Engineering 190W - Fall 2024 - Harnick-Shapiro Section

Predatory publishing is not new - it describes publishers or entities that deceive and potentially exploit authors by offering them quick publishing turnarounds and let them believe that they are legitimate publications that they are marketing.  In fact they may be charging outrageous publication fees without delivering any editorial or publishing services common in scholarly publishing such as peer review.  They are publishers who often prey on authors who are anxious to publish or are established authors whose names and outputs they seek to establish some level of credibility. 

Authors may allow this to happen if they::

• Feel pressure to publish on a quick turnaround to meet deadlines for Academic Review
• Do not know the literature well and may be publishing in a new area or are anxious and fail to conduct due diligence about the source
• Are easily flattered by letters containing hype and promise.

In addition to journals, predatory also applies to conferences and the same criteria describes the unethical process of marketing such opportunities.

Reasons to have your antennae up about predatory publishing:

• Associating with these shams brings down the author's credibility, and that of their affiliations and distorts the perceived value of entire subject area or discipline
• Without honest and credible peer review predatory publishing is an invitation for plagiarism and fabricated data, findings & conclusions
• The publications have no impact on the field and thus the author has to explain these professional choices that were made
• Lack of indexing of predatory content makes it difficult to find and share
• Peer review is more a joke than a serious process that is a foundation of the academy
• Immediate or quick turnaround is a red-flag as legitimate peer review usually takes time

What is a predatory journal? 

No clear definition applies to every scenario when identifying a predatory journal.  There are several common characteristics that refer to journals that share the following components and identify those that are predatory:

• Title of journal mimics that of an established journal
• Affiliation of the journal can't be verified - try and contact editorial officers
• Lacks rigorous peer review, editorial, or preservation services
• Lacks any quality control in their selection process of what is published and scope of journal content is of an unusually wide scope; journal issues are composed of too few or too many articles
• Likely exploits open access publication models by charging fees for financial gain - not the traditional author's payment charges or APCs
• Impact metrics and indexing is fake, missing, or bogus & claims information that can't be substantiated
• The eMail communication with potential authors or postings contain obvious spelling & grammatical errors and claims to be following up when no previous communication was made
• There may be no official website for the journal and if there is, it often mimics those of reputed journals and thus eMail addresses are general rather than affiliated with the journal, as a business enterprise - all submissions should be made to the journal's website and not via eMail links or to named individuals
• Polices related to journal publishing is unclear regarding peer review, retraction, plagiarism, copyright, editorial processes, ethics, data inclusion, preservation/archival processes
• Communication is often expressed through flattery rather than business transactions
• Very quick response to manuscript submission
• Editorial Boards contain incomplete or fake information about its members - affiliations are incomplete, potentailly where no relationship exists & is misaligned with proposed journal scope, photos may be photoshopped
• In addition to journals, we see an increase in predatory special issues, conferences, textbooks and other educational resources

Hints that commonly illustrate predatory sources:

• The title of the publication is a permutation or close analogy to an existing established publication or conference to confuse authors
• Letterhead or website masthead appear unprofessionally done - graphics are inconsistent
• Publisher has no portfolio and may be little known
• Correspondence with author is not personally addressed and may include flattery and grammatical errors
• Journal may lack an ISSN to identify the journal and no DOI for each article
• Editorial Board is not fully introduced with full name and institutional affiliation - may rely upon initials and abbreviated institutions
• No mention of copyright or rights in the letter to authors - no clarity about retention of copyright or Open Access or if content can be used for reuse and repurposing - how is data treated?
• Quick turnaround is promised and no explanation of publishing schedule or compilation of articles into an issue/ volume
• Scope of content is vague and too broadly defined
• The handling of the submission process is via eMail rather than through a blind review process in an online submission software package
• Information is scant about publishing process for retraction, corrections or if plagiarism detection must be conducted.
• The costs for any publishing charges are out of sync with legitimate sources and not explained on journal website
• Contains no Instructions for Authors