Predatory publishing

Journals

• There is currently no reliable list of predatory journals
  • Beall’s list:
    • A list of potentially predatory journals and publishers compiled by American librarian Jeffrey Beall
    • This list was withdrawn in 2017 due to controversy and unclear criteria for inclusion
    • Other similar lists have been created anonymously – it is unclear who compiles the lists and what the criteria for inclusion are
    • These lists can be used as a reference – we do not recommend relying on them exclusively
• DO NOT CONFUSE: new or financially underfunded journals with predatory journals.
• If you are unsure, we recommend consulting with your supervisors or senior colleagues who publish
• Check whether the journal meets the following requirements:
  • It provides clear information about publication fees and the review process (length of the review process)
  • The editorial board is credible and consists of real people
  • Publication standards (identifiers) and the journal’s website
  • Publication fee (adequacy of the fee in relation to the quality of the journal)
  • Verification of indexing in reputable databases – if it lists an impact factor, the journal must be listed in the Journal Citation Reports database of Web of Science
    There are also predators that have a real impact factor and have therefore made it into the Web of Science or SCOPUS databases. If the journal has a real impact factor, it is necessary to continue the investigation.
  • Use tools to help identify predatory journals, such as Think. Check. Submit.
  • You can also contact the open access coordinator at your faculty or the Open Science Methodology Center, which will help you assess the formal criteria of the journal

Conferences

• Verify the identity of the conference organizer to ensure that it is a reputable organization and not a fraudulent publisher
• Obtain as much information as possible from your colleagues and experts in your field (e.g., through social media) to find out if they are familiar with the conference and have experience with it (many conferences are held annually and are well established in their field)
• If the conference organizer mentions indexing in well-known databases or services, verify this for previous years
• If they mention the publication of contributions in a special issue of a journal, it is advisable to check the journal (or publisher)
• Use tools to help identify predatory conferences, such as Think. Check. Attend.

If you have accidentally submitted your manuscript to a predatory journal, the sooner you act, the better. Keep in mind that most reputable journals will not publish your work if it has already been published, so you cannot publish it elsewhere until the predatory journal withdraws it.

If you have not signed a publishing agreement yet

1. Do not sign any contracts or make any payments!
2. Ask the editor to withdraw your manuscript. Save all correspondence with the journal.
   If they do not respond, inform them that if you do not receive a response by a certain date, you will consider your manuscript withdrawn.
3. However, keep in mind that it may not be possible to withdraw the article, as predatory journals may use false contact information and it may not be possible to actually sue them.
4. Do not pay any withdrawal fees.
5. If the journal publishes your manuscript even though you have not signed a publishing agreement, you can threaten legal action for copyright infringement. If your manuscript is withdrawn or removed from the website, you can submit it to another journal. Otherwise, contact the Open Science Methodology Center for further advice.
   It is good scientific practice to contact the editor of the journal and explain the history of the article’s publication.

If you have already signed a publishing agreement

1. Ask the editor to withdraw your manuscript and ask the publisher to return all rights. Keep all correspondence with the journal.
2. Do not pay any withdrawal fees.
3. If the journal publishes your manuscript, you can begin the retraction process.
   There are a number of reasons for retracting an article; you can find more information about retraction here. However, a predatory journal may not comply with your request.
4. Review the publishing agreement you signed—you may still have the option to publish a preprint.
5. If your manuscript is retracted or removed from the website, you can submit it to another journal. Otherwise, contact the Open Science Methodology Center for further advice and support.
   Again, from a scientific point of view, it is a good idea to contact the journal editor and explain the history of the article’s publication.

Portal ISSN

• Checking the existence of the specified ISSN
• Does not guarantee the quality of the journal – anyone who asks will receive it

DOAJ

• Directory of OA journals
• Quality Standards
• Listing in the registry is based on the judgment of the editor of the region + journals may be awarded the DOAJ Seal if certain criteria are met
• ATTENTION:
  • Not all credible OA journals are registered here
  • On the other hand, predatory journals may also appear here
  • Judging cannot be based on DOAJ ranking only

COPE

• Committee on Publication Ethics
• Publisher is a member = verified publisher and journals – all passed credibility checks

Predatory publishing

• Allows you to check the ISSN portal, the DOAJ directory and COPE at the same time
• NOT ALL QUALITY JOURNALS ARE REGISTERED IN ALL THREE SOURCES !!!

Check indexing in databases

• WOS, Scopus, SJR, PubMed
• Cannot check only indexing (predators can be found here too!) – always check comprehensively

Additional resources

• Verification of journals and monographs: Think. Check. Submit.
• Conference verification: Think. Check. Attend.
• OASPA
• Crossref
• Orcid (e.g. for verification of editorial board members)
• Beall’s list of predatory journals – informative list of potentially predatory publishers, journals, books, etc.
  It builds on the activities of librarian Jeffry Beall (University of Colorado), who first pointed out this issue. He established criteria for evaluating the quality of journals and created the first list of predatory journals. He published this information in a blog post that was withdrawn by the author in January 2017.
• Stop Predatory Practices
• 12 Questions To Assess A Journal/Publisher
• How To Assess a Journal
• Adventures With Predatory Publishing: A Tale of Two Journals (page 4-5)
• Combatting Predatory Academic Journals and Conferences
• Be iNFORMEd: Checklist
• Journal Guide
• Article in the journal Nature: Predatory Journals: No Definition, No Defence