OFFICIAL STATEMENT AND WARNING REGARDING FRAUDULENT WEBSITE IMPERSONATING THE JOURNAL OF CHINESE LINGUISTICS (JCL)

It has recently come to the attention of the Editorial Office of the Journal of Chinese Linguistics (JCL) that malicious actors are engaged in fraudulent online activities by impersonating our journal. These actions severely damage the academic reputation of JCL and jeopardize the legitimate rights and interests of our scholarly community. To clarify the facts, expose this fraudulent scheme, and safeguard the interests of the academic community, we hereby issue this official statement.

We have confirmed that fraudsters have registered a historical domain name previously used by our journal (https://jclhk.com.hk/), which we have discontinued, and are operating a fraudulent website that illicitly uses the journal’s name and International Standard Serial Number (ISSN: 0091-3723). The editor listed on this website (“Dr. Li Chan”), the affiliated institution, and the articles displayed thereon have no association whatsoever with the genuine Journal of Chinese Linguistics. The core fraudulent tactic involves soliciting manuscript submissions in JCL’s name, sending fake acceptance notices to authors, and directly demanding a payment of 1800 Euros as a purported “publication fee” to a designated account.

We hereby solemnly declare that the current and only official website of the Journal of Chinese Linguistics (JCL) is https://jcl.fah.um.edu.mo/. Any other domain name does not represent an official platform of our journal. To date, JCL’s regular issues have not charged authors any article processing fees or publication fees. Any request for payment made in the name of JCL is fraudulent.

Regarding manuscript submission and correspondence, our journal currently designates the following two official email addresses for handling publication-related matters: jcl2019@blcu.edu.cn (Beijing Editorial Office) and jcl_macao@um.edu.mo (Macao Editorial Office). It is crucial to highlight that, due to recent identification of spoofing risks targeting the jcl_macao@um.edu.mo email address by malicious actors, and to ensure the security of academic communication, the email address jcl_macao@um.edu.mo is suspended for handling manuscript-related matters effective December 18, 2025. All submission inquiries should be directed to the jcl2019@blcu.edu.cn email address.

We urge all authors, readers, and colleagues in the academic community to exercise heightened vigilance and to obtain accurate information exclusively through our journal’s sole official website. All formal manuscript review, acceptance, and revision notifications from JCL are issued via our official email system or the formal submission system (Manuscript Central). For our regular issues, at no point has the Journal of Chinese Linguistics requested payments directly via email. Should you receive any suspicious notification or request, please refrain from transferring any funds and verify its authenticity immediately through our official channels. If you have suffered any financial loss, please preserve all relevant evidence, report the incident to your local police authorities, and inform our Editorial Office. We pledge our full cooperation with any subsequent investigation.

We condemn in the strongest terms these malicious acts of impersonation and reserve all rights to pursue legal action against the responsible parties. We extend our sincere gratitude to our academic colleagues for their longstanding trust and support. Let us work collectively to uphold an academic environment characterized by integrity and transparency.

Sincerely,

The Editorial Office
Journal of Chinese Linguistics (JCL)
December 17, 2025