Table 4.
Answers of all participants on the topic of predatory publishing
| Do you know the term ‘predatory journals’?, n (%) | |
| Yes | 131 (69.7) |
| No | 57 (30.3) |
| If yes, where from?*†, n (%)(n=131) | |
| Scientific literature | 78 (59.5) |
| Friends/colleagues | 55 (42.0) |
| Emails | 59 (45.0) |
| Congress | 34 (26.0) |
| Media (including social media) | 75 (57.3) |
| Do you know how to identify a potentially ‘Predatory Journal’?, n (%) | |
| Yes | 103 (54.8) |
| No | 85 (45.2) |
| How would you characterise a ‘Predatory Journal’?†, n (%) | |
| No impact factor | 97 (51.6) |
| Open access to all articles | 42 (22.3) |
| Low quality of the published articles | 134 (71.3) |
| No or insufficient peer review | 155 (82.4) |
| No editorial board or no real persons at the editorial board | 93 (49.5) |
| Journal is located in a newly industrialising country | 71 (37.8) |
| Unprofessional journal layout | 62 (33.0) |
| High publication fees | 91 (48.4) |
| Rapid publication process | 63 (33.5) |
| Were you confronted with scientific literature/studies by patients?, n (%) | |
| Yes | 139 (73.9) |
| No | 49 (26.1) |
| If yes, were any of the articles published in a ‘Predatory Journals’?*, n (%) (n=139) | |
| Yes | 19 (13.7) |
| No | 71 (51.1) |
| Don’t know | 49 (35.2) |
| Are you aware of the Beall’s List?, n (%) | |
| Yes | 52 (27.7) |
| No | 136 (72.3) |
| If yes, did you already actively use Beall’s list to see if an unknown journal is a ‘predatory’ journal?*, n (%) (n=52) | |
| Yes | 25 (48.1) |
| No | 27 (51.9) |
| Do you receive invitations by journals to contribute an article (Orig. Article, Review, Research Letter, …)?, n (%) | |
| Yes | 142 (75.5) |
| No | 46 (24.5) |
| If yes, how many invitations do you receive each month?*, n (%) (n=142) | |
| 1–10 | 40 (28.2) |
| 11–50 | 60 (42.3) |
| 51–100 | 32 (22.5) |
| >100 | 10 (7.0) |
| If yes, are any of these—as far as you aware of—from a ‘Predatory Journal’?*, n (%) (n=142) | |
| Yes | 110 (77.5) |
| No | 3 (2.1) |
| Don’t know | 29 (20.4) |
Numbers in the table represent n (%). Missing values are not shown explicitly but are the difference to the given total number.
*Follow-up question, total number of answers out of all possible answers are given in brackets. Missing values are not shown explicitly but are the difference to the given total number. Percentages have been calculated from all valid given answers.
†Multiple answers possible.