What are the potential threats when publishing an article? Refusal to publish an article, lack of interest from the scientific community, and insufficient citations can significantly affect a researcher's career. In addition, there is a risk of falling into the hands of "predators" – unscrupulous journals that may publish articles without proper peer review or verification. Such publications can negatively affect the author's reputation and reduce his or her credibility in the professional community. In today's article, we will share what factors may indicate that the journal is a predatory one and how to avoid falling for the scam.
Predatory journals: what are they?
Predatory journals – are a layer of unscrupulous scientific publications whose main goal is financial enrichment by providing publication services for a fee. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to recognise them, so often authors publish their articles in them without even knowing about the unethical nature of the journals.
Depending on the nature of the scientific fraud, predatory journals are divided into three main types: pseudo-journals, journals that have lost their credibility, and clone journals.
Types of predatory journals:
- Pseudo-editions: journals that are created from scratch and position themselves as authoritative scientific publications. To add credibility to their activities, they falsify scientometric indicators such as impact-factor, average citation, Eigenfactor and others. They do not adhere to scientific ethics at all and enrich themselves through publication fees.
- Journals that have lost their credibility: publications that were really influential in the scientific community in the past, but have lost their status due to violations of scientific standards, publication of low-quality articles, loss of indexation by Scopus or Web of Science, etc. They try to use their once influential name to encourage researchers to publish their articles.
- Clone journals: these are fraudsters who create copies of prestigious and well-known scientific journals using their name, symbols, corporate colours and slogans. In other words, they try to create an identical resource in the hope that researchers will not recognise the fake and publish their article.
Characteristics of predatory journals: how to recognise them?
It should be noted that there is no universal method for identifying unscrupulous journals. It is important to analyse each publication individually, taking into account a number of different aspects.
1. Lack of information
While checking a journal, it is necessary to look at its website. It usually contains key information about the publication, including:
- the peer review process;
- requirements for article formatting;
- contact details;
- the composition of the journal's editorial board.
This information is important for the author, as it helps in preparing the article for publication. If they are not available on the journal's website, this may indicate that you may be looking at a predatory journal. That is why it is recommended to check this information if you have any suspicions about the integrity of the journal.
2. Reviewing the article too quickly by reviewers
The article review process is an important step on the way to publication, and it takes a lot of time. This is because the reviewer has to carefully check whether the article meets the journal's requirements, and the process may include several stages that can take several weeks.
If the publication sends you the editorial board's decision on publication too quickly (for example, a week after submission), there is a possibility that there was no review at all or that it was of poor quality. Usually, predatory journals publish materials without properly checking their quality, without providing the authors with constructive comments for improvement. In such cases, publication may take place without any selection or evaluation, which casts doubt on the credibility of these publications.
3. Suspicious publication activity
Another marker of the predatory nature of journals is suspicious publication activity. If a journal has been publishing no more than ten articles in one issue for a long time, for example, before it was indexed in Web of Science, and then this number has suddenly doubled or more, this may indicate an attempt to artificially increase the number of publications.
Such rapid changes may be a sign that the journal is more focused on financial gain from publications than on ensuring the high quality of scientific materials. This is a typical practice of predatory journals that publish articles without proper peer review or scientific assessment.
4. Falsification of journal indicators
In order to artificially increase their credibility and prestige, predatory journals resort to manipulating scientometric indicators. For example, one of the most common claims of unscrupulous publications is that they have a high impact factor. However, it should be borne in mind that this metric is used exclusively in the Web of Science database. Accordingly, if at the stage of checking the indexing of a journal you find that it does not belong to the WoS, then the IF indicator is also false.
This principle can also be used to check journals that claim to be indexed in Scopus. The main thing is to check whether a particular indicator is actually used in this database.
5. Mismatch between the journal's subject and publications
If a journal publishes articles that do not correspond to its specialisation or declared core subject, this may be a sign that it publishes materials without proper selection, only for financial gain. Such publications may accept articles from different disciplines, even if they have nothing to do with his or her main area of expertise.
This usually indicates that the journal is more focused on generating publication fees than on promoting research in a particular field. Therefore, if you notice articles that do not correspond to the journal's thematic focus, this may indicate that you are looking at a predatory journal.
Despite the fact that there are many unscrupulous journals in the scientific community, it is possible to identify them. All you need to do is pay enough attention to the characteristics we have described above. Thanks to this responsible approach, you will be able to choose a reliable and reputable journal for publication.
"Scientific Publications" is ready to help you with the publication of your article in Web of Science. Our specialists guarantee a high level of service and constant support at all stages of work. In addition, we also offer post-publication support and free consultation. Fill out the form below and our manager will contact you as soon as possible. Together to new scientific achievements!
