South African dietician Elizabeth Fourie storms out of the stuffy conference room, convinced she has been tricked.
It is nearing the end of the "11th Obesity and Endocrinology Congress" – a two-day conference at the Novotel in St Kilda – and Ms Fourie is among researchers and health practitioners who believe they have been duped into paying hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars, for a bogus medical conference.
Some have flown from New York, Malaysia and Sydney, and paid an extra $1000 just to register for the conference this week, run by a company called Conference Series, an affiliate of India-based online publishing empire OMICS Group.
They claimed nearly half of the conference speakers were absent, creating hours-long gaps in the conference. The research was not properly scrutinised, and some papers bore little relevance to the conference's theme, they said.
"I think this was a scam to get me here to pay the money," says Ms Fourie, who spent $1500 on flights from South Africa, $700 for an au pair and $1000 to register for the conference, which her sister helped her pay.
To test the rigour of the vetting process, Fairfax Media submitted a nonsensical abstract to the organisers.
"This database has been curetted [sic] using published methods for all most [sic] all pharmaceuticals," reads the submission, which was the mock abstract on the conference website.
Within an hour, Fairfax Media was contacted by "Angela" from Nevada, in the US, who invited this reporter to present research at a cost of $379. The invitation was refused.
The US Federal Trade Commission charged Conference Series last year with falsely claiming certain academics would present, when "in fact, many of those researchers did not agree to participate in the events".
The Commission also charged OMICS with falsely claiming its online journals follow rigorous peer-review practices and have editorial boards featuring prominent academics.
Melbourne will play host to another 10 Conference Series events over two months, including four next week.
Academics who are junior, in casual work, elderly, or do not speak English as their first language pay to attend to present research, network and claim credit for their curriculum vitae.
However, participants claim they are met with empty rooms, low-rate research and a company that refuses to reimburse the cost of their registration.
Ms Fourie's Melbourne-based sister, Hendrika Jooste, says she will this week lodge a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about the obesity and endocrinology conference, which has been deemed illegitimate by peak bodies the Endocrine Society of Australia and the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society.
Jane Martin, vice-president of Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society, says most medical conferences carry out a rigorous process of vetting research, and she was concerned these events were spreading unreliable science.
"You may be getting people who are less familiar with the evidence and the science and are there in good faith believing that what they're hearing is current practice," Ms Martin says.
Monash University astronomer Michael Brown has warned OMICS affiliates are buying medical journals in Australia, and using the brands as a "front for their business".
National Tertiary Education Union president Jeannie Rae said casual academic staff were vulnerable to companies like OMICS, as they lacked support and were eagerly pursuing opportunities to secure work.
OMICS Group did not respond to Fairfax Media's questions.
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