Always be wary of articles found on the Internet. The past decade has witnessed an explosive growth in the number of predatory journals and publishers. These journals are typified by the following characteristics:
- Charging exorbitant rates for publication of articles in conjuction with a lack of peer-review or editorial oversight.
- Notifying authors of fees only after acceptance.
- Targeting scholars through mass-email spamming in attempts to get them to publish or serve on editorial boards.
- Quick acceptance of low-quality papers, including hoax papers.
- Listing scholars as members of editorial boards without their permission or not allowing them to resign.
- Listing fake scholars as members of editorial boards or authors.
- Copying the visual design and language of the marketing materials and websites of legitimate, established journals.
- Fraudulent or improper use of ISSNs.
- Giving false information about the location of the publishing operation.
- Fake, non-existent, or mis-represented impact factors.
(Courtesy of Stop Predatory Journals).
See this story of how one professor exposed the lack of peer-review in a predatory journal.
Wentworth
Institute of Technology