Predatory journals and their attack on scientific integrity

Abstract

Predatory journals have multiplied alarmingly around the world and have opened avenues for academic corruption. Through various marketing techniques, they have managed to reach the email accounts and social media of teachers and researchers. It is not unusual for them to send invitations urging authors to submit manuscripts using tones of urgency and alluring claims such as “we publish quickly and at low cost,” “we are missing two articles to publish our next issue and would like to count on you,” “sending us a short document of two or three pages is not much for an eminence like you,” “publishing with us will give you extraordinary visibility,” or “we await the prompt submission of your excellent manuscript and will grant you a discount.” Unwary authors may fall into the trap and end up publishing with predatory publishers. These journals are based on a business model in which the author pays to have their publication online and openly accessible to the public. As explained in several documents by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), “predatory publishing generally refers to the systematic publication, for profit, of supposedly academic content (in journals and articles, monographs, books, or conference proceedings) in a deceptive or fraudulent manner and without any respect for quality assurance".