We first wrote about predatory journals as a serious threat to the scholarly community in July 2015 and about the emerging problem of predatory conferences in July 2017. Although there is now greater awareness that such journals and conferences exist and there are more resources available to help identify them, it can still be difficult for authors to distinguish predatory journals and events from reputable ones.
In this updated featured article on predatory journals, we include
Academic publishing has changed tremendously with the spread of open access journals and the shift to online publishing. There are now more journals for authors to publish their work in than ever before. This benefits authors by providing more avenues for publication, but it also puts greater responsibility on them to avoid the serious threat of publishing in a predatory journal.
In this article, we describe the features of predatory journals and answer some questions of the sort that we get asked by authors and by attendees at our author training events. We also summarize some warning signs of predatory journals and give links to resources that we hope will be helpful to you in learning more about this topic.
Note that we use the well-known term “predatory” here to describe journals that are self-serving and intentionally do not seek to provide value to the research community or maintain the integrity of the scientific literature. Other terms in use include “deceptive”, “pseudo”, “fake”, “illegitimate”, “exploitative”, “unscrupulous”, “scam”, “bogus”, and “non-reputable” journals.
And we use the term “reputable” to indicate journals that provide valuable services, follow standard ethical publishing practices, and help to safeguard the integrity of the scientific literature. Other terms in use include “credible”, “legitimate”, and “non-exploitative” journals.
There are many definitions of predatory journals available, but perhaps it can be most simply stated as follows:
"A predatory journal is a journal that deceptively takes from an author."
This concept of deceptively taking from an author can have a number of forms, which we discuss below. Opinions can differ on whether certain publishers and journals are predatory or not, but what is not in question is that the bulk of predatory journals engage in clear fraud.
Predatory journals seek to obtain money from authors (usually via article processing charges [APCs]) to publish their papers (usually open access) but fail to uphold the standard editorial, peer review, or other ethical publishing practices that reputable journals do. They typically conceal, lie about, or mislead authors on fees and the publication process.
The most recent definition of predatory journals and publishers was published in December 2019 in Nature. This clear and comprehensive consensus definition was reached during a 3-round modified Delphi process involving 43 participants from 10 countries in 12 hours of discussion, addressing 18 questions and 28 sub-questions.
Consensus definition:
“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.”
Grudniewicz et al., Nature 576, 210-212 (2019)
Now that we have a clear definition of what predatory journals are, we next need to know how—as authors and reviewers—we can identify and avoid them.
Sometimes you may want to consider publishing in a journal that you and your colleagues are not familiar with: perhaps you received an email inviting you to contribute an article (such emails are sent by reputable as well as predatory journals) or perhaps your paper was rejected so you are looking for a new journal to approach. You’ll need to distinguish reputable journals from predatory journals when deciding where to submit.
Simply put, reputable journals provide all of the following things, and predatory journals don't.
For more detailed information about the duties of journals and publishers, we recommend visiting the COPE website.
Predatory publishers engage in deception to exploit authors. One of the most common forms of abuse is charging excessive or hidden APCs. This type of abuse is, at heart, an attempt by predatory journals and publishers to get paid out of your research funding without providing suitable value in return. However, it's important to distinguish between the APCs charged by reputable open access journals and publishers and those charged by predatory journals and publishers (see our summary of warning signs for predatory journals under Q6).
So, what makes one group reputable and the other predatory? Put simply: quality and transparency.
Reputable journals will uphold the 4 principles listed under Q2, and they will be extremely clear about any APCs or other fees associated with publication.
Predatory journals pervert these principles, often providing falsified information about the readership, importance, and oversight of the journal. In particular, predatory journals are likely to give misleading metrics or lie about their impact factor, editorial board, and content (sometimes going so far as to plagiarize other journals to give the appearance of having legitimate papers). Some predatory journals may even create a very similar looking website or use the same branding of a reputable journal to trick authors into paying to publish with them; this type of predatory journal is known as a “hijacked” or “imposter” journal.
No, there are other types. For example, predatory journals may steal intellectual property through deception, engage in fraudulent or fake peer review, or list respected researchers on its editorial board without their knowledge or consent.
Because APCs are the most direct route to profiting from others' effort, they are a frequent target of abuse, but generally speaking, abuse can occur whenever the journal or publisher fails to fulfill its obligations to authors.
This question is a subject of debate among academics, but predatory journals number in the thousands. There are enough active predatory journals for major funders and organizations to issue advice on how their researchers can avoid publishing in predatory journals as well as any penalties incurred for publishing in them; for example, newly announced policy documents in China state that researchers will be severely punished for publishing in journals deemed to be predatory.
When we first wrote about predatory journals in July 2015, there were 671 journals and 811 publishers on "Beall's List" of predatory journals and publishers. This list was maintained by Jeffrey Beall, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, who tracked one particular segment of abusers: open-access journals and publishers. Beall’s list went offline in January 2017.
The same year, Cabell’s International started two lists: a list of predatory journals, now called "Predatory Reports" (the criteria for which can be seen here), and a curated list of reputable journals, now called "Journalytics". Both require a subscription to access. The list of predatory journals currently includes more than 12,000 journals.
Predatory journals and publishers exist to defraud the scientific community, and they spend a lot of time and effort thinking of new and innovative ways to do so. Still, checking for a few warning signs can often identify them.
Typically, multiple warning signs, rather than a single warning sign, indicate a journal’s predatory nature, and we still need to exercise our own judgement taking into account all of the information we find out. Here are some warning signs of a predatory journal.
The Think. Check. Submit checklist helps authors to decide if a journal is reputable or not.
Also, the AMWA–EMWA–ISMPP Joint Position Statement on Predatory Publishing gives a good summary of 11 characteristics of predatory journals as part of the organizations’ ongoing efforts to educate the scientific community. (The Japanese version is officially translated by our team at ThinkSCIENCE.)
Cabell's A-Z list gives some additional quick tips for identifying predatory publishing practices.
Some good starting points to see whether a journal is reputable or potentially predatory are Cabell's Journalytics and Predatory Reports sections (subscription needed) and large indexing services like Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE (for biomedical work), COPE, DOAJ, and OASPA.
Also, as in many aspects of scholarly research, your peers and mentors are likely to be an excellent source of information and a second opinion. Your institution’s librarian should also be able to advise you (and help you access Cabell’s list if your institution subscribes).
Above all, you need to exercise your own judgement based on all of the information available to you. By keeping in mind what journals are intended to do, and what publication is intended to accomplish, you are less likely to be lured into submitting to a predatory publisher.
At ThinkSCIENCE, we continually strive to set ourselves apart as the best at what we do, and most of the researchers we know do the same. Upgrading the linguistic quality of papers or translating them into high-quality writing lets us help researchers get published in better journals—but it's not the only way we help. We're happy to help if you or your colleagues need assistance with verifying the credibility of a journal or publisher.
Academic publishing fundamentally relies on the integrity of the system's participants: publishers have a duty to support their journals' editors; journal staff have a duty to effectively review submitted manuscripts, communicate clearly with authors, and perform the promised services; peer reviewers have a duty to review adequately and for reputable journals; and authors have a duty to submit ethically conducted research that is free of plagiarism and other ethical violations. When some parties act unethically, however, problems like predatory publishing arise.
We hope that this article has been helpful in making you aware of the issues that should be considered in choosing a journal and publisher, whether for yourself or for your students. At ThinkSCIENCE, we offer support at each stage of the publishing process, so please let us know if you need assistance in selecting a journal or book publisher (or responding to a publisher's invitation to publish).
Latest update: November 2020
Initial posting (PDF version): July 2015 by Chad Musick, PhD
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