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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 0975-2366 · SynthesisHub Advance Scientific Researc | 8 | +8 | Articles deposited without reference lists or abstracts |
Recently scored
| Journal | Risk | Band | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Journal of Aquatic Biology 2383-0956 | 14 | Low | 23 Oct 2026 |
| الآفاق اسلامی و تحقیقی مجلہ 2789-3820 | 8 | Low | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Iranian journal of medical physics 2345-3672 | 18 | Low | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Journal of Medicinal plants and By-product 2322-1399 | 18 | Low | 23 Oct 2026 |
| International Journal of Pure & Applied Bioscience 2320-7051 | 18 | Low | 22 Oct 2026 |
| European Journal Pharmaceutical and Medical Research 2394-3211 | 15 | Low | 22 Oct 2026 |
| Journal of Social Work Education and Practice 2456-2068 | 8 | Low | 20 Oct 2026 |
| International Journal of Engineering Research and 2278-0181 | 8 | Low | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India 0304-9523 | 10 | Low | 20 Oct 2026 |
| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 0975-2366 | 8 | Low | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 0250-474X | 16 | Low | 20 Oct 2026 |
| World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2278-4357 | 8 | Low | 19 Oct 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
