Red flags:
Predatory publishers have many known characteristics and signs.
Watch for the following common signs to spot a predatory publisher. Assess the quality of the invitation before you reply.
Use of spam emails or flattering emails to solicit articles or direct email request to submit an article:
- In common, journal do not ask for journal articles
- Email may have typo errors and grammatical mistakes which is unusual
Journal title may be similar to the reputable journals:
- The title may look familiar to you as they resemble some reputable journals or publishers
Journal's Website:
- Poor layout and design
- No contact us or misleading location of the publisher:
- False information about location/affiliations/editorial board members
- Broad subject scope
- Missing standards (DOI, ISSNs)
- If an impact factor given is it correct?(DOI, ISSNs)
- No instructions for authors listed
- No published article available on the website
- Claims to have high impact factor or fake impact factor
- May be a new business. Launching many journals at a time
Peer review process:
- The journal ‘s peer review process or type of peer review is not described or not followed
- Fake peer review process
Article Processing Fee (APC):
- Charges may not be clearly stated in the website or the email
- The charges are hidden until you accept to pay
Timeline:
- Promise of fast peer review and publication
- Lack of transparency about author fees (Article Processing Fee), location
- No realistic time frame
Transparency:
- Publisher's practices and policies are not openly available
- They publish on a wide range of topics
Author rights:
- Author rights is not clearly explained
- If Open access, do they have Creative Commons license?
Editorial Board:
- Listing of fake editorial members
The archived document by Jeffrey Beall consists of criterias which could be used to identify predatory publishers.
Additional tips:
Have received an email to publish your article for a small fee?
- There are many tools available.Use any of the tools to check for authority.
- Ask around your colleagues if they are familiar with the journal/publisher.
- Find out what journals are in your subject to avoid predatory journals.
- Look at previously published scholarly outputs to assess quality
- Ask why if any information is not available or accessible?
- Decide based on your professional judgement
