The open access movement has given rise to many new publishers that employ questionable practices with the goal of profiting from scientific research. These “predatory” publishers solicit articles from faculty through spam emails with the goal of exploiting their desire to publish for the article processing fee.
Common tactics of predatory publishers:
Think. Check. Submit is a cross-industry initiative that aims to help authors identify trustworthy journals. This initiative provides a checklist for authors of what to look for to help you make an informed decision on where to publish.
There is no single checklist that determines if a journal or publisher is legitimate or predatory. However, qualities of reputable publishers include the following:
To ensure that a publisher is legitimate, do some research on the publisher before agreeing to send a copy of your article, and definitely before paying an article processing fee:
If you're not sure if a publisher is legitimate or predatory, be on the watch for the following red flags:
The information contained on this page is from a Predatory Publishing page from the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library at George Washington University.