Things you Should Know about Predatory Journals and Why Should you Avoid Them?

Predatory journals have become a nuisance for the academic community. They are a scam, and their purpose is to earn money. They exploit the authors for profit. A librarian, Jeffery Baell, coined the term “predatory publishers”. They are those organizations that publish fake journals. Legitimate academic journals go through a proper peer review and editing process. Predatory journals, in contrast, do not go through appropriate peer review. These journals accept the articles in a short period. They charge the authors but do not provide the promised services. Predatory journals, as defined by Baell, lack transparency. They are dishonest, which misguide inexperienced scholars. They attract people by sending them emails. Predatory journals are rising after the advent of open access publishing. They violate the standards and practices set by the academic community. It leads to the promotion of academics who lack knowledge and expertise in their subject. They also compromise the quality and ethics of published research. The main aim of these journals is profit. They do not fulfil the academic standards of publishing. A predatory journal claims to be peer-reviewed. But, in reality, it does not meet the parameters of the peer-review or editing process. Thus, one must be aware of these journals to avoid them.

This article aims to define predatory journals. It will highlight reasons to avoid them. These guidelines will be useful for your publishing career.

1. False Credentials

Predatory Journals often market themselves as high-quality journals. They misrepresent information and highlight false accolades. A predatory journal claims a thorough peer-review, but it is not carried out in reality. These journals enlist a fake editorial board. They feature people without their consent on their websites. These journals mention false affiliation with prestigious institutes. These affiliations are fake and said without their permission. The credentials of the editorial board are affected, and their unions are unverifiable. They also do not provide accurate locations. The location mentioned is often incorrect with the wrong postal and zip codes. They also have fabricated metrics and Journal Impact Factor, which is not verifiable.

2. Profit Driven

The main aim of Predatory Journals is profit. They exploit the high demand of researchers’. These include young PhD students who are looking for venues to publish. These journals provide easy access to researchers who are desperate to publish. The timeline for publication is very short. Predatory Journals take advantage of Article Processing Charge (APC) based open-access model. They publish papers at a low cost without proper peer-review. They provide easy access to those authors who lack experience.

How to Spot Predatory Journals?

Journals do not ask for article submission via email. But predatory journals send emails to people for paper submission.

· Another clue will be that the email is not well-written. There will be spelling mistakes.

· It will mimic the name of a prestigious journal.

· It will give false information about its location.

· Unprofessional website, and it will have typos and incomplete information.

· Lacks credentials and sponsorship by a reputed institution.

· Lacks complete contact information.

· Fake Editors and those enlisted will have fake credentials.

· Vague fee structures for publishing.

· Fabricated Journal Impact Factor.

· Publishes articles with grammatical and spelling mistakes.

· Ask authors to give away their copyright rights at the time of submission.

Why should you Avoid Predatory Journals?

1. Undermines Research Standards

Predatory journals are a menace because they undermine the credibility of scientific conservation. Since predatory journals claim to carry out the peer review, but in reality, they do not. They are also vague about their fee structures. They do not provide any information about the fee structure. This practice leads to the publication of those articles which are not peer-reviewed. Predatory journals publish articles that do not undergo the rigorous scrutiny of peer-review. So, articles with inaccurate information, grammatical and spelling mistakes get published. Articles published in predatory journals are misleading and undermine legitimate research. Predatory journals hurt the broader research community. It impairs academic standards to a significant extent.

2. Limited or no readership

Predatory journals are not trustworthy, and they have low quality. They are not reliable in the general academic community. The popular citation database does not even index them. It means that your research paper will get fewer readerships. The researchers in your field will not be able to access your research. The findings and analysis of your essay will not benefit the researchers in your area.

3. Risk of losing your work

Predatory journals are a scam, and they are fraudulent. Their main purpose is to earn money. Their practices sometimes entail not publishing the articles. They often go offline by taking down all articles without giving any notice. Predatory journals also publish articles before the author signs the publishing agreement. They will refuse to take down your essay if you withdraw the submission request. They also ask the authors to relinquish their copyrights. The authors are then unable to publish their research work elsewhere. So, posting your article in a predatory journal is risky. It is more likely that you will lose your work.

Conclusion

Predatory journals are not only scamming authors for money. These journals exploit open access publishing. They have increased the cost of publication to a significant extent. These journals do not verify the authenticity of a manuscript. The manuscripts are accepted without proper scrutiny. They are also undermining the credibility of academics. Predatory journals publish those articles which contain misleading and inaccurate information. They also charge an extra fee to include additional authors. Thus, publishing an article in a predatory journal undermines academic credibility. It may cause embarrassment as well. A Predatory journal can cause an irreparable loss to your publishing career. It is pertinent to be aware of predatory journals. The researchers must practice caution in this regard. These journals undermine the academic standards. They also cause an irreparable loss to the scientific community.

Author

Roga Benton

I am Roga Benton. I am qualified as a dissertation essay Writing expert at Coding The Line, London. I am graduated from the University of Cambridge. Are you looking for academic writing services for academic papers? I have essay writing experience and an impressive portfolio of international clients.