A topic in Academic standards and scholarly / scientific values
I've posted a number of blog entries and the like about the practice of some academic journals and conferences to praise a person's accomplishments as a basis for seeming to offer them a special invitation to write or speak… when actually this is just a cheap advertising ploy.
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This approach is not just crude, but it is actually dishonest – as if the editor / manager/ conference organiser had actually read the work cited, they would see it is not related to the journal or conference concerned.
So why would they do this? Presumably because it is a scamming technique to automatically generate a great many emails, most of which will obviously be spam to the recipient, but enough of which reach someone who – more by chance than design – happens to have an interest in the field concerned (and so assumes any praise is genuine).
The intellectual poverty of these techniques is obvious when in many cases the title of the work being cited as worthy of special praise clearly has no relevance to the journal or conference concerned. This seems to suggest these spam emails are either
a) generated by machines (using crude algorithms), not actual people; or are
b) generated by people who know so little about the field of the journal or conference that they claim to be editing / managing / organising that they cannot tell whether a work they are citing has anything to do with the journal or conference they are seeking to market.
At least that's my take – below are some examples so you can decide for yourself if I am being too critical! That some of these invitations concern specialist medical journals and meetings is especially shocking.
| Because I wrote (/co-wrote/edited)… | …I was invited to |
| We came through your abstract entitle "Secondary students� values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s"[sic] 1 | be a Speaker and deliver a presentation of the same at our "2nd Global Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials" |
| We came through your abstract entitle "Making sense of a pedagogic text" | I would like to take the privilege to invite you to be a Speaker and deliver a presentation of the same at our "2nd Global Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials" |
| We appreciate your work entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" | it's our great pleasure to invite you as a virtual speaker for 2nd Global webinar on Virology and Vaccine Development [Covid 19] |
| We know that you are a terrific speaker and our attendees and delegates will gain much from your work on "Secondary students� values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s" [sic] 1 | The purpose of this letter is to welcome you to be a Distinguished Speaker at "3rd Advanced Materials Science World Congress" … organized around the theme "Anticipating Future Trends, New Insights, and Cutting-Edge Technologies in Materials Science and Engineering". |
| Your research, as evidenced by the findings in "Secondary Science Teachers' Instructional Strategies for Promoting the Construction of Scientific Ex", undoubtedly piques the curiosity of our audience. | We are pleased to inform that this is an official speaker invitation, to be a Distinguished Speaker at the upcoming "3rd Global Summit on Advances in Earth Science and Climate Change" (Adv. ESCC 2024) |
| You are cordially invited to participate in Future Neurology 2022 as a Distinguished Speaker. We came across your abstract entitled "Making sense of a pedagogic text" and we believe it is an excellent fit for the scientific sessions of our upcoming neurology conference. | 3rd International Congress on Future of Neurology and Neurosurgery Theme: Medical breakthroughs and cutting-edge emerging technologies that transform the future of neurology |
| …the congress committee considers that we still lack one fantastic speech on Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems like your research. | Therefore, we cordially invite you to make an oral presentation as the Speaker under Session 705: Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrids The 4th Annual World Congress of Smart Materials (WCSM-2018) |
| Dear Distinguished Speaker-We welcome you to share your rewarding research and data on Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s. with our participants through Pain Med 2023. | 4th Euro-Global Congress on Advanced Therapeutics in Pain Medicine and Pain Management |
| We discovered that your abstract titled "Secondary Science Teachers' Instructional Strategies for Promoting the Construction of Scientific Ex [sic] | It is an honor and privilege to invite you as esteemed speaker at the 4th International Conference on Future of Preventive Medicine and Public Health |
| …your research titled "Making sense of a pedagogic text"- Your research study would enable our peers and colleagues to gain knowledge from your expertise and experience. | It gives me immense delight to welcome you to be a Distinguished Speaker at "5th Edition of Advanced Materials Science World Congress" |
| We are so excited of your work titled "Secondary Science Teachers' Instructional Strategies for Promoting the Construction of Scientific Ex" [sic, Explanations] – and our attendees and delegates will gain much from your work. | I'm honored to request you to speak at the "5th Edition of Advanced Materials Science World Congress (Adv.Materials 2023)" |
| After reviewing your abstract entitled "Secondary Science Teachers' Instructional Strategies for Promoting the Construction of Scientific Ex [sic]", we are excited to hear your thoughts and opinions on this study, or any other relevant research from your expertise that you would like to present at Adv. Med Chem 2023. | I hope this invitation finds you well. It is with great pleasure that we extend to you an official invitation to be a Distinguished Speaker at the upcoming "5th Global Summit on Advances in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology" |
| In account of your "Assigning Credit and Ensuring Accountability: An Editor's Perspective on Authorship" ,… | …we cordially invite you to present new research findings at 4th International Conference on Advances in Civil and Ecological Engineering Research Also, could you please help us review one or two papers when you are available? |
| We would be delighted to have you present at this conference as a Distinguished Speaker to deliver a presentation on your publication entitled "Making sense of a pedagogic text" | 5th International Conference on the Future of Nursing and Nursing Education (Future Nursing 2022) Theme: "Advancing Healthcare Transformation: The New Era of Nursing Education, Research and Practice". |
| Impressed by your "Assigning Credit and Ensuring Accountability: An Editor's Perspective on Authorship"… | invited to make an oral presentation to join us for academic exchange on the newest researches on new energy and related fields 6th International Conference on New Energy and Future Energy System (NEFES 2021) |
| With reference to your article "«Secondary students� values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s [sic]»" | We would like to know your interest to present a talk or to attend as a listener at our "6th International Conference on Recycling and Waste Management" |
| are you interested in making an oral presentation in our conference on your new research "Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems "* | the 7th World Congress of Smart Materials-2021 |
| we hope you could present "Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum exemplifying the problematic nature of representin" [sic, as truncated in the invitation]. 1 | On behalf of the organizing committee, we would like to officially invite you to attend and give an oral speech at The 8th Annual Conference of AnalytiX-2022 [focus on topics such as Microscopy and Imaging Technology, Crystallography, Bioanalysis, Material Analytical Science, Advanced Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Chromatography, Sensors and Microarrays, Analysis Chemistry.] |
| we hope you could present "Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum exemplifying the problematic nature of representin" [sic], or you may choose your own topic from the program page | On behalf of the organizing committee, we would like to officially invite you to attend and give an oral speech at The 8th Annual Conference of AnalytiX-2023 |
| regarding your recent work Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems | to deliver a presentation as Speaker/Chair 9th Annual World Congress of Advance Materials |
| Per your extensive research work in 'The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education' | we are sincerely welcoming you to give a speech at this conference 9th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF GYNAECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS (ICGO-2022) or you may present other topics within the fields listed below. General Gynecology Gynecologic Oncology Maternal-Fetal Medicine Obstetric Medicines Reproductive Medicine Pediatric Forum |
| On behalf of the organizing committee, we cordially welcome you to give an oral presentation on your research about Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems… or other recent research. | 10th Annual World Congress of Advanced Materials |
| We find your recent publication "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" | and contacting you personally. If you want to share any research which is un published, if possible please submit by End of the Day… Annals of Otolaryngology and Rhinology |
| Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios | It is our immense pleasure to welcome you to write a research articles in our journal / It would be honor for our journal if you could share your write-up related to the topic mentioned above [left] or whatever suits you the best Annals of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| we are contacting you as we had found your important work entitled Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios, as similar to the current theme Emotional Abuse | We request you to submit manuscript Annals of Psychiatry and Mental Health |
| A hearty appreciation on your published article entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" | I am writing to ask whether you would be willing to present a talk at the conference which will be 30 minutes long Annual Meeting of the Cell and Stem Cell Research, to be held in San Francisco, USA, 2021 |
| A hearty appreciation on your published article entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" | This is a premier international conference of note in the field of Cell and Stem Cell Research; I am writing to ask whether you would be willing to present a talk at the conference which will be 30 minutes long Annual Meeting of the Cell and Stem Cell Research ,to be held in Las Vegas, USA …2022 [Email entitled: Mitochondrial replacement: Cell and Stem Cell 2022] |
| I enjoyed your recent paper with the title Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios | We would like to continue working in this area under your guidance Archives of Palliative Care |
| Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios | ..join us on board as a speaker…an International Conference on "Cell and Stem Cell Research" Stem Cell 2022 |
| We have come across your recent article "The Use of Cronbach's Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education" published in Research in Science Education. We feel that the topic of the article is very interesting. | Therefore, we are delighted to invite you to publish your work in our journal, entitled Frontiers of Mechatronical Engineering We also hope that you can join our Editorial Board. |
| We came across your abstract entitled "Secondary Science Teachers' Instructional Strategies for Promoting the Construction of Scientific Ex". In recognition of your expertise in this relevant field of study, we are pleased to extend this invitation to you as a Distinguished Speaker at this congress | Global Congress on Advanced Satellite Communications 2023 (Adv. Satellite 2023) |
| Given your article "Making sense of a pedagogic text" made us to extend this invitation to you as a Distinguished Speaker | I would like to invite you to the Global Congress on Advances in Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry: Novelty in Addition [sic] Research and Therapy to speak on your on-going research |
| We came across your abstract entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s" [sic] 1 | …an official speaker invitation, to be a Distinguished Speaker at the upcoming "Global Summit on Earth Science and Climate Change" |
| We would be delighted to have you present as a Distinguished Speaker at this conference to give an oral presentation on your publication titled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s". | I'm honored to invite you to speak at the Global Virology Congress 2023 (Future Virology 2023) |
| We came across your contribution published with the title "Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum: exemplifying the problematic nature of representin" [sic 1] and thought it would be an excellent fit at | International Conference and Exhibition on the FUTURE OF PHARMACEUTICS and Novel Drug Delivery Systems |
| We have got to know that you have published a paper with the title [*] and would like to know if you are interested to present an abstract on the same for our conference [* presumably they forgot to enter something here!] | invite you to the "International Conference on Biomaterials and Biofuels Engineering (ICBBE-2022)" |
| I came across your contribution published with the title "Secondary students� values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based s" [yes, the title was truncated there in the invitation 1]… | …and thought it would be an excellent fit at The International Conference on Future of Preventive Medicine and Public Health |
| Based on your valuable contributions to Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems | we sincerely hope that you can be a speaker at Session 8: Materials and Energy in our congress. International Congress on Advanced Materials Sciences and Engineering (AMSE-2020) |
| We appreciate your research work with the title "Making sense of a pedagogic text"which will be appropriate for one of the scientific sessions at the conference. | We are pleased to welcome you for the upcoming "International Congress on Advances in Clinical Obesity and Diabetes" |
Based on your valuable contributions to Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems | we sincerely hope that you can be a Speaker at Session 3-10: Solar Cells in our congress at the International Congress on Optics, Electronics, and Optoelectronics 2020 |
| I could make an excellent contribution based on my expertise and my paper "Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum: exemplifying the problematic nature of representing chemical concepts as target knowledge" | to the special Issue entitled "Mental Health Intervention and Self-Regulation in Childhood and Adolescents" to be published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| We have found your article entitled "Making sense of a pedagogic text" online. | We are honored to invite you to submit your valuable research work for publication in our Journal International Journal of Psychiatry |
| We came through your article entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios"; we appreciate your work and we thought your expertise would be an excellent fit to give a presentation in our webinar. | It is our great pleasure and an honor to invite you as a speaker for International Webinar on Cognitive and Behavioral Neurosciences (Virtual Cognitive Neurosciences-2021) |
| Your publication entitled "English secondary students' thinking about the status of scientific theories: consistent, comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world – or just 'an idea someone has'" is very educative and will be a great source for the scientific community. | Journal of Cardiac Disorders and Therapy is a Peer-Reviewed and Multidisciplinary Research Journal Submit your article before: October 30, 2022 |
| In appreciation to your previous work entitled "English secondary students' thinking about the status of scientific theories: consistent, comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world – or just 'an idea someone has'", | we would like to invite you to publish your upcoming eminent research works towards the journal. Journal of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine |
| Given your accomplishments in your previous article entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios… | …we are especially inviting you to submit your next papers/articles to our journals… Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Reports Journal of Medical Case Reports and Case Series |
| Recommended Title: "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" | to submit their valuable research work for upcoming issue of Journal of Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders |
| Having seen your esteemed article entitled and felt interesting. So, we would like to take pleasure to send you the below cordial invitation. [They did not even remember to insert an article title!] | Journal of Forensic, Legal & Investigative Sciences |
| With great interest, your previous manuscript entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" will serve as a useful resource for future studies, which worth to read & share. | Would you be willing to submit an article… Journal of Human Nutrition & Food Science Special Issue: Nutritional Values |
| After coming across your article titled "Exploring Learners’ [sic] Conceptual Resources: Singapore A Level Students’ [sic] Explanations in the Topic of Ionisation Energy", … | …we felt it very informative and would like to cordially invite to submit any of your unpublished research article, review, short communications, etc, towards the upcoming issue of the journal. Journal of Innovations in Energy science |
| Recently we have gone through your publications, where we found "Teaching and learning the concept of chemical bonding" as a pioneering publication. | we thought it would be the right time to take a chance to invite you for the submission of your article for our upcoming issue. Journal of Innovations in Energy science |
| We came across your article with the title "Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry" and thought to be very innovative. Thus we warmly welcome you to submit your next article towards JMSN. | Journal of Materials Science and Nanotechnology |
| The previously published article with title "Secondary students values and perceptions of science-related careers responses to vignette-based s[sic]", was impressed [sic*] by our journal Editorial board members as the quality of the article is high and found informative. [* no, it was not!] | Hence we are enquiring you to check the possibility of submitting similar or any new (unpublished) article for fast track review process (7-9 days) and publish in our journal. Journal of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine |
| After coming across your article titled "Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry", we felt it very informative and would like to cordially invite to submit any of your unpublished research article, review, short communications, etc, towards the upcoming issue of the journal. | Journal of Otolaryngology Research promotes and publishes the articles for spreading the cutting-edge research in Otolaryngology and Rhinology. |
| …we are glad to mail an eminent researcher like you. We have read your article entitled "Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry" | Being aware of your eminence in the area, we with an immense interest would like to invite a few eminent researchers like you for your valuable contribution for our next issue "Journal of Pharmaceutical Interventions" |
| We appreciate your scientific activities…We have gone through your article entitled "Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry" found interesting | we feel honored to invite you to submit any of your unpublished articles for the upcoming issue October 2021 Edition Journal of Pharmacy and Health Care Outcomes |
| We read your article entitled "Alternative Conceptions and the Learning of Chemistry", which is interesting and informative. | we are inviting you kindly give us your new work for publication Journal of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products |
| After coming across your article titled "Conceptual Resources for Learning Science: Issues of transience and grain‐size in cognition and cognitive structure", we felt it very informative and… | …would like to cordially invite to submit any of your unpublished research article, review, short communications, etc, towards the upcoming issue of the journal. Journal of Psychiatry Studies |
| Your publication entitled "Exploring Learners’ [sic] Conceptual Resources: Singapore A Level Students’ [sic] Explanations in the Topic of Ionisation Energy" is very educative and will be a great source for the scientific community. | Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine |
| Your publication entitled "Is CER best considered a discipline or a field of study? Reply to Hannah Sevian\'s comment" is very educative and will be a great source for the scientific community. | Submit your paper to Journal of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Diseases |
| In appreciation to your previous work entitled "A history of American gifted education, by Jennifer L. Jolly" [a book review!], we would like to invite you to publish your upcoming eminent research works towards the journal. | Journal of Vaccine Research |
| In appreciation to your previous work entitled "Teaching and learning the concept of chemical bonding", we would like to invite you to publish your upcoming eminent research works towards the journal. | Journal of Waste Resources and Reprocessing |
| We have read your recent article, "Student Conceptions of Ionic Bonding: Patterns of thinking across three European contexts" published in International Journal of Science Education. We feel that this article is of high academic value. [Read my response to the invitation.] | Therefore, we would like to invite you to join the Editorial Board of Medical Imaging Process & Technology |
| Re: Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios…" | …This is an official Invitation to join Probiotics 2021 |
| We have gone through your recent article entitled "Secondary students' values and perceptions of science-related careers: responses to vignette-based scenarios" perceived an outstanding knowledge and valuable information. If you could allow us to publish your upcoming manuscript it will surely be an asset to the scientific community. | Scientific Journal of Pediatrics and Child Care invites you for manuscript submission! |
| we sincerely invite you to make an oral presentation with your breakthrough [!] research in Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems | WCSM2022-Singapore (* 7th World Congress of SMART Materials 2022) |
| we sincerely invite you to make an 20-25 mins' oral presentation with your breakthrough research "Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems" | World Congress of Smart Materials- 2023 |
| while presenting about The Use of Cronbach's Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education | we would be honored to invite you to be a chair/speaker at Session 6-10: Environmental Biotechnology at World Gene Convention-2021 |
Alternatively, rather than cite some published work, sometimes organisations just offer vague praise about the excellence of your profile or your eminence.
Note
1 Whilst it may be sensible to truncate long titles of papers, etc., these organisations cut a title in an arbitrary place suggesting:
- this seems to be done by an algorithm that limits the number of characters
- either no human being reads and checks what the machine has done, or they simply see no reason to communicate coherently.
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