In recent decades fraudulent enterprises have begun exploiting the author-pays open-access publishing model for profit. These “predatory publishers” falsely claim to be legitimate publishing houses and charge researchers open access fees, but provide little to no academic oversight, peer review, copyediting or typesetting for the prices they charge. Publishing in a journal that engages in questionable publishing practices can seriously damage the profile of researchers and must be avoided.

Whether it is in a capacity of an author, reviewer or editor, it is important to exercise due diligence to avoid journals and publishers engaging in questionable or predatory practices, or inadvertently support these by providing them with peer review or editorial services. Likewise, care must be taken to avoid citing articles and chapters published by these outlets.

What is predatory publishing

In April 2019, leading scholars and publishers from ten countries reached a consensus definition of predatory publishing:

“Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices. Predatory journals: no definition, no defence.

Characteristics of predatory journals and publishers

The article Predatory journals: no definition, no defence lists the following characteristics of predatory journals and publishers:

• False or misleading information
• Deviation from best editorial and publication practices
• Lack of transparency
• Aggressive, indiscriminate solicitation

Cabell's, a scholarly analytics company, provides an extensive list of criteria to identify “deceptive, fraudulent and/or predatory journals” for the inclusion in their Predatory Reports.

The importance of due diligence and checking multiple sources

Journals and publishers with questionable and predatory practices can infiltrate reputable sources. The citation databases Clarivate Web of Science and Scopus regularly perform quality controls and discontinue sources due to publishing concerns. It is therefore possible to publish in an indexed journal that may be delisted and stripped of Journal Impact Factor/CiteScore. Exercising due diligence is therefore imperative to choosing where to publish as no single list or source can be used to determine quality alone, but using a strategy as outlined in this guide provides a good foundation for an informed decision.

Risks

Publishing your work with a journal or publisher that engages in questionable or predatory practices can compromise your research and career, where risks include: 

• Negatively affects your academic career and reputation
• Reduces the value of your research contribution
• Once your work has been published it cannot be published elsewhere, and you may no longer own the copyright of the work

New developments

In the last few years new risks have emerged in addition to predatory publishers, including paper mills, citation mills and peer review cartels. In some cases, researchers have been blackmailed to undertake peer reviews that request authors cite certain articles as part of increasingly complicated scams which can implicate legitimate journals as well as questionable ones. Any involvement with services that purport to sell citations or journal articles for publication can destroy the careers and personal lives of academics and should be avoided at all costs.