Predatory Publications: What they are and how to avoid them Research Office, Telfer School of Management

2018

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Predatory journals and predatory conferences: What you should know

Predatoryjournalsandconferencesrepresentathreattotheintegrityofscholarlyworkastheirnumbersgrowexponentially.Publishinginpredatoryjournalsandpresentingatpredatoryconferencesisharmfultothereputationofresearchersandtheirinstitutions,anditmayhaveanegativeimpactontheirabilitytoattractresearchfunding.

Thepurposeofthisguideistohelpidentifypredatoryconferencesandpredatoryjournalsandtoprovidealistofavailableresourcesformakinginformedchoices.Consideringthatmethodsandtacticsofsolicitingsubmissionstopredatoryjournalsandconferenceschangeconstantlyandrapidly,thisdocumentservesasageneralguideandnotasanauthoritativetoolfordecisionmaking.Pleasedoyourhomeworkbeforesubmittingresearchresults.

Definitions

Apredatoryjournalisajournalthatpromotesitselfasalegitimateopen-accessjournalwithveryquickturnaroundtimeandusuallylowpublicationfees.Itpromisesafast“review”process,andahighacceptancerate–bothachievedthroughquestionablepeer-reviewpractices.Apredatoryjournalalsomasqueradesaslegitimatebyhavingaquestionableeditorialboardandbyproviding“impact”measuresthatarenotrecognizedby,forexample,Scopus,WebofScienceorScimago.

Apredatoryconferenceisaneventsetuptoresemblealegitimatescientificconference,offeringsomeformofrefereedconferenceproceedings.Itmayofferpublicationofpapersinaffiliated(predatory)journalsbutnotalways.Apredatoryconferenceisoftenpartofalargemulti-conferenceeventfeaturingquestionablekeynoteandinvitedspeakersthatmaynotbetopresearchersintheirfields.Theeventismarketedprimarilyforvenuelocation.

Abovebroaddefinitionswerecreatedusingthefollowingsources:

PredatorypublishingandconferencescriteriafromtheBeall’slist:http://beallslist.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/9/5/30958339/criteria-2015.pdf

D.Moheretal.,“Stopthiswasteofpeople,animalsandmoney,”Nature2017;549(7670):23-25.

D.MoherandE.Moher,“Stoppredatorypublishersnow:Actcollaboratively,”AnnalsofInternalMedicine2016;164(9):616-617.

D.MoherandA.Srivastave,“Youareinvitedtosubmit…,”BMCMedicine2015;13:180.

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Main Features

Thefeatureslistedbelowarenotexhaustiveandshouldserveasafirstchecklisttobeusedwhenconsideringaconferencetoattendorajournaltowhichtosubmitscholarlywork.

Itisimportanttonote,however,thatpredatoryoutletsarebecomingincreasinglybetterathidingordownplayingtheirpredatorystatus.Whensubmittingworktoalesser-knownoutlet,itisadvisabletoconsultthelibrarianattheTelferSchoolofManagementortheUniversityofOttawaandtheResearchOfficeattheTelferSchoolofManagement.

Predatoryjournal

- Solicitssubmissionsviae-mailcampaigns- Addressese-mailcorrespondencepersonallytoaresearcherand/ormentionsrecipient’spast

researchinthebodyofthee-mail- OftenproudlymentionsthatthejournalisindexedbyCabelldirectory,LibraryofCongress,etc.- Doesnothavetransparenteditorialandpeer-reviewprocess- Hasnonprofessionalwebportalandsubmissionguidelines- Offersveryquickturnaroundtimeinacceptingsubmissions- Listseditorialboardofmade-upmembers- Providescontactinformationthatisinsufficientorverydifficulttoverify- Makesfalseclaimsregardingimpactfactororprovidesfakebibliometrics- IsnotindexedonScopus,WebofScienceandsimilarbibliographicdatabases- Requireslump-sumorperpagepublicationfees(nottobeconfusedwithtotallylegitimatenon-

refundablesubmissionfees)afterthepaperisacceptedwithoutanoptionofafreepublicationinnon-open-accessformat.

Predatoryconference

- Solicitssubmissionsviaaggressivee-mailcampaign- Addressese-mailcorrespondencepersonallytoaresearcherand/ormentionsrecipient’spast

researchinthebodyofthee-mail- Invitesresearchertobeaninvitedspeaker,distinguishedspeaker,etc.- Makesacceptancedecisionveryfastand/orhasarollingacceptancedecisionpolicy- Oftenrunasamulti-conferenceeventwithdiversifiedrangeoftopics- Hasascientificcommitteecomposedofeitherfakemembersorpeoplecompletelyunknownin

theconference’sacademicdomain- Ispromotedasatouristattractionmorethananacademicevent.

Resources Thereareanumberofdifferentresourcesthatshouldhelpidentifypredatoryjournalsorconferences.Someofthemarelistedbelow.

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TheCentreforJournalologyattheOttawaHospitalResearchInstitutehasanonlineguidetohelpindecidingwheretosubmitapaper.Thisguideisfocusedonmedical/clinical/healthservicespublicationsbutincludesveryusefulinformationforotherdomains:http://www.ohri.ca/journalology/submission.aspx

TheSCImagoJournal&CountryRankisapubliclyavailableportalthatliststhejournalsandcountryscientificindicatorsdevelopedfromtheinformationcontainedintheScopus®database.ThisportalismaintainedbyaresearchgroupfromtheConsejoSuperiordeInvestigacionesCientíficas,UniversityofGranada,Extremadura,CarlosIII(Madrid)andAlcaládeHenares.http://www.scimagojr.com

WebofScienceisadatabaseproducedbyClarivateAnalyticsthatlistsacademicjournalsandcalculatestheirimpactfactor.ItcanbeaccessedforfreethroughtheLibraryoftheUniversityofOttawa.https://apps.webofknowledge.com/WOS_GeneralSearch_input.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&SID=8Dz2onCIkXqR8lywLtB&preferencesSaved

TheLibraryattheUniversityofOttawamaintainsawebsitetohelpresearchersbeawareofpredatorypublishers.TheScholarlyCommunicationLibrariancontactinformationisshownatthebottomofthewebpage.https://scholarlycommunication.uottawa.ca/publishing/predatory-publishers

Think,Check,Submitisaportalfoundedbyanumberoforganizationstohelpresearchersidentifylegitimatejournalsforpublicationofresearchresults.http://thinkchecksubmit.org

TherearealsoanumberofYouTubevideos:

WhatisPredatoryPublishing?

HowtodetermineifaJournalisaPredatoryPublisher

IdentifyingPredatoryPublishers

Telfer School of Management Policy

TheTelferSchoolResearchGrantsprogramisintendedtoprovidefundingtofull-timefacultymembersandgraduatestudentsforconductingresearchandpresenting/publishingresultsatlegitimateandrecognizedscholarlyconferencesorinrecognizedacademicjournals.Therefore,fundscannotbeusedtopayforpublishinginapredatoryjournalortocovercostsofattendingapredatoryconference.TheResearchOfficeisheretohelpwithanyquestionsregardingpredatoryconferencesandquestionablepublishingpractices.

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Appendix

Someexamplesofemailsolicitationsfrompredatoryjournalsorpredatoryconferencesaregivenbelow

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