Predatory journals are from unscrupulous Open Access publishers who exploit the author-pay model by soliciting submissions from as many scholarly authors as possible in order to collect a high volume of article processing fees.
We recommend authors work with a publisher:
- who is a member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
- or adheres to OASPA's code of conduct
Resources to help authors distinguish what qualities to look for in an ethical publisher or conference worth attending:
- Think. Check. Submit. Journals. Easy-to-use checklist that researchers can consult when investigating whether a journal can be trusted.
- Think. Check. Submit. Books and Chapters. Checklist for authors wishing to verify the reliability and trustworthiness of a book or monograph publisher.
NOTE: View this brief video (1.44 min) for important questions you should ask before submitting your research for publication.
- Think. Check. Attend. This resource aims to guide and assist researchers and scholars to judge the legitimacy and academic credentials of conferences in order to help them decide whether to attend and provides guidelines that help researchers to differentiate between an authentic conference and one they should avoid.
- Beall's List of Predatory Journals and Publishers includes updates.
- Open Access Journal Quality Indicators is a listing of positive and negative indicators of journal quality developed by the Grand Valley State University Libraries.
- SPI-Hub™ - This resource was developed by the Center for Knowledge Management at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to assess publication practices by compiling data from a variety of sources and providing users with both recommendations for publication and assessment of the trustworthiness of journals in which to publish research.
- Publons Journal List includes conference information.
- Stop Predatory Journals (Conduct Science) lists individual titles, as well as provides a list of possible predatory publishers.
- QOAM is a European resource based on academic crowd sourcing for scientific and scholarly journals which publish articles in open access. Academic authors score the experience they have had with the journal’s peer review and editorial board from 1 to 5 via a concise journal score card.
- Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker - In partnership with Retraction Watch, Anna Abalkina (Economist at the Institute for East European Studies at Freie Universität Berlin) created this dynamic resource. Journals will be added as their hijacked status are determined.
Please Ask Us if you would like us to investigate the invitation or if you have questions concerning the journal quality or the intent of the publisher. We are also seeing unsolicited email to attend and speak at conferences, and would be happy to investigate these invitations on your behalf.
