2017.02 | Editorial board | Invitation | Feeling cautious

Dear colleagues,

I have recently received a formal invitation for becoming a member of the editorial board in the “Academic Journal of Geographical Studies”, supported by the “International Association of Scientists and Researchers” (whatever this organization would be…). The email states that the editorial promotes publication of open-access, high standard and peer reviewed research articles in more than 45 disciplines.

I was feeling proud when I first saw this invitation, so I googled the name of the journal and visited their website.  After browsing their website, I have seen that the number of articles published in this journal is neither positive nor negative (I mean, just zero…). After taking a closer look to the other journals of the editorial, I was not able to find a journal with already published articles that could help me ascertaining about the quality of the journal, which is obviously not a good sign.

I wish this new company would become a well-established and independent editorial in the future. Nevertheless, with the provided information, I have not enough clues to ascertain whether this editorial will be either publishing high standard articles or added to the list of predatory open access journals (see more information about predatory publishing here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_open_access_publishing).

I will continue investigating about the evolution of this journal, but for the moment, I am afraid I have to turn this invitation down. In all the cases, the invitation was much appreciated,

Respectfully,

Antonio

PS: Needless to say, I would have love adding an extra line to my CV stating that I am a distinguished member of the editorial board, but I am afraid that I will renounce to this honour…

PS(2): Have any of you heard about this association/editorial before? Your feedback will be appreciated on the comments below.