CASE STUDY 131

2014

An email application for member of the Editorial Board was received in October 2014. The email application had short CV of the applicant. The application stated:

“Dear Editor
I would like to join the editorial board of your highly respected journal.
Sincerely
Dr. Peter Uhnemann” 

Following the protocol for enrolling a member of the Editorial Board, a search was made to verify the credentials of the applicant. This included searching for the name of the applicant, institute of the applicant and past published papers.

During the verification, it was found that the applicant “Dr. Peter Uhnemann” was a “…fake person invented by German satirical magazine Titanic.” It was also revealed during the verification process that “Dr. Peter Uhnemann” was listed on the Editorial Board of journals from several other publishers.

Based on the above facts, the application of Dr. Peter Uhnemann for member of the Editorial Board was declined.

Note: The names of authors, journals and publishers have been concealed.