Dear forum,

I think I have seen posts about phishing publishers earlier here, but I cannot find them at the mo. I have received an offer from LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing to publish my thesis and I am just wondering whether or not this is a scum

Did anyone come across similar offers? Your advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks, Rina

Hi Rina

Myself a few fellow students at my institution were also emailed by LAP a month or ago - clearly a bulk-mailing, with my surname and forename comically misaligned. I don't think their operation is a hoax as such - they probably will publish a thesis on a print-on-demand basis, but their offer isn't based on any assessment of the recipient's work and is effectively akin to vanity publishing, with the added risk that you lose the rights to publish "properly" elsewhere. I'd be pretty wary, but there was a bit of readily available feedback / discussion of them when I googled.

Thank you, Mark B for the quite useful insight. I am going to check with other students in my dept, if they received similar offers. Publishing without peer review - just exactly what an aspiring PhD student needs, eh?

Hello guys, watch out for LAP which also comes under several trading names including VDM Publishing, Verlag Dr. Müller, etc. I suggest you Google this publisher and you'll find a barrage of comments and opinions about the company. The widely held opinion about it is that it is a rogue or vanity publisher. Publishing with them potentially damages your CV especially if you are a budding academic. Faculty search committees are said to bin CVs containing publishing entries with predatory publishers and journals. For similar publishing scam Dr Jeffrey Beall of the University of Colorado Denver, in Denver, Colorado, runs an interesting blog. See:

Dr Beall fascinatingly keeps abreast of the scam which some academics have fallen for. Watch out everyone and don't fall for it.

Dr Pat.

I am happy to report that I also received a request to publish my thesis with Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP). However since I had not completed my doctoral thesis, I published to other works with LAP. I have had a most positive experience with LAP.

The two books LAP has published are 1. A Primer on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and 2. Major Development of Social Issues in Management from the 1900s through to Today.

Anyone who doubts the veracity of LAP to publish their academic work can google the names of both of these books. You find them in Amazon and many other reputable online book stores, and the names of the authors and publishers on them are Hans E. Alagoa and Lambert Academic Publishing, respectively.

Thanks for your contribution Hansalagoa. As one of the original participants in this thread, I feel obliged to respond.

It's not my place to say whether or not LAP is a legitimate academic publisher and there's no need for me to reflect on their business practices when a quick google search will turn up plenty of well-written analysis from those who've spent more time on the subject.

As a moderator on a forum for current and prospective postgraduates who might be approached by LAP I would simply point out the following:

1) Make sure you understand the rights you're giving any publisher of your work. You'll normally need their permission to republish the same research with an(other) academic journal or press and they aren't necessarily obliged to give it.

2) Make sure any publisher or publication you do place your work with is recognised in your academic field. If you aren't sure, ask a supervisor or similarly experienced researcher.

Cheers

Mark

It will not benefit you to publish your thesis with Lambert. Do it properly or not at all.

I get emails all the time from these kind of journals. Its all rubbish.

Publishing, in my field and in every field, is exahusting. The process is exhausting. So when I receive an email from an unknown journal that is happy to publish my work for a hefty price, I am skeptical.

Its the equivalent of a nigerian prince who has a fortune and needs your help to transfer his money. Its rubbish.

I feel obligated to comment here. Based on my experience, I do not agree that LAP is a hoax or a scam. I already published one book with LAP. My book can be viewed in various online book sellers including google books, amazon france, amazon japan, etc. To test, I purchased my book via amazon.com as ordinary customer. I received the book and it appeared good. Before publication, I was asked to buy my book with them in order to reduce the market price. I opted not to release a centavo thinking that the blogs are correct about LAP being a scam. LAP did not force me to buy my book with them and good they publish it even if I did not buy a single book prior to publication.
As to the contract. It says, copyright is retained by the author. The author can republish in part or in whole the contents of the book. However, the Author is deemed responsible for the contents of the book. This is fair enough because the publisher offers free publication. So, being responsible, I have to edit and format it well, i have to ask some peers to review my work before submitting for publication. Flaws are expected in any first edition, however minimal, this is one provision for next edition.
I am working with my next book with LAP. We are still in the editing and formatting stage. Again, reading the contract that I am responsible of the contents, I have to be careful. This second book of mine is rooted from my dissertation. This has been edited and reviewed by dissertation experts in our graduate school.
In conclusion: LAP offers only free services of publishing and distribution. Major editing and responsibility of the contents are given to the Author. Thism I believe is the reason why LAP does not ask payment. Fair enough.
As to royalty. Well, my first book is not a best seller. First year I did not receive any. The second, only voucher worth 24 euro because according to accounting only 7 people bought my book.

To whoever may read this thread: the post above is pure crap.

Wake up! Publication is not only about distribution of information. It is a money making business. With so many publishers coming out of the market, it is normal to have competition. Big ones may try to eliminate smaller or starting publishers.

Who are the scammers? Aren't they the ones who ask authors to transfer or assign their copyright ownership to the publishers or journal? Aren't they the ones who sell for profit without sharing their income with the authors? Let the readers decide the quality of information they read.

Don't judge the quality of research on the basis of the name of the journal or publisher or indexer. This is favoring unfairly one business from others without the benifit of bidding.

Who is guilty of being GULLIBLE? Aren't they the one who judge publications on the basis of suspicion, "POSSIBLY predatory" ? Are we the researchers who judge on the basis of uncertainty? Why can't Baell simply say, "these journals are predatory." WHY? Isn't it because he doesn't have evidence that can stand in court? I read in wiki that Baell is facing legal charges from publishers and that his employer deny involvement.(search for Baell's list at wikipedia).

My goodness to the research evaluators who dismiss research articles on the basis of suspicion, "suspected predatory". Because of the evaluators INCOMPETENCE to prove predatorial, the authors are made to suffer by denying/disqualifying them certain academic ranks. God forgive them for they do not know what these evaluators are doing. Wake up goverment educational institutions!!

In case you missed this, DORA's advice is not to judge the quality of research articles on the basis of the name of the journal (or name of publisher/indexer). Search for "San Francisco declaration of research."

To add: Of course 'predatory' if proven, should not be tolerated. Also, guidance to the public from researchers isimportant so that a relevant criteria is needed to assess the intrinsic merit of the article or book.

Edit: spelling 'Beall'