Scholarly Publisher's Toolkit

There is no standardized definition for "predatory journal, " making it difficult to create a list of criteria or exhaustive lists of journals / publishers to avoid (previously known and blacklists). A widely accepted definition is: A predatory publisher is an opportunistic publishing venue that exploits the academic need to publish but offers little reward for those using their services.

Definition from the Ottawa Consensus (the Nature article linked below): “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.”

• Excessive and aggressive email solicitations? That's a red flag.
• Is the title similar or an exact copy of a well-known title in the field
• An open-access title that claims to be in the DOAJ, but is not
  • The DOAJ has criteria for all journals they index
• Journal website is difficult to locate
• Speaking of the website
  • Note grammar, spelling, and link errors
  • Is there contact information?
  • Are they located in a Country that makes sense given the title of the journal?
• Promises of rapid publication and/or peer review process
• Scope unclear or extremely vague
• Editor(s) not listed
• Copyright policy is unclear
• Peer Review process not explained
• Processing fees are suspiciously low (-$150)
• Are they on a predatory/problematic list (blacklist)?
• Journal is NOT listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals
• Journal is NOT listed in Ulrichs
• Publisher is NOT a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
• Uses the untrustworthy Index Copernicus Value in its promotional materials. 

Some reminders from Iowa State University :

1. Open access publishing is not predatory. 
2. There are different publication standards and practices across disciplines and around the world. 
3. Claims that a publisher is predatory may be grounded in bias or racism. For example, the publisher's country is not a good indicator of quality or ethical practices.
4. Proxy measures of quality, such as Journal Impact Factor, are often selective in nature and biased toward established journals and publishers who benefit from brand-name recognition. Lacking these features doesn't indicate that a publisher or journal is predatory.

• Website is clear & not misleading.
  • Contact information is correct.
  • Links work.
  • Information on the Journal (About Section) as well as Aims & Scopes, Readership, Editors, Peer Review Process, DOI & ISSN identifiers.
• Name of Journal: reflects its origins and is not easily confused with another journal.
• Scope of the Journal is well-defined and clearly stated
• Peer Review Process: Journal is clearly labeled as peer-reviewed or not. Process and policies are listed & clear.
• Governing Body: Editorial boards or other governing bodies whose members are recognized as experts in the filed within the Journal's Scope
• Copyright and Licensing: Copyright Policy is clearly stated in Author Guidelines/Information. If there is a specific Creative Commons License requirement that will be noted.
• Author Fees:  Fees are clearly stated and should easily found by the author prior to the submission process.
• Publication Schedule:  Journal's publishing schedule is clearly defined.
• Access & Archiving: How users access the journal and any subscription fees should be stated. The Journal's plan for preservation in the event that is it no longer published should be clear.
• Revenue Sources & Advertising: All sources of revenue should be clearly stated. This includes any advertising policies or direct marketing activities.
• Belongs to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)

Below are some lists that have been compiled to help researchers identify predatory journals & publishers. These lists are not inclusive and the frequency of updates depends on the hosting site. The lists should be used as a guide/tool and should not be seen as the sole factor when evaluating sources.

Cabell's Predatory Reports Criteria

The following criteria are considered are considered SEVERE:

• Integrity
  • The same article appears in more than one journal.
  • Hijacked journal (defined as a fraudulent website created to look like a legitimate academic journal for the purpose of offering academics the opportunity to rapidly publish their research for a fee).
  • Information received from the journal does not match the journal’s website.
  • The journal or publisher claims to be a non-profit when it is actually a for-profit company.
  • The owner/Editor of the journal or publisher falsely claims academic positions or qualifications.
  • The journal is associated with a conference that has been identified as predatory.
  • The journal gives a fake ISSN.
• Peer Review
  • No editor or editorial board listed on the journal’s website at all.
  • Editors do not actually exist or are deceased.
  • The journal includes scholars on an editorial board without their knowledge or permission.
  • Evident data that little to no peer review is being done and the journal claims to be “peer reviewed.”
• Publication Practices
  • The journal publishes papers that are not academic at all, e.g. essays by laypeople or obvious pseudo-science.
  • No articles are published or the archives are missing issues and/or articles.
  • Falsely claims indexing in well-known databases (especially SCOPUS, DOAJ, JCR, and Cabells).
  • Falsely claims universities or other organizations as partners or sponsors.
  • Machine-generated or other “sting” abstracts or papers are accepted.
• Indexing & Metrics
  • The journal uses misleading metrics (i.e., metrics with the words “impact factor” that are not the Clarivate Analytics Impact Factor).
• Fees
  • The journal offers options for researchers to prepay APCs for future articles.
  • The journal states there is an APC or another fee but does not give information on the amount or gives conflicting information.
  • The journal or publisher offers membership to receive discounts on APCs but does not give information on how to become a member and/or on the membership fees.
  • The author must pay APC or publication fee before submitting the article (specifically calls the fee a publication fee, not a submission fee).
  • The journal does not indicate that there are any fees associated with publication, review, submission, etc. but the author is charged a fee after submitting a manuscript.

The following criteria are considered MODERATE:

• Integrity
  • The title of the journal is copied or so similar to that of a legitimate journal that it could cause confusion between the two.
  • The name of the journal references a country or demographic that does not relate to the content or origin of the journal.
  • The journal uses language that suggests that it is industry leading, but is in fact a new journal.
  • The journal/publisher hides or obscures relationships with for-profit partner companies that could result in corporate manipulation of science.
• Peer Review
  • The journal has a large editorial board but very few articles are published per year.
  • Inadequate peer review (i.e., a single reader reviews submissions; peer reviewers read papers outside their field of study; etc.).
  • The journal’s website does not have a clearly stated peer review policy.
  • The founder of the publishing company is the editor of all of the journals published by said company.
  • Evident data showing that the editor/review board members do not possess academic expertise to reasonably qualify them to be publication gatekeepers in the journal’s field.
  • No affiliations are given for editorial board members and/or editors.
  • Little geographical diversity of board members and the journal claims to be International.
  • The journal includes board members who are prominent researchers but exempt them from any contribution to the journal except the use of their names and/or photographs.
  • Editorial board members (appointed over 2 years ago) have not heard from the journal at all since being appointed to the board.
• Publication Practices
  • No copyediting.
  • Little geographical diversity of authors and the journal claims to be International.
  • The Editor publishes research in his own journal.
  • The journal purposefully publishes controversial articles in the interest of boosting citation count.
  • The journal publishes papers presented at conferences without additional peer review.
  • The name of the publisher suggests that it is a society, academy, etc. when it is only a publisher and offers no real benefits to members.
  • The name of the publisher suggests that it is a society, academy, etc. when it is only a solitary proprietary operation and does not meet the definition of the term used or implied non-profit mission.
  • Authors are published several times in the same journal and/or issue.
  • Similarly titled articles published by same author in more than one journal.
  • The publisher displays prominent statements that promise rapid publication and/or unusually quick peer review (less than 4 weeks).
  • The number of articles published has increased by 75% or more in the last year.
  • The number of articles published has increased by 50-74% in the last year.
• Fees
  • The publisher or journal’s website seems too focused on the payment of fees.
• Access & Copyright
  • States the journal is completely open access but not all articles are openly available.
  • No way to access articles (no information on open access or how to subscribe).
  • The journal is open access but no information is given about how the journal is supported financially (i.e. author fees, advertising, sponsorship, etc.).
  • No policies for digital preservation.
  • The journal has a poorly written copyright policy and/or transfer form that does not actually transfer copyright.
  • The journal publishes not in accordance with their copyright or does not operate under a copyright license.
• Business Practices
  • The journal has been asked to quit sending emails and has not stopped.
  • The journal or publisher gives a business address in a Western country but the majority of authors are based in developing countries.
  • Emailed solicitations for manuscripts from the journal are received by researchers who are clearly not in the field the journal covers.
  • Email invitations for editorial board members or reviewers from the journal are received by researchers who are clearly not in the field the journal covers.
  • Multiple emails received from a journal in a short amount of time.
  • Emails received from a journal do not include the option to unsubscribe to future emails.
  • The journal copyproofs and locks PDFs.

The following criteria are considered MINOR:

• Integrity
  • Insufficient resources are spent on preventing and eliminating author misconduct that may result in repeated cases of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, image manipulation, etc. (no policies regarding plagiarism, ethics, misconduct, etc., no use of plagiarism screens).
  • The journal/publisher hides or obscures information regarding associated publishing imprints or parent companies.
• Website
  • The website does not identify a physical address for the publisher or gives a fake address.
  • The journal or publisher uses a virtual office or other proxy business as its physical address.
  • The website does not identify a physical editorial address for the journal.
  • Dead links on the journal or publisher’s website.
  • Poor grammar and/or spelling on the journal or publisher’s website.
  • No way to contact the journal/only has web-form.
  • The journal’s website attempts to download a virus or malware.
• Publication Practices
  • The number of articles published has increased by 25-49% in the last year.
• Indexing & Metrics
  • The publisher or its journals are not listed in standard periodical directories or are not widely catalogued in library databases.
• Business Practices
  • No subscribers / nobody uses the journal.
  • The journal’s website does not allow web crawlers.