Q: Have I been invited to be an editor for a predatory journal?

Detailed Question -

I was invited by a journal to be an editor. When I asked how they did found me, they replied that they found my homepage, and that they are a company located in India. I registered as I thought it is an honor to be an editorial board member. The journal's name is “Journal of Comprehensive Nursing Research and Care” which is a bit vague. I was asked by them to cooperate and to submit a paper within 1 month. I read an article on Editage Insights about predatory journals, and now I doubt that they are a predatory journal. What should I do?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

I checked the website of the Journal of Comprehensive Nursing Research and Care and found that although the website looks professional on the surface, it is in fact, not so. On careful reading, I found that many of the sections are poorly written and seem to be not even proofread properly. Additionally, there were no articles in the journal archives. A search on Google Scholar turned up about 5 results for articles published in the journal. Thus, my first impression of the journal was not very good. On looking up the publisher, Gexin Publications, I found it mentioned on some predatory publishing blacklists. There is a high possibility that the journal is a dubious one. Hence, it is better not to associate yourself with this journal in any way.

You should not submit your paper to this journal. In fact, you should immediately send them an email saying that you do not want your name to be on their editorial board. Do not give in to any temptation and make sure you don't have any association with them as this might be damaging for your reputation.

Recommended reading:

How to identify predatory publishers- A Checklist