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Open Access

This guide provides guidance for all disciplines.

What is Predatory Publishing

 

Predatory publishers often engage in unethical and deceptive behaviors that undermine the integrity of academic research. Refer to Think. Check. Submit., a trusted resource developed with support from a broad coalition across the scholarly communications community. Identify trusted publishers for your research • Think. Check ...

 Key red flags include:

Asserting that submitted articles undergo rigorous peer review, when no such process exists.
Listing individuals as journal editors without their knowledge or consent.
Sending calls for papers on behalf of reputable academics without their permission.!
Naming their journals to closely resemble respected, well-established publications.
Hiding publication fees until after article submission, and demanding payment to withdraw manuscripts.
Providing misleading or entirely false Impact Factor (IF) metrics.
Claiming their journals are indexed in reputable databases such as the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) when they are not.
alsely advertising that well-known researchers will participate in conferences to attract attendees.

Anderson, R. (2017). Federal Trade Commission and National Institutes of Health take action against predatory publishing practices.  

Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Journal

File:DOAJ logo.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Consult the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), a comprehensive index of reputable open access journals, and refer to the article A Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing Journal Articles and Its Strategies [Hamzah, Rahman, Sofilda, Nurhaida] for practical guidance and publishing strategies. When considering where to publish your research, use the following questions to assess the journal’s legitimacy and quality:

Reputable journals openly state their aims and scope to help authors determine if their work is a good fit.
Frequent mistakes on the journal’s website, in article titles, or abstracts may indicate a lack of editorial standards.
Legitimate journals list editorial board members with institutional affiliations and provide professional contact information—not generic or personal email addresses.
Be cautious. Most legitimate journals charge only after peer review and acceptance. Submission fees may be a red flag.
Transparent pricing is a hallmark of ethical publishing. Predatory publishers often hide fees until after submission or demand excessive charges.
Verify claims through trusted sources like the Web of Science or Scopus
A reputable journal will describe its peer-review, editorial, and publication workflows in detail.

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