NZ Skeptics Articles

Some predatory journals have no sense

Mark Honeychurch - 8 January 2024

Several years ago I poked my head above the parapet by writing a letter to the NZ Medical Journal about crank medical treatments that they were happy to publish (see the bottom of this newsletter for a copy of the letter). Since then my details have obviously found my way onto some dubious contact lists, and as such I’ve been receiving the occasional request to review scientific papers. It’s obvious these requests are for predatory journals, given that they usually flatter me by mis-labelling me as Dr Honeychurch, talking about my “expertise”, and asking me to review a paper that is obviously nothing to do with my day job and actual expertise.

Usually I ignore them, but when I received one a few months ago that asked me to peer review an article that was going to be obvious nonsense, and where they had done exactly zero due diligence in finding out who I am and what I do for a living, I decided that I might be able to have some fun with it. Here’s the email I received:

Dear Dr. Honeychurch M.,

Considering your work in the field, your name has been recommended as a potential reviewer for the journal “CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY”. You are requested to first assess the abstract below, to see if it falls within your field of expertise. If it is does, then please confirm your willingness to review the complete manuscript.

To maintain the quality of the manuscript, you will also be requested to review the revised version, to ensure that your suggestions have been duly incorporated.

Abstract of the article:

Title: ESSENTIAL OILS AS A RESOURCE TO SUPPORT AND CARE FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH OF ACADEMICS AND HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Abstract: Background: Stressful situations, common in the current world scenario, culminate in negative impacts on the mental health. Due to the busy routines, with many hours of work and study each week, academics and health care workers are among the most affected by mood and anxiety disorders, with an increasing incidence of substance abuse. Besides psychotropic medications to combat psychosomatic disorders, other intervention possibilities with fewer reports of adverse effects can be used, such as essential oils (E.O.s). Objective: To conduct a literature review to investigate possible positive effects of selected essential oils on physical and mental impacts arising from stress and anxiety. Methods: A literature review was conducted using Google Scholar, SciELO, and PubMed databases. Original papers that contained clinical research evaluating the effects of E.O.s on physical and mental health were selected. Results: The use of essential oils, most notably lavender (8 studies), lemongrass (6 studies), bergamot (3 studies) and cypress (2 studies), demonstrated to be an effective alternative for the treatment of anxiety, stress, and depression. Conclusion: The use of essential oils is effective in the support of mental disorders and is thus of great relevance to the general well-being of academics and health care professionals.

If you provide a detailed review report on the manuscript within 10 days, you will be entitled to:

  1. 100 points, that can be used for buying any Bentham Science content or availing any Bentham service within the next 12 months.

  2. A Reviewer Certificate will be issued to you after completing the review.

In addition to carrying out this review, we would also like to propose your name, as a reviewer, to be included in the Reviewers’ Panel of this journal, and other journals relevant to your field.

I would appreciate it if you could kindly respond to this message at your earliest since we are endeavoring to provide an efficient review process for our authors. We would request that you send your comments and recommendations, if any, back to us as soon as possible.

Please also note that to expedite the review, this request has been sent to several qualified researchers and once we get the first three commitments to review, we will not entertain any further acceptances.

Should you not want to receive any further emails, please click the following link:

(If you do opt to not receive any further emails, make sure to please provide any other email address that you might be using, to ensure that you do not receive any emails in the future)

With kind regards,

Sincerely,

MAHMOOD ALAM

Editorial Director

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY

The conclusion that the paper has reached - “The use of essential oils is effective in the support of mental disorders and is thus of great relevance to the general well-being of academics and health care professionals” - seems not just very unlikely, but also potentially dangerous. Telling people that smelling lemongrass will treat their anxiety or stress seems dodgy, given what the actual scientific literature says about the lack of efficacy of aromatherapy.

Well, I didn’t really want to spend any more of my time engaging with this nonsense than I needed to, so I figured I could outsource my response to ChatGPT. Here’s what I asked the AI bot to write for me:

I have been asked to peer review a paper called “Essential oils as a resource to support and care for the mental health of academics and health care professionals”. Please write a short response for me saying that I accept, and including puns about essential oils.

After a couple of iterations and a little cutting and pasting, I ended up sending this response through the form they had linked to:

I wanted to express my gratitude for considering me as a peer reviewer for the paper titled “Essential oils as a resource to support and care for the mental health of academics and health care professionals.” I am delighted to accept this opportunity and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this aromatic field.

The notion of exploring how essential oils can provide a scentsible solution for the well-being of academics and healthcare professionals certainly caught my attention. It’s an aromatic journey I’m excited to embark upon, dissecting the nuanced fragrances of research and practice that are often intermingled.

Rest assured, I’ll be putting my nose to the grindstone to evaluate this paper meticulously. I’m eager to inhale the essence of the research presented and ensure that it blends seamlessly with the existing scholarly landscape.

Please feel free to share the manuscript at your convenience, and I’ll start sniffing out those important details promptly. Thank you once again for entrusting me with this task; I’m looking forward to diving nose-first into this olfactory odyssey!

Although I was just shown a blank page when I submitted the form above, within seconds another email appeared in my mailbox, letting me know my submission was successful:

Note: This is a system generated acknowledgement.

Reference#: BMS-CNSAMC-2023-40

Dear Dr. Honeychurch M.,

Thank you for agreeing to review the manuscript entitled Essential oils as a resource to support and care for the mental health of academics and health care professionals for the journal CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY.

We have recorded your ‘Agree To Review Confirmation Note’ as follows:

You will receive the complete manuscript and log in credentials for the online evaluation form, after completion of the necessary editorial requirements at our end. Please note that this may take from 2 to 7 working days.

Kindly address all your correspondence to the Review Manager below:

Fatima Hyder

Review Manager

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY

Note: Please note if you have mistakenly clicked the agree-to-review option, then please reply to this acknowledgement email so that we could disregard your acceptance.

Regards,

Peer Review Department

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AGENTS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY

A few weeks later I remembered that I’d heard nothing back from Fatima, so I emailed her, saying “Please can you let me know the status of my review. I’ve not received any instructions yet.” Sadly it turns out I had been too late to make the cut:

Dear Dr. Honeychurch M.,

Thank you for kindly accepting to review the manuscript. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your message. Unfortunately, before receiving your response the system had already received a sufficient number of commitments and assigned the manuscript to the required numbers of reviewers.

We however, noted that you are willing to review the manuscript and we will offer you another manuscript for review as soon as it is available.

On behalf of Bentham Science, I am thankful for your kindly offering us your services as reviewer.

So, now I’m eagerly awaiting the next daft request to review a pseudoscientific paper. When I receive one I’ll be sure to jump on it as quickly as possible, so that I can have some fun playing with the people who run these horrible journals.