Excerpt from Research Policy

3.5 Predatory Journals

Publishing in a predatory journal can severely damage your professional reputation and make the academic integrity of your research questionable. Therefore, it is always crucial to exercise caution. Careful evaluation of the journal website to ensure its credibility and transparency is highly recommended.

Characteristics of predatory journals may include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Excessive publication fees with guaranteed rapid publication
• Lack of clear review processes
• Lack of indexing in reputable databases
• Fake or misleading impact factor
• Irrelevant scope or scope that does not match published articles
• Mimicking name or website of other well-known, legitimate journals

Remark: Beall’s List remains a notable early resource for identifying a predatory journal. However, the list has not been updated since 2017 while predatory publishing has constantly been evolving. For current guidance on how to avoid deceptive publishing, it is advisable to consult other sources such as new research on the predatory publishing issue including Abdullah et al., 2024; Chen et al., 2023; Teixeira da Silva et al., 2022; Oviedo-García, 2021; Krawczyk & Kulczycki, 2020; Elmore & Weston, 2020, and also consult the Think.Check.Submit at thinkchecksubmit.org