International Biographical Centre

International Biographical Centre
StatusDissolved - See External Links Below
Country of originEngland
Headquarters locationSt Thomas' Place, Ely, Cambridgeshire
Owner(s)Melrose Press Ltd.
Official websiteinternationalbiographicalcentre.com[dead link]

The International Biographical Centre[1] was a publisher owned by Melrose Press Ltd that specializes in producing biographical publications,[2] such as the Dictionary of International Biography, Great Men and Women of Science and other vanity awards. It is situated in Ely, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom.

Government consumer advocates have described it as a "scam"[3] or as "pretty tacky".[4] 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 as purchasing "vanity accolades" to use as "phony credentials", with a warning that "visa fraud is a serious crime" with severe penalties.[5]

In 2007, referring to the International Biographical Centre, the American Biographical Institute 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."[4]

  1. ^ "Dubious awards: Sashes and such". biology.ualberta.ca. Biological Survey of Canada. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "International Biographical Centre". scamnet.wa.gov.au. ScamNet. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference scam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "Paying for prestige:the cost of recognition". Vanguard. Portland, Oregon. February 15, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  5. ^ "Oracle ACE's speak out against Foreign Visa Experts". [Burleson Consulting. 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2019. It's easy to spot an O-1 impostor working with Oracle in America - Phony credentials: Many O-1 impostors will purchase vanity accolades from the International Biographical Centre in England