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Scholarly Communication and Open Access

This guide offers information to support new modes of disseminating research via Open Access and new methods of measuring research impact.

Predatory publishing

“(Publishers/journals) … that unprofessionally abuse the author-pays publishing model for their own profit.” 
--Jeffrey Beall, Librarian, University of Colorado 

Scope

  • Estimates vary greatly depending on criteria, sampling
  • Between 4,000-8,000 predatory journals; mostly in India, elsewhere in Asia​
  • Estimated size of market $32-$74M USD​
  • Between 165,000-420,000 "predatory" articles in 2014, versus 53,000 in 2010
  • 900+ publishers in 2016 versus 18 in 2011
 

Signs of a predatory publisher

  • Spamming researchers with invitations to publish 
  • Misleading info e.g. location, impact measures 
  • Short review process
  • Poor website presentation e.g. spelling and grammar errors
  • Hijacking legitimate journals