Published Without Consent: My Cautionary Tale
10/6/2024
A brief summary about the publication that I never wrote:
Have you ever received a notification that your writing was going to be published in a journal, only to realize it was a complete fabrication? This was my unfortunate experience. A seemingly reputable journal had stolen my identity and published an article on a topic I have no experience with using my full name and email address – without my consent. Even more concerningly inaccurate is that they said in the article that I work at Columbia University.
When did the incident first take place:
This ordeal began a few months ago when I received an email from an open-access journal called the Global Journal of Life Sciences and Biological Research informing me that my manuscript was under review. The funny thing is that I have never submitted to this journal, nor do I have any experience on the topic of biological research. Despite my limited knowledge of biology and my desperate email to the journal to not publish this so-called article (to which I still have not heard back from the editor), the article is now online, and my name is forever wrongly associated with it.
The lessons that I learned:
This ordeal has taught me three valuable lessons, that include:
- It’s crucial to be vigilant and monitor your online presence.
- When you encounter suspicious activity, it’s crucial to take immediate action. Don’t hesitate to contact the parties harming your professional/online reputation.
- Consider documenting your experience and sharing it publicly to warn others, like in this online publication.
Concluding thoughts:
I cannot be the only person who has fallen victim to this kind of identity theft in academia. As a victim in this story, I feel that my situation with this publication represents the dark side of the higher education industry, where the publish-or-perish mentality has warped into a wormhole that pointlessly publishes articles for their own sake or an unknown political reason. But if you have had any experiences like this, I would love to hear from you! Let’s share our stories and work together to prevent such incidents from happening again. Together, we can raise awareness, advocate for change, and protect the integrity of “peer-reviewed” open-access information online.
Here is a link to the article that was published in my name and under pretenses: https://www.longdom.org/articles-pdfs/the-biotechnology-revolution-advancing-science-society-and-sustainability.pdf