Predatory journals: if you know them, avoid them

[By Andrea Manca and Franca Deriu]

Anyone who, as an author, researcher, or academic, aspires to see their work published in scientific literature must be aware of the problem of predatory journals. These are journals that fraudulently exploit the open-access model, motivated not by the intention to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge, but solely and exclusively by profit. 

Predatory journals are characterized by a partial or total absence of ethical and scientific standards, with the result that they quickly publish articles that bypass the peer review process, a crucial step in the critical evaluation of the results generated by scientific studies. A distinctive feature of predatory publishing is the active and insistent solicitation of articles (mail bombing) in exchange for the payment of a publication fee (article processing charge). This strong profit motive on the part of predatory journals is dangerously aligned with the needs of researchers who must publish frequently and quickly in order to increase the quantitative metrics of production and scientific impact of their research. 

Although constantly debated, these metrics (number of articles published, citations received, etc.) are still decisive for advancement in academic careers. The motto “Publish or perish,” first introduced by Swiss historian Carl Burckhardt [1], effectively reflects the pressure that this system places on researchers, whether junior or senior.

The phenomenon of predatory journals represents a growing threat to the integrity of the academic and scientific world. Although still in its infancy, this problem was already present in 2010 and was extensively described by Jeffrey Beall [2], a librarian and expert in academic communication and publishing ethics who coined the term predatory journal and was among the most active in raising public awareness of the economic and educational implications of this distortion of the genuine open-access model. The latter requires authors to cover publication costs in order to make the text of articles freely accessible and available to all. When implemented with integrity, the open-access model allows scientific knowledge to be disseminated on a large scale and promotes the full sharing of research progress, without geographical and economic limitations and barriers. 

However, the exchange of money between the author or their institution and the journal publisher has also opened the door to the creation of a gray area that is exploited by fake journals that exist solely to collect money from authors, and certainly not to broaden the horizons of knowledge. 

In 2019, an international panel of academics and publishers agreed on a definition that can help both professionals and interest groups, such as patients seeking clinical information, to recognize a predatory journal [3]. Based on this expert consensus, predatory journals and publishers have been defined as “...entities that prioritize self-interest over research and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publishing practices, lack of transparency, and the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.” 

As in other sectors of society, such as the economy, the law of supply and demand also applies to scientific publishing. The problem with academic journals is that the supply is so vast that it becomes difficult to distinguish between journals that deserve attention and those that are best avoided. Fortunately, the literature dedicated to the critical study of predatory journals comes to our rescue, providing practical tools that allow us to recognize a potential predator and thus avoid becoming its prey. Among these, there are three that are the most established and informative about the nature of the journal:

Aggressive marketing – A distinctive feature is unsolicited emails sent to academics, urging them to submit their articles or join their editorial boards. This behavior is unusual for legitimate scientific journals and should always arouse suspicion. Another distinctive feature is the adoption of names that sound similar to those of reputable, long-established journals, almost completely replicating the original title to the point of total overlap (journal hijacking).

Lack of transparency regarding submission procedures - Predatory journals often do not provide clear information on their websites about their editorial board, scientific metrics (journal impact factor; Hirsch index), or editorial processes, including peer review procedures or details about publication fees. There is no retraction option allowing authors to withdraw manuscripts that have been submitted or already published. In even more egregious cases, predatory journals use false or misleading names to give the impression of legitimacy or authority in the field. Typically, the authors mentioned are unaware that they have been mentioned or included in editorial boards, and when they discover the identity hijacking, they are unable to have their name, image, profile, and CV removed from the sites. 

Rapid publication - Unlike reputable scientific journals, which require relatively long periods of time (in the order of months) due to the peer review process, predatory journals accept manuscripts in a few or very few days.

The existence of these journals has negative consequences for both researchers and the scientific community as a whole. Academics, especially young researchers at the beginning of their careers or those from developing countries, can be misled by the deceptive practices of these journals. Publication in a predatory journal can compromise a researcher's academic reputation and damage their future career prospects. If researchers rely on such studies to build their own research, they may base their work on incorrect data or inadequately verified conclusions, causing scientific errors to be repeated, particularly for study designs that involve data aggregation, such as meta-analyses and systematic reviews. It should also be noted that predatory journals often have a limited audience, and articles risk being ignored and not receiving adequate attention and visibility. In the most striking cases, the publishers of predatory journals suddenly disappear, with the result that the article disappears from the literature.

Specialized literature on the subject consistently reports some simple rules of conduct that are aimed directly at researchers, both junior and senior. For example, be wary of insistent invitations to submit articles received by email: researchers receive many emails asking them to submit contributions to journals, become members of the editorial board, or give lectures. If you pay attention, you can easily tell that these are spam messages. Always consult the journal's website and make sure that the articles published are of high quality. Check that the journal's peer review process is clearly described and that peer review is actually carried out. In addition, you should try to find out if the impact factor claimed by the journal is correct. In fact, predatory journals have introduced bogus metrics with fancy names such as “universal impact factor,” “UIF,” or “global impact factor,” “GIF,” or “journal impact factor,” “JIF.” 

There are lists of open-access journals that appear legitimate but are not. The publisher's full address must be available. Before submitting your work, you can check whether the journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) [4] or the list of open-access academic publishers (Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, OASPA) [5]. You can check that the journal you are considering submitting your manuscript to is on the list. Another initiative that has become essential is Think. Check. Submit, a simple tool for assessing the integrity of the publisher and verifying the quality of its editorial practices [6]. Submit), a simple tool for assessing the integrity of the publisher and verifying the quality of its editorial practices [6].

Finally, as Jeffrey Beall suggested from the very beginning of this phenomenon, “...use common sense, just as you would when shopping online: if something looks suspicious or like spam, it probably is.”

[1] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/06/05/where-did-phrase-publish-or-perish-come

[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/489179a

[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03759-y

[4] https://doaj.org/

[5] https://www.oaspa.org/

[6] https://thinkchecksubmit.org/