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The publisher is not a member of any recognized professional organisation committed to best publishing practices (like COPE or EASE)
The journal is not indexed in well-established electronic databases (like Medline or Web of Science)
The publisher claims to be a ‘‘leading publisher’’ even though it just got started
The journal and the publisher are unfamiliar to you and all your colleagues
The papers of the journal are of poor research quality, and may not be academic at all (for instance allowing for obvious pseudo-science)
There are fundamental errors in the titles and abstracts, or frequent and repeated typographical or factual errors throughout the published papers
The journal website is not professional
The journal website does not present an editorial board or gives insufficient detail on names and affiliations
The journal website does not reveal the journal’s editorial office location or uses an incorrect address
The publishing schedule is not clearly stated
The journal title claims a national affiliation that does not match its location (such as’’American Journal of …’’ while being located on another continent) or includes’’international’’ in its title while having a single-country editorial board
The journal mimics another journal title or the website of said journal
The journal provides an impact factor in spite of the fact that the journal is new (which means that the impact cannot yet be calculated)
The journal claims an unrealistically high impact based on spurious alternative impact factors (such as 7 for a bioethics journal, which is far beyond the top notation)
The journal website posts non-related or non-academic advertisements
The publisher of the journal has released an overwhelmingly large suite of new journals at one occasion or during a very short period of time
The editor in chief of the journal is editor in chief also for other journals with widely different focus
The journal includes articles (very far) outside its stated scope
The journal sends you an unsolicited invitation to submit an article for publication, while making it blatantly clear that the editor has absolutely no idea about your field of expertise
Emails from the journal editor are written in poor language, include exaggerated flattering (everyone is a leading profile in the field), and make contradictory claims (such as ‘‘You have to respond within 48 h’’ while later on saying ‘‘You may submit your manuscript whenever you find convenient’’)
The journal charges a submission or handling fee, instead of a publication fee (which means that you have to pay even if the paper is not accepted for publication)
The types of submission/publication fees and what they amount to are not clearly stated on the journal’s website
The journal gives unrealistic promises regarding the speed of the peer review process (hinting that the journal’s peer review process is minimal or non-existent)—or boasts an equally unrealistic track-record
The journal does not describe copyright agreements clearly or demands the copyright of the paper while claiming to be an open access journal
The journal displays no strategies for how to handle misconduct, conflicts-of-interests, or secure the archiving of articles when no longer in operation
Predatory publishers and journals target researchers with "too good to be true" offers, prioritize profit over quality scholarship, and lack proper vetting and peer review. Researchers who publish in these venues risk damaging their reputations and credibility in their fields.
The following table has questions you can use to analyze if publishers are legitimate or predatory.
Qualities | Questions to Ask yourself |
Transparency |
Is the publisher open about its practices?
Is contact information readily available
Assess the quality of the invitation to publish, but remember cultural differences |
Fees |
Are the author fees clearly explained?
Are they easy to find?
Be wary of potentially hidden fees |
Copyright |
Are the rights of the author clearly explained?
Open Access -- does it have a Creative Commons license?
Does the policy comply with funder requirements |
Peer Review |
Is the process clearly described?
Is the stated time frame for review realistic?
If an impact factor is given, is it correct? |
Editorial Board |
Are the Board members listed? Is there a named editor?
Do you recognize any of the names on the Board?
Do these people know they are on the Board? |
Website Quality |
Does the website look professional?
Are there spelling or other mistakes?
Caution: Be aware of cultural differences |
Indexing |
Is the journal indexed by typical databases in the field?
Are other journals by the same publisher indexed?
Caution: There may be legitimate reasons why a journal is not indexed |
Quality of Previous Publications |
Look at previously published work to assess quality Look for basic errors in titles and abstracts - are the publishers familiar with the field? |
Here is my overview on avoiding poor quality research and predatory publishers:
The most important thing to keep in mind is that legitimate journals can publish legitimate research that may have some of these red flags; if you spot only one or two of these things, you don’t need to automatically dismiss the journal/publisher as predatory. But the more red flags you see, the more likely it is that you are dealing with a predatory publisher.
Here is my overview on avoiding poor quality research and predatory publishers:
The most important thing to keep in mind is that legitimate journals can publish legitimate research that may have some of these red flags; if you spot only one or two of these things, you don’t need to automatically dismiss the journal/publisher as predatory. But the more red flags you see, the more likely it is that you are dealing with a predatory publisher.