Predatory or bogus journals

Open access publishing, where the author pays a fee to publish, is now well-established and used by commercial publishers, scholarly societies, and university publishers as well as many smaller independent publishers.  

However, open access has also opened the door for organisations that exploit authors and the open access publishing model by charging publication fees while providing little to no editorial or peer-review services, leading to poor quality content and reflecting badly on an author's reputation. 

• Be wary of unsolicited emails inviting publication in journals you have never heard of, or invitations to conferences run by for-profit companies rather than professional bodies in that research area.  

• Check the address of their registered office.  

• Resist the temptation to publish quickly and easily in any journal where they are asking for a fee. Be aware of the publication landscape in your research area and the most reputable journals.  

• Consult the Directory of Open Access Journals for reputable journals, but remember many legitimate new journals may not be there yet.  

• Look up members of the editorial board, but remember that board member names may be used without their permission. You could try and directly contact them if you have any doubts.  

It's important to remember that while these recommended checks attempt to uncover journals that look amateurish and unprofessional, many legitimate new journals may also present this way. You should not use one criterion as a deciding factor but look at a wider picture or ask advice from a trusted colleague.  

For more information and a comprehensive checklist, see the well-respected, community backed website Think. Check. Submit, and its companion website Think. Check. Attend that addresses potentially predatory conferences.  

Although predatory book publishers are not as common as journal publishers, one area where you need to be careful is with companies that offer to publish your thesis. Some of these companies are quite well established and are not doing anything illegal—they will publish and sell your thesis, so if that’s all you want, that’s OK. But they can be deceptive.  

These companies have no peer review or editorial processes, even though they may say they do and charge you for it. Your thesis won’t be written for a book-reading audience and will need skilled editorial work to make it a successful published book. But the real problem is that you will probably have signed over the copyright, which means you can’t publish elsewhere, and publications from these outfits will not look good on your CV.