This site, Predatory Publishers, deals solely with publishers and is allied to two other sites, Predatory Journals, the content of which is self-explanatory, and Scholarly Outlaws which deals with conferences and academics. Information about academics who are caught up, willingly or otherwise, in the scam scholarly publishing industry is a departure from the standard interest in publishers or journals. It is not available anywhere else. Nor should there be a website titled ‘Predatory Academics,’ because the word ‘predatory’ is inappropriate. Many and perhaps most of them are unwitting victims rather than collaborators. Collaborators are those who knowingly and willingly publish articles in predatory journals or serve on their editorial boards. Majour collaborators include Alfio Ferlito (retired from Udine University, Italy), Keith Klostermann of Medaille University, USA and Ian Martins of Edith Cowan University, Australia.

The main focus of this site, however, is publishers of predatory journals. It is important to note that ‘predatory journal’ is shorthand for ‘journal published by a predatory publisher.’ A publisher can be dishonest and unethical, a journal can’t, because a publisher is a living agent and a journal isn’t. This raises another distinction: we say, for instance, that Insight Medical Publishing (imedpub) is one of many imprints of the notorious publisher OMICS. But it is strictly (grammatically or referentially) wrong to say that OMICS is a predatory publisher. Of course that’s what we do say, and we know what we mean by it, but it is worth bearing in mind that there is only one living agent here who is capable of unethical practice, and that is the founder or owner or CEO. In the case of OMICS it is Srinubabu Gedela, the founder and CEO of the corrupt empire, and the only person so far to have been convicted of fraud in a court of law.

This short account lies at the heart of what I’m trying to do here. Not just assist authors in the search for ethical and responsible journals in which to publish their research, though it is that. Not just to contribute to the body of knowledge about predatory publishers, though it is that too. But firstly and most importantly to provide evidence with the express purpose of having these frauds and criminals put where they belong: in prison. It really is that serious, because the ones I shall talk about engage systematically in identity theft which is a crime in most democratic jurisdictions, carrying penalties of up t ten years imprisonment.

It might seem as if I am leaving myself wide open to being sued for libel. Well, yes and no. Yes, because that is my hope and intention. I would take these people to court myself if I could afford it. Nothing would please me more than for one of them to do it for me. No, because they won’t do it. They won’t do it because everything I say is true about them and the last place they need to be in is a court of law where all the corrupt facts about their operations – identity theft and much more besides – would be broadcasted for all to see. Also, an Indian subject could only be convicted in an Indian court, at least for the crime of identity theft and the felonies to do with fraud. So the accused could simply ignore it, just as Srinubabu Gedela ignored the ruling of the American court and the $50.1 million penalty it imposed.