What evidence should I send?

Send the journal title, publisher, URL, ISSN, screenshots, emails, fee requests, indexing claims, and a short explanation of the concern.

Will a report automatically create a listing?

No. Reports should be treated as evidence for review, not as automatic proof or final judgment.

Evidence reporting

Report a suspicious journal or publisher

A useful report makes it possible for another reviewer to reproduce the concern. Instead of starting with a label, show exactly what the journal or publisher claims, what independent evidence shows, and when you checked it.

Maintained by the Beallslists.com editorial review team · Evidence reviewed: August 24, 2026 · Current verification cycle: 2026

Before you report

Run a basic verification first. Confirm the journal title, ISSN, publisher and domain. If the concern is about indexing, search the official database. If the concern is an invitation email, preserve the full message and sender details.

You can use the 12-step journal checker to organize the evidence.

Evidence checklist

Journal title and publisher name.
Official-looking website URL and any alternative domain involved.
ISSN/eISSN where available.
The exact claim you believe is inaccurate or misleading.
Screenshot or saved PDF showing the claim and date.
Official database result that confirms or conflicts with the claim.
Solicitation emails, including sender and reply-to addresses.
APC page, invoice, payment request or withdrawal terms where relevant.
Editorial-board names or peer-review promises relevant to the concern.
A short timeline of what happened.

Use factual wording

Prefer: “The journal claims current Scopus coverage, but I could not reproduce the title in the source record on August 24, 2026.”

Avoid unsupported statements such as: “Everyone knows this journal is fake.”

Specific wording is easier to review, correct and defend.

Where to send your report

Send the evidence to contact@beallslists.com with a subject such as Suspicious journal report — [journal name].

For corrections to an existing BeallsLists.com page, include that page URL and explain whether you are requesting a factual correction, added context or a current-status review.

When other organizations should also be contacted

If money has been lost, identity has been impersonated, a manuscript is being held in dispute, or research-integrity issues affect your institution, preserve the evidence and consider your institution, payment provider, hosting/domain provider, relevant database or appropriate regulatory/legal channel. BeallsLists.com cannot replace those processes.

Privacy

Do not send passwords, complete card numbers, confidential patient data or unnecessary personal information. Redact sensitive information from invoices and email screenshots where it is not needed to verify the claim.