Greetings, dear colleagues!
Vasily Malets is with you - Director of the Academy of Articles and author of the column "Journals that will soon lose indexing in Scopus."
Today we have prepared the fourth issue of our column for 2025.
Currently, 26 of the 37 journals we wrote about earlier have already been officially excluded from Scopus.
In this issue, we'll examine four journals, including two once-reputable publications. One is in the second quartile (Q2), while the other has a history of over 30 years and has long been indexed in Scopus (and even in Web of Science).
Unfortunately, both publications have lost their academic standards and become completely predatory.
This once again confirms that even the oldest and most reputable journals can stray from their path and be at risk of exclusion from Scopus.
I also remind you: We have a table of journals scheduled for deletion from Scopus, where you can find all the journals I wrote about earlier and their current status.
List of applicants
🔗 Link to Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100228948
🔗 Magazine website: https://www.tpmap.org/
Review:
This publication has long been considered high-quality and authoritative, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, and publishes high-quality materials on psychology. The journal has been in existence since 1994, more than 30 years.
However, since the summer of 2025, the journal has either been sold or has undergone radical editorial changes aimed at profit. In a short period of time, four special issues have been published, containing over 1,000 articles of dubious quality and from various fields unrelated to the journal.
Magazine profile
Quartile: Q4 (also indexed in Web of Science)
Country of origin: Italy
Publication cost: 800 EUR
Main violations
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Publication of articles that do not correspond to the stated topic.
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Mass production of special issues.
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Lack of proper peer review.
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Publishing large amounts of material solely for profit.
Current status
The journal is still active, but the latest articles have not yet been indexed in Scopus.
It is expected that it will be placed on hold in the near future, and then will be excluded with a complete de-indexing of articles (if they are indexed).
Risk assessment
Probability of exclusion from Scopus: 100%
Probability of article deindexing: 100% — due to non-compliance with the topic and gross violations of quality standards.
🔗 Link to Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21101251263
🔗 Magazine website: https://ijees.net/
Review
The journal was accepted into Scopus in 2024 and immediately began actively profiting from publications, offering relatively fast article release times.
While in 2024 the materials more or less met the minimum quality requirements, by 2025 the journal was publishing any work on the natural sciences that did not meet the required quality standards.
In the latest issue, articles are only 3-6 pages long, contain low-quality sources, and lack full references.
Some intermediaries even offer guaranteed publication in this journal within 15 days of manuscript submission, which is an unacceptable timeframe for quality peer review and editorial preparation.
Magazine profile
Quartile: Q4
Country of registration: USA
Publication cost: 590 USD
Main violations
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Significant deterioration in the quality of articles over the past year.
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Lack of proper peer review.
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Quick publication without quality checking and editorial processing.
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Increasing the number of issues.
Current status
The journal is currently active, but may soon be subject to review by the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board (CSAB).
Risk assessment
Probability of exclusion from Scopus: 100%
Probability of article deindexing: 10% — small, since the articles formally correspond to the stated topic. But the risk exists.
🔗 Link to Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21101277885
🔗 Magazine website: https://www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJBAS
Review
The journal was accepted into Scopus in 2025 and immediately saw a dramatic increase in publication volume. In just one year, it published over four regular and three special issues, containing over 300 articles. By comparison, in 2023–2024, the journal published only one or two issues per year.
Magazine profile
Quartile: Q4
Country of registration: Jordan
Publication cost: 600 USD (regular publication), 900 USD (fast publication)
Main violations
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Publishing articles of dubious quality.
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Lack of proper peer review.
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Quick publication without proper verification and editorial processing.
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Increasing the number of regular and special issues.
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Significant increase in the volume of publications for commercial purposes.
Current status
The journal is currently active, but may soon be subject to review by the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board (CSAB).
Risk assessment
Probability of exclusion from Scopus: 100%
Probability of article deindexing: 70% — since a significant portion of the materials do not meet quality standards and the stated scope.
🔗 Link to Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/17600155342
🔗 Magazine website: https://lex-localis.org/index.php/LexLocalis
Review
Until 2025, the journal was owned by the Institute for Local Self-Government Maribor (Slovakia) and adhered to academic standards.
It was later sold to a new publisher, UK Zhende Publishing Limited (UK).
The new owner purchased the publication for commercial purposes and immediately began sending out mass invitations for quick publication. Initially, these were works solely on legal matters, but later the journal declared itself multidisciplinary and began accepting submissions across all disciplines.
By comparison, in 2024 the journal published only 4 issues, while by 2025 their number had grown to 14.
Magazine profile
Quartile: Q2
Country of registration: Slovakia
Publication cost: $1,100
Main violations
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Publishing articles of dubious quality.
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Acceptance of materials that do not correspond to the stated scope.
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Lack of proper peer review.
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Publishing too quickly without proper proofreading and editorial processing.
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Increasing the number of regular and special issues.
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Massive expansion of publications for purely commercial purposes.
Current status
The journal is currently active, but will soon be reviewed by the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board (CSAB).
Risk assessment
Probability of exclusion from Scopus: 100%
Probability of article deindexing: 100% — since the materials do not completely correspond to the stated scope of the journal.
Conclusions:
Dear colleagues!
Today we looked at four publications that are on the verge of being excluded from Scopus. One of them has a history of over 30 years, but this hasn't stopped it from becoming commercialized and declining in quality.
Please remember: any publication may be excluded from the database if it violates editorial policy and quality standards.
Therefore, be careful – thoroughly check the journals you plan to publish in. Read our "Contenders" section, where we warn you about risky publications, and don't hesitate to contact specialists who can guarantee publication and indexing, as does the Academy of Articles.
And, as always, I want to emphasize:
The possibility of quick publication may seem attractive, but always consider the potential consequences - loss of money, time and reputation.
Sincerely,
Vasily Malets, Director of the Academy of Articles
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