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. These publications charge authors a fee without providing the expected services, such as editorial or peer review, in return. This exploits the Open Access publishing business model in which authors pay a fee to legitimately make their work freely available to the public. 

While there is no single criterion that indicates whether or not a publication is legitimate, the criteria and checklists in this guide can help to identify typical practices used by deceptive publishers. 

Review articles and subject matter

• Read articles from the journal to get a sense of quality
• Does the journal lack clearly defined scope or subject area?
• Do the articles published match the title and stated scope of the journal? 
  • Example: a medical journal that publishes geology papers

Investigate the journal's reputation

• Consult with colleagues; have they published in or heard of the journal?
• Search online for any comments/posts from academics about their experiences with a journal
• Is the journal a member of any reputable organizations or recognized scholarly organizations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) or Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)?
• Does the journal website have volumes that are incomplete, or unavailable for access?
• Are claims about impact factors verifiable? 
  • Predatory publishers may list fraudulent metrics such as "Global Impact Factor" or "Universal Impact Factor" which are not based on recognized methodologies 

Be critical about the journal's marketing and review process 

• Does the journal send unsolicited emails?
• Does the journal promise a quick peer review process or guaranteed publication?
• Is the peer review process unclear, lacking information, or not apparent?
• Does the journal require Article Processing Charge (APC) payments prior to manuscript acceptance? Are the fees clear and easily finable?
  • Open Access journals that require APCs will always ask for payment after acceptance and their fees will be easily accessible.
• Does the journal require copyright transfer during the submission process?
  • If copyright is transferred to a publisher, this will occur after manuscript acceptance. For Open Access journals, most will apply a Creative commons License and in many cases allow authors to retain copyright. 

Review the journal's website 

• Is there clear and detailed information available about:
  • the peer review process
  • APCs (article processing charges)
  • how to contact the publisher
  • the editorial board, including affiliations 
  • author rights, including copyright 
• Does the website state where the journal is indexed, does it actually show up there, and are you familiar with the indexes?
• Is the website design professional looking, with no spelling or grammar errors, or broken links?
• Is the journal's name easily confused with another better known journal?
  • Confirm that the publications ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) matches the title and country of publication listed
• Some predatory publishers include false information on websites in order to appear legitimate, such as using academics' names without their knowledge.
  • Investigate some members of the editorial board. Do they reference their connection to the journal?

Identifying the most exploitative bad-faith journals is important, but does not fully address the complexity of the problem or practices that fall into grey areas. For example, a 'legitimate' journal:

• may not meet certain criteria as a result of being newer, small and lacking resources, or other factors rather than predatory intentions 
• may be duped by authors manipulating the peer review process or fail to consistently provide rigorous peer review
• may engage in questionable practices such as attempting to game their impact factor
• may be purchased by a predatory publisher

Additional Tools:

• Clarivate Analytics' Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is the only source for impact factors. Any journal with an impact factor will appear on the JCR master list (no login required).
• Look up a journal's impact factor with the Journal Citation Reports database (Ontario Tech login)
• Verify claims about where the journal is indexed; for example in Scopus or Web of Science 
• Check COPE members list
• For open access journals, check Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Open Access Scholarly Publishers' Association (OASPA) 
• Retraction Watch: Database of journal retractions maintained by the nonprofit Center for Scientific Integrity

This Guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), unless otherwise noted.