Predatory Publishers |
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Are You Dealing With a Predatory OA Publisher ?
Here are some factors that can help determine if you are working with a predatory publisher , adapted from Jeffrey Beall ’ s “ Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access Publishers ” and the Committee on Publication Ethics ’ “ Code of Conduct ”:
Editor and Staff
• The publisher ’ s owner is identified as the editor of each journal published by the organization .
• The journal does not identify a formal editorial review board .
• Two or more journals have duplicate editorial boards .
• No academic information ( such as institutional affiliation ) is provided regarding the editor , editorial staff , or review board members .
Business Management The publisher :
• demonstrates a lack of transparency in publishing operations
• provides insufficient information or hides information about author fees , offering to publish an author ’ s paper and later sending an unanticipated “ surprise ” invoice
• has no policies or practices for digital preservation , meaning that if the journal ceases operations , all of the content disappears from the internet
Other Questionable Journal Standards and Practices
• The publisher falsely claims to have its content indexed in legitimate abstracting and indexing services or claims that its content is indexed in resources that are not abstracting and indexing services .
• The publisher sends unsolicited requests for peer reviews to scholars unqualified to review submitted manuscripts ( the specialties of the invited reviewers do not match the content of papers sent to them ).
• Papers from other venues / outlets are re-published without providing appropriate credits .
• On its website or in its email , the publisher claims impact factors that are unverifiable through independent auditing , or are false .
• The publisher asks the corresponding author for suggested reviewers and then uses the suggested reviewers without sufficiently vetting their qualifications or authenticity .
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relative to their numbers . Should OA be subject to greater scrutiny because of those few bad actors ?
“ Predatory publishing is a valid concern , but one that is totally out of proportion to reality ,” she said , adding that there are also instances of bad papers being published in paid , peer-reviewed journals . “ You can see that in the number of articles that are retracted because of fraudulent data , manipulated figures , ghost authorship , or peer-review rings .”
“ All industry and businesses are open to such scammers , whether it ’ s publishing or banking ,” Dr . MacCallum said , “ but the existence of these bad actors doesn ’ t mean you should stop banking . The thing to do is to know what you are looking at – bad publishers are remarkably easy to spot .” ( See the SIDEBAR for tips on how to spot a predatory publisher .)
“ There is always a possibility that someone goes into a relationship with a predatory publisher knowing what ’ s going on ; they are looking to game the system just as the predatory publisher is ,” Ms . Rusu noted . “ That ’ s something that we keep in mind . For some people , there is that motivation .”
Preying on “ Publish or Perish ”
The mere existence of an APC is the factor that has allowed predatory publishers to thrive , according to Mr . Beall . He added that young or marginalized researchers may be particularly vulnerable to predatory publishers as they seek to establish themselves in the scientific and medical community .
“ Payments from authors are what have led to the proliferation of predatory publishers , a problem abetted by academic evaluation systems that merely focus on one ’ s number of published papers ,” he said .
The publish-or-perish environment in academia “ is the primary reason that predatory publishers continue to do well , particularly in developing countries ,” Dr . Franco said . “ I recently spoke at a symposium in Brazil on best practices in publishing , and a lot of the attendees told me that they feel there is prejudice in the legitimate publishing community against researchers whose mother tongue is not English . As a result , they find it very difficult to get published in the journals that they are familiar with .”
“ Hapless Victims ?”
“ Greetings for the day !” So begins a frequent email solicitation from one predatory journal .
Cameron Neylon , PhD , former advocacy director at PLOS and a professor of research communication at
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the Centre for Culture and Technology at Curtin University in Bentley , Australia , commented that researchers who get caught in the predatory publishers ’ snare are often viewed as the “ hapless victim , ‘ hoodwinked ’ into parting with money . But really ? I ’ ve no intent to excuse the behavior of these publishers , but they are simply serving a demand . A demand created by researchers under immense pressure to demonstrate their productivity . Researchers who know how to play the game .” 10
Of course , some researchers may be more amenable to the “ come one , come all ” invitation from predatory publishers . Chances are , for every author who is taken in by a predatory publisher , some authors are knowingly engaging with suspicious journals simply because publishing is preferable to not publishing .
As Dr . Neylon urged , researchers need to divest themselves of the idea that they are the victims , either of predatory publishers or of the highly competitive aspect of academia , and be more proactive about curating their researcher careers .
Dr . Franco noted that the acceptance letters predatory publishers send tend to be very laudatory in tone , thus appealing to a potential author ’ s ego . “ People are flattered when they receive these email solicitations full of adulation . They don ’ t realize that these letters are generated by software programs and sent out by the hundreds to potential authors . They don ’ t recognize that it ’ s a spam invitation .”
He also pointed out that young researchers aren ’ t the only ones who can be lured in by predatory publishers ; more established scientists and clinicians can also take the bait . “ I ’ ve seen emeritus-level professors who receive invitations to serve on an editorial board and [ they ] feel honored .”
As department chair , Dr . Franco requests that all of his colleagues forward invitations to join editorial boards to him for vetting . In the long run , getting published in less-thanreputable journals could harm a person ’ s career trajectory .
“ Over time , you don ’ t want your name , or your institution ’ s , to be associated with these publications . Publishing is a market of ideas , and it requires a selection process ,” he said . “ The reality is not all research will pan out or should be published , so we need the selection process provided by legitimate publishers . Otherwise , we run the risk of being overwhelmed by junk science . And is that junk science something that a person wants to be associated with ?”
If a researcher suspects that he or
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she has been duped by a publisher , Ms . Rusu advised shining a light on the publisher through as many outlets as possible – the FTC , OA associations , professional societies , and even local media .
Dr . Rittman directed people to the OASPA ’ s website , thinkchecksubmit . org , as “ an excellent place to start ” learning more about a potential publisher . This campaign is designed to help researchers identify trustworthy journals through a simple checklist to assess their credentials . 11
Dr . Franco advised that researchers ( particularly those for whom English is a second language ) read as many scientific papers as they can , both good and bad , “ to start appreciating a scientific article as a piece of literature . The more you read , the more you recognize the flaws in science and in language . Remember , many predatory publishers don ’ t do any editing to the papers .”
The OA movement ’ s growth shows no signs of stopping , but some research scholars predict that predatory publishers will have a tough time maintaining their ground . The authors of the 2015 longitudinal study , for instance , predict that predatory publishing will soon meet a bitter end : “ We found that the problems caused by predatory journals are rather limited and regional , and believe that the publishing volumes in such journals will cease growing in the near future ,” they wrote . “ Open-access publishing is rapidly gaining momentum , in particular through the actions of major research funders and policy makers . This should create better opportunities for researchers from countries where predatory publishing is currently popular to get published in journals of higher quality .” 2 — By Shalmali Pal ●
REFERENCES
1 . Scott Memorial Library , Thomas Jefferson University . “ What is Predatory Publishing ?” Accessed December 1 , 2016 from http :// jefferson . libguides . com / predatorypublishing .
2 . Shen C , Björk BC . ‘ Predatory ’ open access : a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics . BMC Med . 2015 October 1 . [ Epub ahead of print ]
3 . Beall J . The open-access movement is not really about open access . TripleC Journal . 2013:11:585-97 .
4 . PLOS . Publication fees . Accessed November 15 , 2016 from http :// journals . plos . org / plosone / s / publication-fees . 5 . MDPI . APC information . Accessed November 10 , 2016 from www . mdpi . com / about / apc .
6 . Morrison H , Salhab J , Calve-Genest A , Horava T . Open access article processing charges : DOAJ survey May 2014 . Publications . 2015 ; 3:1-16 .
7 . Shen C , Bjork B-C . ‘ Predatory ’ open access : a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics . BMC Med . 2015 ; 13:230 .
8 . Poynder R . Predatory Publishing . A Modest Proposal . Open & Shut . Accessed November 12 , 2016 from http :// library learningspace . com / predatory-publishing-modest-proposal .
9 . MDPI . Update : Response to Mr . Jeffrey Beall ’ s Repeated Attacks on MDPI . February 24 , 2016 . Accessed November 10 , 2016 from www . mdpi . com / about / announcements / 534 .
10 . Neylon C . Researcher as Victim . Researcher as Predator . Science in the Open . Accessed November 21 , 2016 from http :// cameronneylon . net / blog / researcher-as-victim-researcheras-predator /.
11 . Think . Check . Submit . About . Accessed November 10 , 2016 from http :// thinkchecksubmit . org / about /.
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