Which journals are heading for trouble — before the list says so
Delisting, hijacking and retraction waves leave tracks in the public record months before anyone acts: a sudden flood of articles, citations that come mostly from the journal itself, authorship that moves to a new country overnight, a website that no longer matches the ISSN record. The Radar reads those tracks from OpenAlex, Crossref, DOAJ, the ISSN Portal and Retraction Watch, applies fifteen written rules, and gives you a dated score with every rule and every source on the page.
Rising this week
| Journal | Risk | Moved | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2278-4357 · World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceut | 26 | +18 | Publication volume surge; Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts |
| Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 0250-474X · Medknow | 19 | +3 | Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts; Open-access journal not in DOAJ |
| International Education and Research Journal 2454-9916 · Koryfi Group of Media & Publications | 13 | +3 | Open-access journal not in DOAJ; Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts |
| Jurnal Pendidikan Sosial dan Humaniora 2964-6499 · Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Qur an Amuntai | 8 | +3 | Open-access journal not in DOAJ; Scope spread thin across fields |
| Revue d’élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux 1951-6711 · French Agricultural Research Centre for | 3 | +3 | Scope spread thin across fields |
| International Journal of Health Economics and Social Sciences (IJHESS) 2685-6689 · Universitas Muhammadiyah Palu | 21 | +2 | Publication volume surge; Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts |
Recently scored
| Journal | Risk | Band | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpringerPlus 2193-1801 | 21 | Guarded | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Life 2075-1729 | 16 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Plant varieties studying and protection 2518-1017 | 0 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Agriculture and Human Values 0889-048X | 0 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Economic Consultant 2686-9012 | 15 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Revista Kavilando 2027-2391 | 0 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Journal of Initiative and Transformation Studies 3121-9055 | 5 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Politička revija 1451-4281 | 0 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Revista Científica General José María Córdova 1900-6586 | 0 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Revista Humanismo y Cambio Social 2309-6713 | 10 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Turkish Academic Research Review - Türk Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi [TARR] 2602-2923 | 8 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Energy Research & Social Science 2214-6296 | 6 | Low | 15 Nov 2026 |
How the score is made
Fifteen signals, each a written rule with a threshold, each read from one public source. Points add up to a score out of 100: Low 0–19 · Guarded 20–39 · Elevated 40–64 · High 65+. Fewer than five measurable signals → "not enough data", never a low score the journal did not earn. Re-scored weekly for watched journals; a score moves only when the record moves.
Output has stopped up to 10
Citations mostly from itself up to 15
Citations concentrated in one other journal up to 10
Authorship shifted to a new country up to 10
Retracted articles up to 15
AI-writing signals in recent abstracts up to 12
Tortured phrases in recent abstracts up to 10
Scope spread thin across fields up to 8
Open-access journal not in DOAJ up to 5
No digital preservation on record up to 8
Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts up to 8
Title or website differ from the ISSN record up to 12
Title shared with another journal up to 6
On a hijacked- or removed-journal list up to 40
What it is not
Not a blacklist, not a verdict on any article, not an impact factor. A high score says the public record shows patterns that have preceded trouble elsewhere; a committee reads the signals, then decides. The Journal Trust Rating (Journal Check) answers the other question — is the journal maintained to indexer standard today.
For institutions
Watch every journal your faculty publish in, get one mail the week a band rises, pull scores into your own systems by API, and judge publications against your own policy — the Research Integrity Desk does that.
GET https://scholar.smartscholars.in/radar.php?issn=2456-5660&format=json
