{"id":896,"date":"2019-12-06T09:59:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T14:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-cu-sites.pantheonsite.io\/library\/?page_id=896"},"modified":"2025-04-18T11:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:51:12","slug":"predatory-publishing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.clarkson.edu\/library\/research-tools-collections\/guides\/predatory-publishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Predatory Publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a Predatory Publisher?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A predatory publisher is one that “exploits the academic need to publish but offers little reward for using their services.” – From Iowa State University*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Predatory publishing has become an issue in recent years due to the proliferation of open access publishing. While it can take a variety of forms, most predatory publishers are looking to make money and may charge excessive fees to authors. They generally publish lower quality work with little to no peer-review, or very low quality peer-review that does not follow industry standards. They may lie about their product or make promises they cannot keep, and sometimes engage in unethical business practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all open access journals are predatory, but some are. This guide will help you figure out how to spot predatory publishers and separate them from the legitimate higher-quality open access journals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*This guide was prepared in part by consulting Iowa State University’s Understanding Predatory Publishers<\/a> guide.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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Why do I need to avoid Predatory Publishers?\u00a0<\/h4><\/div>
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Predatory publishers may charge money to publish your work, and they may not give you the positive professional exposure you are looking for. Predatory Publishers have a negative reputation, and therefore may not help your scholarly credentials in the way publishing in a legitimate journal does. Additionally, your work may not be subjected to rigorous peer-review. Your work is also unlikely to be searchable through academic databases if published by a predatory publisher, and the publisher may not keep archives of your work long-term.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warning Signs<\/h4><\/div>
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  1. You receive an email from the journal or publisher that contains spelling and grammar errors, or you see many spelling errors on the journal’s website. The email is from a non-professional or journal affiliated domain (@gmail, @yahoo, etc).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. There is no description of the peer-review process for articles, or the description is vague or does not fit industry standards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Rapid publication and\/or short peer-review processes are promoted.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The journal’s scope of interest is undefined or very broad.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. The journal’s name is very similar to other well-known journals.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. There is no article retraction policy or plan for archiving or digital preservation.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. The journal claims to be open access but the publisher retains the copyright or doesn’t address copyright issues.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Publishing costs are not openly disclosed or easy to locate, or are far outside of industry standards.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    How do I research a potentially predatory publisher?\u00a0<\/h4><\/div>
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    1. See if we have access to the\u00a0journal<\/a>. If so, does the database that contains the journal offer any information about the journal’s metrics?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Use the “think, check, submit<\/a>” guidelines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Check out\u00a0Beall’s List\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Retraction Watch\u00a0<\/a>to see if the journal is mentioned.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Start by looking at the journal’s website. Does it contain spelling errors? Does it look like a professional journal?\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Look for their editorial board. Do you recognize any of the names? Pick a few and double check them independently. Are they actually on the faculty of the institution listed? Does their contact information match? Beware that some predatory journals have been known to use faculty names without consent, or to not remove names upon request.\n