Publishing and Perishing? Identification and Avoidance of Predatory Journals

Abstract

Abstract Predatory journals pose a serious threat to the academic community. Pressure to publish, lack of skills to discern legitimate journals from predatory ones and desperation to get published may lure authors to publish with journals deemed predatory. The purpose of this paper is to create awareness on how to identify and avoid predatory journals as well as offer guidance to researchers. Using integrative review of literature published on predatory journals and predatory publishing, the study summarizes the most common characteristics of predatory journals. The main findings are presented in a list of 12 characteristics that may be considered crucial indicators of predatory tendencies. The paper further offers guidance on how to publish in high impact journals. The paper concludes that understanding the characteristics of predatory journals is a critical step towards raising awareness among scholars. The decision an author makes about where to publish can either make them perish or progress in their careers. Keywords: Blacklists, open access, predatory journals, predatory publishing, whitelists