups and individu- NEW DELHI, JULY 20 - "charitable" institution and als in the US, with charges rang- charges consultancy fee in OPD A US-BASED NRI hailing from ing $200 to $2,000. The Indian of Rs 200 and Rs 500 for emer- Express, however, found a num- Betul in Madhya Pradesh claims gency cases. ber of holes in the collaborations that he can cure all diseases by #FAKE Asked why most of his arti- thatTrivedi daimed to have with transmitting energy. A nursing cles are published in "predatory" SCTENCE a number of institutions. The website of Trivedi Effect hoine owner from Fan-uldiabad journals, Das said: "I submitted His website claims: "The in Uttar Pradesh touts his PART DI my artide to a reputed journal of National Center of physics but they said it is not "University of God" as a counter Indian Express from courts in No 'government or police in- des in journals of Science Complementary and Integrative physics.There is no God in the Big to scientists who have won the Pennsylvania show at least two quiries were opened due to these Publishing Group and over 100 Health (NCCIH) has recognized Bang theory. In my theory, there Nobel. rulings that went against kind of allegations." in those of Hyderabad-based and accepted Biofield Energy is God." at Nothing illustrates better the Trivedi's favour since 2014. Both Thousands of kilometres to OMICS -both have been tagged Healing as a complementary and Asked about his "University danger posed to genuine re- were defamation suits filed by the east of Nevada, Vijay Mohan as "predatory publishers". • alternative medicine (CAM) of God", he said: "I registered it as S: searchers by the pay-and-pub- Trivedi against a blogger and a re- Das has challenged Nobel-win- Trivedi's website claims: "In health care approach in addition a society many years ago. It is un- lish model of predatory journals searcher for claiming that he was ning physicists in a series of arti- 1995, Mr Trivedi discovered that to other therapies, medicines and hIce other universities, it is for on- than their publication of articles "scamming people" and "abus- cles published in "predatory" that propagate dubious claims he had the unique ability to har- practices." journals run by companies such line dasses about my theory." II The NCCIH is part of the ing women" = Trivedi claimed with hardly any editorial review ness the energy from the uni- as Ghaziabad-based IOSR In one of a series of articles National Institutes of Health he was not a public figure. verse and transmit it to any- Journals. published by Das in the or oversight (NIH) under the US Department -When contacted by The "Many open-access publish- where on the globe, infusing it In one of his articles pub- November-December2016 issue of Health and Human Services. Indian Express, Trivedi wrote in ers publish fake, junk, and into living organisms and nonliv- lished in IOSR Journal of of IOSR Journal of Research & . When contacted by The Indian - an emailed response: "Our 'en- pseudo-sdence.They only want ing materials to optimize their Pharmacy and Biological Method in Education, he writes: Express, an NCCIH spokesperson ergy treatment' is highly reputed to make easy money, so they potential.This unique phenome- Sciences in May-June 2014, the "Nobel - Prize Physics 1930 responded: "NCCIH does not en: throughout the world as mirac- don't rejeCt fake research. non resulting from Mr Trivedi's 62-year-old owner of Das (Raman Effect) and Nobel Prize dorse, 'recognize,' or 'accept,' any ulous and impossible to deny sci- Instead, they just publish it and biofieldenergytransmissions be- Nursing Home writes: "Believing 1902 (Zeeman's Effect) and specific complementary, integra- entifically... Between 1995 and Nobel Prize 2019 (Stark Effect) send an invoice to the authors," came internationally known as 2008, I dedicated 100% of my all clinical stages are highrisk tive, or alternative treatment ap- are explained by wrong mathe- Jeffrey Beall, the Denver-based the Trivedi Effect" time to blessing as many people group, participatory science ad- The Indian apress accessed proach."- matical theories." former librarian who coined the as possible in India without vocates prayer as an adjuvant - Dismissing another claim He was referring to C V term "predatory publishing" over 90 articles published by charging any money. There have therapy to conquer cancer in all Trivedi and found similar daims from Trivedi, an 11T-Bombay Raman, Pieter Zeeman from the eight years ago; told The Indian never been any allegations from stages of the cancer." spokesperson clarified that it Netherlands and Johannes Stark Express. in all. He'also claims to have de- anyone related to cheating, fraud Das, a Master of Surgery from veloped "Trivedi Water", which does "not endorse any of his from Germany. Stark won the Based in Nevada, Mahendra or sexual harassinent No police • MLB Medical College in Jhansi, Kumar Trivedi, 55, has authored is listed on Amazon but is "cur- daims". did not respond to a query from Nobel in 1919, not 2019. • 'Records accessed by The complaints have ever been filed. and co-authored over 150 arti- rently unavailable".