Predatory journals- Can we stem the rot?

Science progresses on the basis of data generated by honest and trustworthy research published in peer reviewed journals. Over the last few years, the confidence in published literature is being systematically eroded by predatory journals and publishers, who “actively solicit manuscripts and charge publication fees without providing robust peer review and editorial services.”[1] These are largely seen to exploit the open-access model for their own profit. They achieve this through several surreptitious tactics like misrepresenting facts (for example, regarding indexing of the journal, hiding the identities of publishers and editors, use of the word ‘international’ in their title to give the appearance of a prestigious journal), accepting papers for publication without even a semblance of peer-review or any quality-assuring process and deception about services that, in reality, they do not provide (for example, archiving).

Predatory journals are causing enormous damage to individual scientists, to the science itself and to many other legitimate processes and entities.[2,3,4] Some unsuspecting authors publish their genuine and quality research papers in these journals. These papers may be viewed with suspicion and the contributors may not receive the deserved credit, as the reviewers and assessors see these journals as 'suspect’. Predatory journals often do not archive their content and hence good-quality evidence is lost forever. It makes a mockery of the academic evaluation process, as getting articles published in these journals has become a very easy and speedy process these days. As most of these journals follow the open-access model (obviously as individuals do not subscribe to them, given the poor quality papers they publish), they bring a bad name to the Open-access publishing, a legitimate model wherein everyone gets immediate free access to the research published. Similarly, as many papers published in these journals are from low- and middle-income countries from Asia and Africa, all research from these countries is seen as suspect.

Much of the research that is published in predatory journals is mundane and will not advance science and wastes resources.[5] The unscientific articles with unsubstantiated and biased (and at times fabricated) data and analysis published in these journals become a part of the ‘available scientific evidence’, thus polluting and diluting science. These articles can influence decisions regarding therapeutic and preventive strategies, thereby, significantly and adversely affect patient care and societal well-being. This will ultimately erode the public trust in scholarly research and scientific publications.

The worrying part is that the trend is not showing any signs of abating. After being described in 2010, there was at least a three-fold increase in the number of predatory journals worldwide.[6] Although, the problem encompasses all regions of the world, scholars from India, United States and Nigeria are seen to be the predominant contributors to these journals.[5] Advances in information technology and widespread availability of internet are the primary reasons for the widespread distribution of these journals and impressive growth in their numbers. The technological developments have made the process of putting up a website and publishing a journal and contacting prospective authors with enticing emails, easier and inexpensive.[7] The practice of regulatory bodies linking promotion of medical teachers to the number of research publications[8], without assessing the quality of the research has provided impetus to predatory publishing.

Young and unsuspecting researchers should be protected from falling prey to predatory journals. They should be made aware of the harm that these journals are causing. Features of predatory journals are outlined in Table 1.[9,10,11,12,13] Although lists of both predatory and legitimate journals and publishers are available[14,15,16,17], these lists are not foolproof, and hence cannot be the only sources for identifying predatory journals. It is necessary to equip all scientists with skills to recognize the predatory nature of a journal. There are several ways to do this – evaluate the journal's website and critically reviewing previously published papers, assess the website for absence of useful/critical information (e.g., absence of guidelines for publication, standard operating processes for review and editorial processes, archives of previously published articles, manuscript management system), and carefully review enticing emails soliciting articles along with quick fixes (assured quick publication).[18] Authors are also advised to cross-check certain details provided on the website (e.g., names, contact details and affiliations of editors and members of editorial board, indexation, impact factor) as part of due diligence. This is because predatory publishers are known to provide inaccurate or untruthful information.

Table 1.

Certain features commonly seen with predatory journals[9,10,11,12,13]

Name/Title	The name may be similar to another reputed and well-established journal
	The name may not match with the scope of the journal or with geographical location of publishers/editors.
Journal policies	Policies regarding review process, payment of fees, copyright, publication ethics, retraction of articles, archiving of published article etc, may be non-existent or may be perfunctory.
	Instructions to authors may provide incomplete or only sketchy details
Article submission and processing	Journal scope is very wide from medicine to nursing and dentistry, at times even including chemistry
	Submission is generally through email (as attachment to an email) and not through a manuscript management website/system
	Article processing charges are not revealed on website, but will be conveyed to the corresponding author once the manuscript is accepted
	There may not be a manuscript management/tracking facility, as all submitted manuscripts are accepted without any peer review and without any delay. The publishers do not invest in the Journal
	No archival of published/accepted manuscripts
	No Ombudsman to adjudicate on or resolve issues between the editor and author
Editor and Editorial Board Members	Their names may not be stated and they remain unidentified
	If their names are available, they may not be the experts in the field. Their affiliations may not be provided
	The individuals named, may not be aware that they have been appointed to these positions
Publisher	The name may not be revealed. There may not be a traceable address or contact number or email id
	Editors and publisher may not be a member of recognized industry initiative such as COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME
Indexation and Impact Factor	The journal will not be indexed with reputed indexes and will not be listed in standard periodical directories such as Ulrich’s Periodicals Library.
	“Indexation” with non-indexes such as “Google” or “Google Scholar” may be claimed and advertised.
	Journal may use a fake or non-existent Impact Factor. The Impact Factor claimed will not be the one provided by Thomson Reuters
Published papers	Many papers represent poor science.
	There are grammatical and spelling errors
	There is no uniform formatting of published papers
Advertisements and communications	The journal would advertise itself aggressively through emails and posters
	The communications have plenty of grammatical and spelling mistakes
	Enticements with assured (rapid/express) publication within a ridiculously short period of a few days. This will allow hardly any time for a meaningful peer- or editorial review
	A single email will contain invitation to submit an article, contribute as a reviewer and join as an Editor/member of the Editorial Board
	These emails continue to pour in, despite the receiver requesting for “unsubscribe”
Website	Maybe difficult to find/locate
	May have a design similar to another reputed journal’s website
	Information about journal policies and scope and regarding editors and publishers is scanty
	Replete with grammatical and spelling errors
Other	The journal may be in existence only for a few years
	Using fake (or not using) DOI, ISSN

COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics, DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals, OASPA: Open Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association, WAME: World Alliance of Medical Editors

A survey on motivations of authors to publish in presumed predatory journals has shown frustration with time taken by standard journals, repeated rejections, pressure to publish for promotions and lack of mentorship among other reasons for the choosing these journals.[19] While the measures listed above will help naïve and unsuspecting scientists steer clear of predatory journals; other measures will be needed to discourage scientists those who knowingly submit their research to these journals. These will have to be tackled by supervisory and perhaps punitive measures to be implemented by universities and colleges, sponsors of research projects and ethics committees [Table 2]. Universities and colleges, ethics committees, research funding organizations will also need to rethink their systems and processes for assessment to see if they are actually encouraging submission to these journals. Finally, individual integrity is what will go a long way in stemming the rot and addressing the fraud and deception that has set in.

Table 2.

Steps from stakeholders that can put predatory journals and publishers “out of business”[5,6,12,20,21,22,23]

Stakeholder	Actions
Universities, Colleges and Academic Institutions	Empower students and faculty with skills in research methodology, critical appraisal of research papers and medical writing, early on in their careers. They will then do quality research and write excellent papers that can get published in good reputed journals
	Adopt a policy to discourage submissions to predatory journals.
	Prepare a list of predatory journals. During evaluation for extension of tenure, promotion or career advancement, do not provide any credit for papers published in predatory journals.
	Inform faculty that publication in a predatory journal will be considered as “disreputable”
	Do not include articles published in “predatory journals” in the institutional digital repository
	Audit where the faculty and students are publishing and consider appropriate measures
	Identifying predatory journals: Impart knowledge and skills to the scholars and students
	Do not give “payouts” for publications as this can push authors to publish in predatory journals
Funding Organizations & Ethics Committees	Insist on investigators publishing research related to funding only in non-predatory journals
Indexing Organizations	Evaluate candidate journals effectively to ensure that predatory journals do not get indexed
	Re-evaluate indexed journals periodically. Delist those falling short of established standards and those indulging in predatory activities
Faculty	Inform students about predatory journals and their characteristics, unethical practices and detrimental impact
	Inform fellow faculty members about a predatory journal once it is identified
	Do not become a reviewer, editorial board member or editor in predatory journals
	Evaluate a journal’s practices thoroughly before submitting a paper for publication. Do not submit research and other articles to predatory journals
	Do not cite articles published in predatory journals
	Create awareness among scientific community: Discuss this issue during meetings of scientific and professional organizations. Write about predatory journals.
Librarians	Assist faculty and students in identifying predatory publications
Students	Understand the harm that predatory journals are causing to the stakeholders, open-access publishing model, patient care and science.
	Approach mentors for tips on selecting good journals for submitting their papers
	Develop skills to identify predatory journals.
	Avoid citing articles published in predatory journals.
	Avoid submitting papers or reviews to predatory journals