Predatory journals - Part 3
Lakshya Untwal
Co-founder and CEO Textometry Pvt. Ltd. | Medical Communication I Medical Information | Medical Education | Medical Publication | Scientific Writing | Promoting Human Intelligence in The World of Artificial Intelligence
We went through a couple of stories about the predatory journals. In this concluding part we try to understand what are these journals and how can one identify them.
Predatory journals are publications that exploit the academic publishing model for profit, often at the expense of scholarly rigor and integrity. These journals engage in unethical practices that undermine the credibility of scientific research. Although it is not so easy to differentiate between legitimate journals and predatory journals, one can observe some common characteristics of the predatory journals.
Some of the common characteristics of predatory journals:
Not really peer reviewed: Predatory journals typically claim to conduct peer review; however, the process is often superficial or non-existent. Legitimate peer-reviewed journals have a rigorous review process to ensure the quality and validity of published research. The predatory journals will provide a fast response and obviously, it will be positive. The comments from reviewers of legitimate journals could sometime be very harsh and challenge your thought process or the research itself. However, the comments by reviewers in predatory journals, if any, will be cursory and they are okay even if you don’t address them with some straightforward responses.
Questionable publication standards: Predatory journals are primarily work for making profit and are least concerned about maintaining standards, its quantity versus quality. They often accept articles regardless of the quality of content or quality of research. One can find poorly researched or even pseudoscientific content in these journals. The standard legitimate journals on the other hand are concerned for the quality of the work that is going to be published; if the quality does not meet their requirements, they do reject the manuscripts based on quality of research. Although, the predatory journals will state an acceptance rate on their portal, it’s hard to see rejections (unless you deny paying them money).
Exorbitant publications fees: Predatory journals often charge authors a premium for publishing their work. They may charge you for editorial services or dissemination of the research. However, you may find that none of these promises are fulfilled. Legitimate journals are transparent and provide details of how and why they charge a particular amount. On the other hand, predatory journals do not disclose all charges, they may initially just describe open access fees or publication processing fees but once submitted, they may have more hidden charges. They may even charge you for recalling/retracting your paper.
What’s in the names: Names can be misleading and it’s not uncommon to find journal names that seem very similar to each other. Predatory journals adopt names that are very similar to the well-established journals, which can confuse researchers. To make it look like the original journal, their websites may mimic the colors and features. As the predatory journals benefit by misleading potential authors, they may use tool to promote their websites on search engines.
That flowery e-mail: If you have published your work, you should have received an e-mail from of these journals flattering you with the flowery content praising you and your contribution to the field. Predatory journals often send e-mails and unsolicited invitations to solicit articles from researchers, particularly those early in their careers. These invitations have exaggerations about the journal's prestige and trap you into considering it as a preferred journal. Well, we all like to be flattered and called experts in our field, if not for contributing, you could be targeted initially for reviews and or guest editor requests.
Need for speed: The unique selling proposition for the predatory journals is the promise of rapid publication. They have quick acceptance, quick reviews, quick publication. Sometimes the responses are so rapid that the entire publication process completes within days or weeks of submission. Quite contrary to this, the standard journal tends to take several months or even years to complete the same process. Speed of reviews and publication is one of the caveats of the system that opens up avenues for these predatory journals.
God lies in details: Predatory journals may not provide complete information about their editorial board, peer review process, or affiliations. Legitimate journals typically have transparent policies and affiliations. Another trap that these predatory journals have is to lure some researchers as editorial board members. Sometimes just by reviewing one manuscript or giving consent to be added for a while, people get added to the editorial board page. And of course, being an editorial board member of any journal is matter of pride and adds more weightage to CV. So, check if you have heard of these members before or if you have read about their research before. Another check, please make sure the names are correct and exist in reality.
Archived and Indexed: Predatory journals are often not indexed in reputable databases like PubMed or Web of Science. This can make it difficult for researchers to find and cite articles published in these journals. Moreover, being indexed does not guarantee that a journal is authentic and won’t be predatory. There have been instances where indexed journals have showed up in the list of predatory journals.
We all have heard of the story of wolf in sheep's skin. These predatory journals are that wolf wearing cover similar to an authentic, legitimate, standard journal. The predatory journals take advantage of various loopholes or caveats in the system. The rise of predatory journals raises serious concerns as they undermine the credibility of scientific research and can have real-world consequences, such as disseminating inaccurate or misleading information. We will have to be more vigilant and use established criteria to identify and avoid predatory journals when publishing our work.
Please be informed that there are controversies over the list of journals included in some of the resources. Moreover, none of the journals will accept that they are predatory. Of course, some of the aspects of predatory journals are also applicable to standard journals. It is left to your discretion to verify the validity of the lists before you select a journal based on them.
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Some useful resources:
A. Some resources to understand the concept of predatory journals in simple and easy to understand manner
1. Rutgers University Libraries (https://libguides.rutgers.edu/c.php?g=644942&p=5362186) They have made a mnemonic of the word PREDATORY
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They also provide steps to identify if a journal is predatory and the questionnaire can help you to assess if a journal/publisher is predatory.
2. Monash Health Library (https://monashhealth.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=50233726)
Please refer to their infographic that provides A to Z elements of predatory publications.
3. University of Manitoba Libraries (https://youtu.be/crDKooW_2kU)
In the video, they have used the concept of pirates to explain what are predatory journals.
4. Stony Brook University Libraries (https://library.stonybrook.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/29_infographic-expand.png)
An infographic to compare and contrast legitimate vs predatory journals.
B. Some resources to identify predatory journals:
You can also refer to the infographic from the website below:
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