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Predatory Scholarship

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) have developed a "Principles of Transparency" that detail the criteria for inclusion in their organizations. These criteria can help you identify predatory publishers. COPE, DOAJ, and OASPA also provide excellent resources on their websites.

You can find the full text on a different webpage. Here is a shortened version to assist you with evaluating a potential journal (or conference, as many of these are applicable).

  1. The website for the journal or conference should demonstrate professional standards and not contain misleading information. An Aims and Scope section should help researchers understand the nature of the publication/conference.
  2. The journal name should be unique and not easily confused with other journals or conferences.
  3. The review process should be clearly defined to indicate whether works are peer reviewed and how the review will function.
  4. Ownership of the journal should be clearly stated
  5. The editorial board should be composed of recognized experts that match the scope of the publication.
  6. The editorial team should have full names and affiliations clearly available.
  7. The copyright policy should be clearly stated. Licensing information should also be immediately available. Fundamental items such as licensing terms, ability to publish via Creative Commons license, and policies on posting different versions (e.g., final accepted version) should be included.
  8. Any fees or charges required for manuscript processing and/or published should be clearly stated in a place that authors see prior to submitting their work.
  9. Policies for identifying and remedying research misconduct should be clearly stated and easily accessible.
  10. Policies for publication ethics should be present and easily accessible.
  11. The publishing frequency should be clearly stated.
  12. The access methods for content should be clearly stated.
  13. The plan for archiving content should be clearly stated (e.g., how are articles or proceedings archived)
  14. Business models and revenue sources should be clearly stated or self-evident
  15. Advertising policies should be clearly stated.