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The International Biographical Centre is a publisher owned by Melrose Press Ltd that specializes in producing biographical publications, such as the ''Dictionary of International Biography'', ''Great Men and Women of Science'' and other vanity awards. It is situated in
The International Biographical Centre creates "awards" and offers them widely. In 2004, an award was said to cost the recipient US$495 or £295, but in 2010 the cost could be as high as $395 for a Commemorative Medal or US$440 for a laminated certificate.
The Department of Commerce of the
International Biographical Centre website
* {{Authority control Companies based in Cambridgeshire International biographical dictionaries Vanity awards
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely ( ) is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about north-northeast of Cambridge and from London.
Ely is built on a Kimmeridge Clay island which, at , is the highest land in the Fens. It was d ...
in the United Kingdom.
Government consumer advocates have described it as a "scam" or as "pretty tacky". Its use to support the granting of a US O-1 visa (for '' individuals with an extraordinary ability'') has been described by US employer Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
as purchasing "vanity accolades" to use as "phony credentials", with a warning that "visa fraud is a serious crime" with severe penalties.
In 2007, referring to the International Biographical Centre, the American Biographical Institute
The American Biographical Institute (ABI) was a paid-inclusion vanity biographical reference directory publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina which had been publishing biographies since 1967. It generated revenue from sales of fraudulent certif ...
and Marquis Who's Who, Jan Margosian, consumer information coordinator for the Oregon Department of Justice, warned consumers to be wary and called the companies "pretty tacky", adding "I don't know why they would put you in there if they weren't hoping to get you to buy the book.. "You truly have to look at how they are marketing and what the spin is. It's something you might want to watch out for."
Activity
The International Biographical Centre creates "awards" and offers them widely. In 2004, an award was said to cost the recipient US$495 or £295, but in 2010 the cost could be as high as $395 for a Commemorative Medal or US$440 for a laminated certificate.
The Department of Commerce of the Government of Western Australia
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...
classified the Centre's offers as a scam and said:
:"The material promoting the International Biographical Centre creates a false impression about the credentials of the organisation. It also wrongly implies that the receiver of the letter has been picked through a special research process considering their work and qualifications."
It quoted blog users who describe the publications as a "Who’s Who of gullible people".
Biographical reference books
*''2000 Outstanding Europeans of the 21st Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century'' *''2000 Outstanding Scientists - 2010'' *''The Cambridge Blue Book'' *''Dictionary of International Biography'' *''Great Men and Women of Science'' *''International Who's Who in Music'' *''Men of achievement'' *''Outstanding People of the 20th Century'' *''Outstanding People of the 21st Century'' *''Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century'' *''Who’s Who in the 21st Century'' *''World Who's Who of Women''See also
*Who's Who scam
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of nota ...
References
External links
International Biographical Centre website
* {{Authority control Companies based in Cambridgeshire International biographical dictionaries Vanity awards