Abstract

Abstract: Academic standards are being assaulted by cyber criminals who have been introducing fake academic journals, which can look to the uninitiated to be publications that comply with the established standards of the academic community. This new form of cybercrime, predatory and counterfeit journals, has impacted the academic publishing landscape and has resulted in some unsuspecting academics being defrauded and having an indelible black mark on their publishing record. It is critical that the all members of academic community be made aware of these new phenomena in order to avoid being associated with them. It is also critical that universities monitor these developments and keep their staff fully informed of the developments in such criminal activities.