What is Scientia's angle?

June 11, 2020 9:32 AM

As an academic I get a lot of spam, predatory publication invitations, phony conference invitations, etc. I usually delete and move on. Is Scientia simply another thing that will try to get the author to pay for being included or is it a genuine commercial publication? Yes I've Googled and looked at its online presence and at one conversation saying it's a predatory journal but I would like a more definitive answer if anyone has knowledge of Scientia.
posted by nantucket to Science & Nature (2 answers total)

Response by poster: PS To be clear: Academic journals do not contact authors this way; the question is whether Scientia is an authentic commercial publication of academic reprints. I am not publishing with them, I am just curious.
posted by nantucket at 9:34 AM on June 11, 2020

Best answer: It’s . . . spam-tastic!

Wait a minute . . . where have I heard this name before? I did a Paul Alper and searched my blog and found this story of a series of emails from “Nick Bagnall” who at the time had an outfit called “Research Media” that would publish my article for a low low price of “$2,980 USD for the full three page development, this is a required contribution.”

The price is going down, though! I scrolled through their webpage and found this:

[Screencap of pricing info:]

Our standard page cost is £375, this is a tax free amount and covers writing, design, publishing, hosting and dissemination. To convey the research in the most concise way possible, we recommend a 4-page article.

Looks similar to Iris Publications and their recent What's the Deal with Birds? article.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:17 AM on June 11, 2020 [6 favorites]