predatory journals

The term “Predatory Journals” was first coined  in 2010 by Jeffrey Beall, Associate Professor and Scholarly Initiatives Librarian, Auraria Library, University of Colorado, Denver, USA. Predatory journals are the by-product of  the Open Access (OA) publishing movement. They are primarily substandard serial publications produced by deceptive publishers whose sole purpose is of making money out of Article Processing Charges (APCs) by shortchanging authors with their “low-quality, fly-by-night operations”¹.  Despite the claims of  these publishers, articles are published in predatory journals without rigorous peer review.  (from Adelphi Libraries-LibGuides, see more )

References

1. Berger M, Cirasella J. Beyond Beall’s List. Coll Res Libr News. 2015;76(3):132-135.

• The scope of interest includes non-biomedical subjects alongside biomedical topics.
• The website contains spelling and grammar errors.
• Images are distorted/fuzzy, intended to look like something they are not, or which are unauthorized.
• The homepage language targets authors.
• The Index Copernicus Value is promoted on the website.
  
• Description of the manuscript handling process is lacking.
• Manuscripts are requested to be submitted via email.
• Rapid publication is promised.
• There is no retraction policy.
• Information on whether and how journal content will be digitally preserved is absent.
• The Article processing/publication charge is very low (e.g., < $150 USD).
• Journals claiming to be open access either retain copyright of published research or fail to mention copyright.
• The contact email address is non-professional and non-journal affiliated (e.g., @gmail.com or @yahoo.com).

Reference:

Shamseer, L., Moher, D., Maduekwe, O. et al. Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: can you tell the difference? A cross-sectional comparison. BMC Med 15, 28 (2017)