Scholarly Publishing

Predatory publishers, or low-quality publishers, use a variety of means to persuade or extort authors to publish in their journals but they are not reputable, tend to have below-average citation rates, and contribute little to overall science. They use techniques that may not be readily detectable so educate yourself to identify them and avoid publishing with them.

Center for Open Science 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.” 

Journal title or publisher is unfamiliar 

• Ask  your professors/fellow students if they have heard of it 
• Ask other professional connections 

Lures you in with a too-good-to-be-true offer 

• Compare to conditions of offer from established publishers 
• Look for grammar errors or other problems with language 

Journal title may sound highly respectable 

• Check known titles from Web of Science and check ISSN 
• Check that journal has an impact factor available from the Web of Science (see link below) 

Article submission costs are not transparent 

• A reputable publisher will generally provide this information on their website 

Uses address in prominent city 

• Look at Google Maps to see what the building looks like for the address 
• If Google Street View shows a construction site or a residential building, it’s suspicious 
• Check to see if phone number is provided and is working

Editorial board claims prominent university/research institution affiliation 

• Check if those same universities have them listed as staff/faculty
• Check the ORCiD of the board member if available 
• Confirm board membership from ResearchGate and/or Google Scholar profile 

Review system is unclear 

• Known peer review system or public review system should be used

Journal title not present in Directory of Open Access Journals or other indexes commonly used 

• Use DOAJ to search for high-quality Open Access journals from a curated list 

Publisher should be listed in one or more directories for ethical publishers such as:

• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) 
  • Members bound by a code of conduct 
  • Members focused on Open Access publishing 
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) 
  • Members commit to widely recognized standards of publishing 
  • Not restricted to Open Access publishers 
• Web of Science (WoS) index 
  • Journal index curated by Clarivate, a private company 
  • Journal index requires subscription level unavailable to Saybrook but journal titles and profiles that can still be searched (please create free account)
• Sherpa Romeo
  • Online resource that aggregates and analyzes publisher open access policies worldwide
  • Provides summaries of publisher copyright and OA archiving policies