A “scholarly business and management publication” is holding a researcher’s paper for ransom, requesting the author pay to withdraw the article.
The researcher submitted a manuscript in August to the Academy of Strategic Management Journal in August, thinking he had sent it to the Academy of Management Journal. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of seeming careless “rather than recognizing the real predatory nature” of the journal.
The journal’s homepage notes it is indexed in Scopus, but it was delisted in 2021, nor is it indexed in Clarivate’s Web of Science. Its most recent volume contains five single-author articles from nonexistent universities. None of the articles has a DOI or provides an email for the author.
Once the researcher realized his mistake the following day, he asked to withdraw his manuscript. In emails seen by Retraction Watch, the Academy of Strategic Management Journal asked the researcher to pay €1,519 — roughly $1,770 — to “remove your article from our database.”
Two months later, the journal emailed the researcher saying it was “working on” his article and asked if he had any revisions. The email, signed by “Blessy Mertins,” did not address the researcher’s withdrawal request.
The researcher then sent what he termed a “cease and desist” letter to the journal soon after. As of now, the article has not been published.
The Academy of Strategic Management Journal did not respond to our request for comment.
Sang-Bing Tsai, one of the three listed editors-in-chief on the journal’s website, told us he has no affiliation with the “fake journal” which is using his name “without permission.” Tsai said he reached out to the Academy of Strategic Management Journal “five or six years ago” to request his name be removed.
The other two listed editors-in-chief are Shawn Carraher and Roberto Cerchione. Carraher’s LinkedIn profile lists his affiliation with the journal and states he is doing a “post doctoral “Graduate Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship” at Harvard University. A representative from Harvard told us no one by that name is currently enrolled in the program, which does not offer a post-doctoral degree.
Carraher did not respond to our request for comment when we reached out via LinkedIn.
Cerchione, a professor at the University of Naples, Parthenope, similarly lists his affiliation with the Academy of Strategic Management Journal on his LinkedIn profile. Cerchione did not respond to our request for comment.
The journal is published by Allied Business Academies, a company that has been flagged for fake conferences and journals, as reported by CBC News and La Presse. The publisher dissolved in 2024. ABA appeared on Beall’s list of predatory publishers before the site went dark in 2017.
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