Publishing has undergone rapid growth in recent years. Scholars may be unfamiliar with the publishers they receive solicitations from and whether the journals and conferences they produce can be trusted. Use the criteria and appraisal services below to evaluate journals and conferences and to avoid publishers with deceptive or predatory practices.
Predatory publishers can be defined as "entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.” (2019 consensus definition).
While many deceptive publishers use an open access per-publication fee business model, it's important to note that open access is not inherently untrustworthy. Open access journals should be judged by the same criteria as any other publication, with a few additional considerations.
Watch the video above from the non-profit group Think. Check. Submit., and see their checklists for assessing journals and books/chapters, which are available in multiple languages.
We recommend the following core criteria for assessing an unfamiliar journal:
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Aims & Scope statement: Does the statement adequately describe the journal's objectives and help you determine if it is a fit for your work? Does it clarify who owns or publishes the journal? Beware if the statement is overly focused on high impact rather than quality.
- Some deceptive journals list editorial board members without their knowledge or permission, so be scrupulous when reviewing the list of editors.
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Caliber of research published: Look over a few articles to assess the quality and rigor of the research reported. Does the article content seem appropriate for the journal's stated scope?
- Go to the section for all articles published, labeled "Articles", "Archive", or "Issues", to view articles published on different dates and to assess the journal's history.
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Author Instructions section: How thorough and transparent is the journal about its peer review process, adherence to publishing ethics, publication fees, and copyright ownership for published articles? Compare this section to that of a trusted journal in your field or to criteria from a credible entity such as the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association.
- Beware of journals promising peer review and publication in 1-2 weeks or requiring you to transfer copyright for your manuscript upon submission or for open access publication.
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Is the journal indexed in services used in your field of research? Check the catalog of journals indexed by trusted databases like MEDLINE (a subset of PubMed), Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus. If the journal is fully open access, verify that it is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Note that Google Scholar and Dimensions Analytics do not vet journals for quality.
See details and additional resources in Appraisal by the Industry below.
Scholarly networking sites such as ResearchGate and social media platforms can be a useful way to learn about other authors' experiences with a publisher and its quality. Consider contacting authors or editors directly as well.
Refer also to the journal selection tools on our Steps to Finding the Right Journal guide, and contact the Library if you have questions.
Exclusion from the services below does not necessarily mean that a journal or publisher is not reputable. Journals that recently began publishing might not yet be included in some resources. Nevertheless, authors should consider:
- Is the journal indexed in MEDLINE (a subset of PubMed), Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, or other trusted literature indexes in your field? Google Scholar and Dimensions Analytics do not vet journals for quality, so finding results there does not guarantee a journal's trustworthiness.
- PubMed includes references from three main sources: 1) Journals indexed for MEDLINE, 2) Journals that submit their full text to PubMed Central (PMC), and 3) Articles deposited in PMC per the NIH Public Access Policy.
- Search a journal in the NLM Catalog to determine its indexing level in PubMed. Limit your journal search to Currently indexed for MEDLINE to ensure the journal has passed NLM's review for MEDLINE indexing.
- If the journal is fully open access (open access is not optional), verify that it is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). DOAJ is a reputable community-funded resource that vets fully open access (OA) journals. Journals where OA is optional are not included. Journals must have been publishing for at least one year or have at least 10 OA research articles to be included.
- If the journal is not indexed, search the publisher name. Publishers with many OA journals but no entries in DOAJ may indicate the publisher is not trustworthy.
- See additional regional OA industry initiatives at Think. Check. Submit.
- Does the journal appear in journal vetting and ranking systems such as Journal Citation Reports (source of the journal impact factor), Scopus Sources (source of CiteScore and SNIP), or SJR?
Beware of unrecognized ranking systems, often designed to mimic established metrics.
If an unfamiliar journal provides an impact factor or CiteScore, look up the journal to verify it.
- Is the journal or publisher a current member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)? If they say they follow COPE guidelines, do you find sufficient evidence of their ethical requirements in the author guidelines?
- If the journal is open access, is the publisher a current member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA)?
- Does the journal have a International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) that can be verified in the ISSN Portal?
Though it happens infrequently, you may find yourself subjected to unethical behavior by a deceptive or predatory publisher. For example:
- You inadvertently submitted your work to the wrong journal, or realized after submission that the journal is not trustworthy, yet the journal demands payment or won't allow you to withdraw your manuscript.
- A journal has listed you as a member of their editorial board without your permission and ignores your requests to be removed.
- Your work has been plagiarized by another author, yet the journal ignores you or refuses to take down the plagiarizing work.
Use the following steps to demand that the publisher take action (see blog post from UC Office of Scholarly Communication for more information)
- Send an email to the editorial or journal contact. Be firm and direct with your language and your expectations about what steps the publisher needs to take.
- Repeat your request if you do not get a response. Emphasize key text in bold and consider putting your message on letterhead as an email attachment.
- Mention the appropriate copyright, fraud, and/or right of publicity laws that may be in violation by the journal's actions.
- If the journal is still unresponsive or refuses your request, let them know that you will report their behavior on social media and PubPeer or to indexing and ranking services as appropriate.
- Fraud may also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).
The COPE Case Library is a very useful resource with abundant examples of publishing ethics situations and how they were handled. Contact the Library for help addressing publishers acting unethically.
The scholarly community faces an increasing number of invitations to present at or attend conferences. Some of these are valid academic events, while others are misleading, exaggerated or even fake. Nature Career describes what attending a predatory conference is like.
The Think. Check. Attend. site provides guidelines to help researchers distinguish authentic conferences from ones they should avoid.
Key questions to ask yourself about any conference include:
- Are you familiar with the society or the association organizing this conference? Beware of conferences that mimic other society names.
- Do you know anyone who has attended this conference before?
- Is it clear what fees will be charged (conference fee, registration fees, etc.) and would these be waived if you are accepted as a speaker?
- Does the website provide clear information about the venue, timeline and agenda?
- Is the Editorial Committee and review process listed on the website?
See the complete checklist as well as the Conference Checker survey tool.
Many publishers send frequent, unsolicited emails requesting submissions to their journals, books, and conferences, often considered spam by the recipient. University of California policy prohibits the campus from being an arbiter of email content, however individuals can set preferences for which messages they wish to receive.
To block an individual or a domain from sending you email, log in to your UCSF Email Quarantine/Digest using your single sign on password, select Lists, Blocked Senders List, then New. Add the sender email address or domain (e.g. spammer.com) to be blocked. See additional guidance from UCSF on avoiding spam.
Visit our Open Access Publishing page for more information or to connect with a scholarly communication expert.