How to Avoid Predatory Publishers

by Becky De Oliveira

Becky De Oliveira taught writing at the undergraduate and graduate level for more than ten years before entering the Applied Statistics and Research Methods Ph.D. program at the University of Northern Colorado where she a doctoral candidate currently writing her dissertation.

A version of this blog entry was originally published in Lahman, M. (2022). Writing and representing qualitative research. Maria Lahman invited Becky to contribute this useful post. Dr. Lahman is the author of Writing and Representing Qualitative Research, and the relevant text, Ethics in Social Science Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive. Use the code MSPACEQ423 for a 20% discount on SAGE research methods books, valid through December 2023.

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Predatory journals are those that charge fees for publication and offer little in the way of “quality control” (Clark & Smith, 2015). Predatory publishers, as Clark and Smith (2015) point out, should not be confused with open-access publishers, The difference between the two is stark: Open-access publishing offers studies free for everyone to access—helping to quickly disseminate information in ways that are beneficial to people all over the world—and therefore a fee is charged. Predatory publishers have only one goal—to make as much money as possible. They do not follow standard publishing practices, such as robust peer review and editorial services, and the work they publish is not even indexed in reputable search systems, making the information nearly impossible for others to find.

Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado, compiled a list of predatory publishers known as Beall’s List (2017). In 2015, he recorded nearly 700 offenders. There are currently about 1,300 known or suspected predatory journals on the list. The list is curated at Beallslist.

How do you identify a predatory journal? Look for these classic signs:

1. The journal offers an unrealistic turnaround time. Publication in reputable journals typically takes months if not years from submission to publication. Very short turnaround times do  not allow for a rigorous peer review process, let alone editorial and proofreading safeguards.

2. The journal requires payment of an excessive fee, but the article will not be open access. While some areas of research have article-processing fees, most social science journals do not charge large fees.

3. Frequent soliciting by email is a red flag. Most legitimate publications are inundated with submissions and rarely go out of their way to pester potential authors with requests to submit work.

Novice researchers may be tempted to use unscrupulous publishers in an effort to “pad their CV . . . in order to obtain employment, grants and promotions” (Bartholomew, 2014, p. 384). This may appear to offer a short-term solution to the immense pressure to publish, but it is a mistake in the long run. Not only will your work be discredited by your affiliation with predatory publishers, but it will also be less likely to ever be read by those who could benefit from it. It is far better for the sake of your career to go through the rigorous process of learning to publish through legitimate means. Have faith in your work and your ability to make an important contribution to your field.

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