OMICS Journals and Conferences Slapped with 20-year Injunction and $50 Million Fine

A few days ago, a U.S. District Court held Srinubabu Gedela and his companies, the OMICS Group, Inc., iMedPub, and Conference Series, liable for over $50 million. It also issued a permanent injunction against many deceptive practices on the part of this nest of companies and the various other entities through which they operate (such as Allied Academies, Meetings International, and Pulsus). Excerpts from the opinion that describe the deceptive practices and other information are posted on the Flaky Academic Journals blog. 1/

The opinion is significant for editors of OMICS-related journals and authors who place their papers in them. The court was persuaded by the Federal Trade Commission's  "evidence indicating that Defendants’ peer review practices are a 'sham.'" The journals affected by the order include

• Journal of Forensic Research
• Journal of Forensic Biomechanics
• Journal of Forensic Medicine
• Journal of Forensic Pathology
• Journal of Forensic Psychology
• Journal of Forensic Toxicology and Pharmacology
• Journal of Medical Toxicology and Clinical Forensic Medicine
• Global Journal of Nursing and Forensic Studies

The first journal lists Sheila Willis (Forensic Science Laboratory, Ireland) and Jian Tie (Nihon University School of Medicine) as editors-in-chief, and Peter Gill (University of Oslo), Harvey Ho (Alabama State University), and other individuals inside and outside of academia as editors. Special issue editors from the US are Jianye Ge (University of North Texas), Oliver Grundmann (University of Florida), Thomas J Holt (Michigan State University), Harvey Ho, and Jawahar L Mehta (University of Alabama Little Rock Medical School).

The editor-in-chief of the last journal is, again, Jian Tie. Linda Howe (University of Central Florida) is an editor. I have not looked at the editorial boards of the other journals recently, but earlier postings on the Flaky Academic Journals blog list some of the editors of the Journal of Forensic Medicine and the Journal of Forensic Psychology. The Flaky Academic Conferences blog tracks OMICS conferences on forensic science and technology and some pf the speakers there..The conferences are often marketed under other brand names.

These lists likely include people who would be surprised to learn of their alleged roles or who have tried to have OMICS remove their names. 2/ One of the deceptive practices is misrepresenting the membership of editorial boards.

NOTES

1. The posting also notes an interview before the order in which Dr. Gedela suggested that any lapses in peer review and quality control were the responsibility of the unpaid editors and authors rather than the publisher. An Ars Technica report characterized OMICS' conduct as "egregious enough that a judge doesn't even wait for a trial." If "egregious" meant "uncontroverted," that would have been correct, but courts do not grant summary judgment in lieu of a trial because the alleged conduct is flagrant. The court granted summary judgment because the defendants failed to point to acceptable evidence contradicting the FTC's showing of persistent and egregious misconduct.
2. See OMICS Journal of Forensic Research, Flaky Academic Journals, Mar. 18, 2017.