Predatory publishers

Identifying predatory publishers

Best practice is to investigate the most reputable and impactful publishers and outlets in your field and identify the best option for your work from these.

Signs that a publisher may not be the best choice include:

• an extremely broad journal or conference scope
• unusually fast publication times that don’t allow for thorough peer review and editorial processes
• aggressive and indiscriminate marketing
• lack of transparency around policies and practices, fees, and contact details.

Predatory publishers use deceptive tactics like:

• using similar names to reputable journals,
• fraudulently identifying researchers as editors, or
• ‘hijacking’ existing journals.

A number of tools and checklists are available to help but distinguishing between predatory, low-quality, and newly established publishers or journals can be challenging. Familiarise yourself with ethical, high-quality publishing practices and seek advice from experienced researchers in your field.

Tools and resources

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Resources and guidelines on ethical publishing and editorial best practice.
• Think Check Submit A campaign by an international coalition of publishers and scientific societies with checklists for publishing articles, books and book chapters, and conference papers.
• Think Check Attend As above, but with a focus on predatory conferences.
• Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker Information about hijacked journals, including a regularly updated list of titles that have been mimicked by predatory publishers.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) A community-curated directory of high-quality, peer-reviewed open access journals.
• Ulrich's Global Serials Directory A major source of bibliographic and publisher information on academic journals and other periodicals.

Further reading

• Grudniewicz, A., Moher, D., Cobey, K. et al. (2019). Predatory journals: no definition, no defence. Nature.
• Mercier, E., Tardif, P.-A., Moore, L., Le Sage, N., & Cameron, P. A. (2018). Invitations received from potential predatory publishers and fraudulent conferences: a 12-month early-career researcher experience. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 94, 104-108.
• Stromberg, J. (2014, March 23). I sold my undergraduate thesis to a print content farm. Slate.
• Siler, k. (2020). Demarcating spectrums of predatory publishing: Economic and institutional sources of academic legitimacy. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 1-16.