The good news is that the pound is collapsing so this particular publishing scam is not as expensive as you might think!

A colleague received the following email:

*From:* ** <**@**>
*Date:* November 11, 2022 at 6:43:40 AM EST
*To:* **
*Subject:* *A podcast about – ***

Dear Dr. **,

My name is ** with **, based in the UK. I hope you do not mind my sending you a brief email referencing some of your recent work.

I’m a creative manager for **.org – a new podcast service for the research community that works with researchers, to connect their work to peers and a broad, engaged online audience.

** improves research impact and AltMetric scores. When it comes to improving impact and dissemination, podcasts released with a new publication or as part of a projects knowledge transfer strategy.

I believe our productions could have a real benefit to your work either now, or in the future.

**’s mission is covered in detail on our website:

https://www.**.org

We provide lots of information about how we work, the cost and benefits of working with us.You can also find past episodes and interviews we’ve conducted on topics ranging from heart surgery to media analysis.

Our Podcast offering is very straightforward, and requires only a little of your time:

– We request background details of the work to be covered within the podcast
– Our scientific script writers shall then create a 1500 word script based on this work, in a language the broader audience can understand and connect with
– We send the script back to you, for your approval
– We then edit, polish and record the podcast – using a range of professional voice actors
– The podcast is then released across the worlds leading podcast distributors
– We promote this content to a huge global audience, whilst linking the podcast release back to your most recent work
– You receive an Impact Report, breaking down listenership data, and how that’s translated into AltMetric/other impact scores

Would you consider this sort of service for your paper **?

As you can see, the production process is time-effective, yet professional and impactful.

Could we discuss the possibility of developing a Podcast to better help promote your ongoing work?

I would be delighted to discuss the process, along with the benefits a Podcast production will bring.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to speaking again with you soon.

Best wishes,

**
Partnership Executive
**

T: +44 (0) **
W: https://www.**.org
E: **

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This email may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. It may not be used by, or its contents copied or disclosed to, persons other than the address(ees). If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the email.

Whilst ** has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the risk of viruses, we cannot accept liability for any damage that is sustained as a result of software viruses which may be contained in this email.

If you do not wish to receive emails from ** in the future please reply to this email with ‘remove’ in the subject line.

Another colleague replied:

They forgot to mention the cost in the email:
£445 if they read the transcript and £990 if they interview you.

Oh, yeah, also the “some of my recent work” that they referred to is super-technical and could never possibly be the subject of a podcast. I guess this company is just scraping Arxiv.

I love that “Whilst” think near the end, though. There’s something about the British language that just seems so classy!

3 thoughts on “The good news is that the pound is collapsing so this particular publishing scam is not as expensive as you might think!

  1. I love that you included their stern warning about the “privileged [and] confidential” nature of their message. I often see such warnings at the bottom of emails from academic colleagues, even from public universities whose email services are subject to freedom of information disclosures. I have, on occasion, attempted to explain that such warnings are of no legal import, and that there are very few circumstances in which an email may not be freely and legally publicized, but to no avail.

    Inspired, in part, by an email from a colleague at a public university in Florida, who included the warning that all emails sent to his university are public records, I have for some years included the following at the bottom of my own emails:

    Please note: Statements at the bottom of an email message cannot ensure the confidentiality of the message. Never include in an email message anything that you would not be happy to see on the front page of The New York Times.

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