Hijacked journal

A hijacked journal is a fraudulent website that impersonates a real, legitimate scholarly journal — cloning its title, ISSN, editorial board listing, and often its exact look and layout — in order to solicit manuscripts and collect article processing charges (APCs) while providing no genuine editorial or peer-review process. The target is almost always a journal that is real but vulnerable: frequently one that has gone dormant, changed publisher, lost its original domain name, or otherwise stopped maintaining an active web presence, while its ISSN and past indexing record (in Scopus, Web of Science, or similar) remain on record and searchable. The hijacker exploits that residual legitimacy: an author searching for the journal by name or ISSN can land on the cloned site instead of, or even ranked above, the authentic one, and has no easy way to tell the difference without checking directly against the publisher’s or index’s own records.

How journal hijacking differs from predatory publishing

Hijacked journals are a distinct fraud pattern from predatory journals, and the distinction matters for how a researcher should respond:

• A predatory journal operates under its own identity. It may exaggerate its rigor, misrepresent its indexing, or skip meaningful peer review, but the journal itself is not impersonating anyone — it is a real (if low-quality or exploitative) publishing operation trading under its own name.
• A hijacked journal impersonates a different, genuine journal. It borrows a real title’s name, ISSN, and reputation — including, in some cases, an editorial board list copied wholesale from the authentic journal, with no knowledge or consent from the people named — specifically so that authors believe they are submitting to the legitimate, already-indexed venue.

The two patterns can also compound: a hijacked title inherits whatever indexing status the original journal earned, which is precisely the deception’s value to the fraudster and precisely why it can be harder for an author to catch than a straightforwardly predatory journal with no indexing claim to check.

Operational definition

A journal is operating as a hijacked journal when a website is soliciting and accepting manuscripts (typically for a fee) under the name, ISSN, and/or editorial identity of a specific real, previously or currently legitimate journal, without the authorization of that journal’s actual publisher or editorial board. This is distinguishable from a journal that has simply changed publishers, platforms, or domains legitimately — the operational test is whether the current operator has genuine continuity with, or authorization from, the journal’s real publisher of record, which can be checked against the publisher’s own website, the ISSN International Centre’s ISSN Portal record, or the journal’s listing in the index (Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ) that supposedly carries it.

How the fraud typically works

• Domain or identity capture. The fraudster registers a lapsed or similar-looking domain, or builds an entirely new site, and populates it with the target journal’s real name, ISSN, cover images, and often a copied or fabricated editorial board and past table of contents.
• Search visibility. Because the cloned site is newly built and actively optimized, it can rank as prominently as, or above, the authentic journal’s own site in a general web search for the journal’s name — especially damaging when the real journal’s own web presence is thin or outdated.
• Solicitation and fee collection. The clone advertises fast peer review and rapid publication, collects an APC from the author, and either publishes the manuscript on the fake site (with no real review) or simply disappears after payment.
• Borrowed legitimacy. Because the ISSN and journal title match a genuinely indexed title, an unwary author or evaluator may believe the resulting publication carries the real journal’s indexing status, even though the paper was never seen by the actual journal’s editors.

Worked example

An author is invited by email to submit to a journal whose name and ISSN they recognize from a legitimate index. They search for the journal, click the first search result, and submit a manuscript along with a processing fee, without separately verifying that the site they landed on matches the journal’s authentic publisher URL as listed in the ISSN Portal or the indexing database. This is the exact mechanism Retraction Watch’s Hijacked Journal Checker — built on researcher Anna Abalkina’s cataloguing work and covering several hundred identified cloned titles — exists to help authors check before submitting or paying a fee.

Counter-example

A journal that legitimately migrates to a new publisher, platform, or web address — with the change announced by the actual editorial board and reflected in the ISSN Portal and the journal’s index records — is not a hijacked journal, even though its URL has changed and a reader searching for the old address might initially land on an outdated page. The distinguishing factor is authorization and continuity with the real editorial and publishing operation, not simply whether a URL has changed.

How to check before submitting or citing

• Look up the journal’s ISSN directly in the ISSN International Centre’s ISSN Portal and compare the registered publisher and URL against the site soliciting the submission.
• Check the journal’s own listing in whichever index it claims (Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ) for the publisher-of-record URL, rather than trusting a search-engine result.
• Consult the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker, which lists journal titles confirmed to have been cloned.
• Contact the journal or its publisher through contact details obtained independently — not through the site or email that initiated the solicitation — to confirm the submission portal is genuine.

Frequently asked questions

Is a hijacked journal the same as a predatory journal?

No. A predatory journal operates under its own identity and exploits weak or absent peer review for profit. A hijacked journal impersonates a different, real journal’s name, ISSN, and editorial identity to deceive authors into believing they are submitting to that legitimate, already-indexed venue.

How can I tell if a journal has been hijacked?

Compare the site soliciting your submission against the journal’s registered publisher and URL in the ISSN Portal and in whichever index (Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ) the journal claims, and check the title against the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker, which catalogues confirmed cloned titles.

Why are hijacked journals often journals that were previously dormant or inactive?

A journal that has stopped publishing, changed publishers without updating its records, or let its original domain lapse still retains a real ISSN and indexing history, but has little or no active web presence to compete with a newly built clone in search results — making it an easier and more convincing target than an actively maintained journal.

Does journal hijacking relate to paper mills?

They are separate fraud patterns that can occasionally intersect. A paper mill fabricates or brokers manuscripts for placement into journals; a hijacked journal is a fraudulent venue impersonating a real one. Either can be a channel through which fabricated content enters the literature, but the underlying deception is different.

References

• Retraction Watch, “The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker” (retractionwatch.com), built on cataloguing research by Anna Abalkina.
• Retraction Watch, “Exclusive: New hijacking scam targets Elsevier, Springer Nature, and other major publishers” (2024).
• Editage Insights, “Hijacked journals vs predatory journals.”