APA staff have compiled the following list of questions to help researchers avoid publishing in predatory journals. When you receive an email inviting you to submit a manuscript to a scholarly journal, consider:
- Is the email's tone overly informal? Does it contain many exclamation points and typos? Is the message signed by an editorial assistant as opposed to the editor? Is the editor identified? Review the editor's academic home page and CV — is the journal editorship listed there?
- Is the journal's website provided as part of the email? Is the journal's publisher clearly acknowledged in the email? Are you invited to submit your manuscript through a generic (not journal-specific) online peer review page or via email? Some misleading communications purposefully exclude the journal's website and avoid any mention of the publisher, particularly if the journal's name sounds like a leading journal in the field. If the only links provided in the email are to the online peer review system and a general editor email (e.g., JournalEditor@[publisher].com), always search for the journal online and review its website.
- What is the reputation of the publisher? Does the publisher's website look professional? Are the publisher's full contact details provided clearly on every page (email, postal address, working telephone number)? Is impact factor information presented clearly and without qualifiers (e.g., an asterisk, with a note in fine print that this is an "informal estimate.") Check Beall's List, a blog by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado Denver, tracking "potential, possible, or probable predatory" scholarly open-access publishers (https://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/opens in new window) and journals (https://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/opens in new window). For further reading, see Beall's List Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access Publishersopens in new window and the page with Hijacked Journalsopens in new window (when a counterfeit site is created masquerading as an existing established journal in the field).
- Are this and other journals by this publisher covered in PsycINFO or another research database you trust? Though inclusion in major research databases is not an ironclad guarantee of journal or publisher good practice, databases usually have processes in place to evaluate and monitor their coverage. PsycINFO's journal coverage list, which includes the publisher information, is available online. Be sure to search for the title of the journal exactly as it is provided in the email. Predatory publishers often choose a journal title that sounds similar to an established journal in the field. Look for the publisher in coverage lists.
- If the journal is identified as "open access" in the email and/or on the journal's home page, is the journal's financial model clearly announced? Typically, the cost of publishing in open-access journals is met through author fees. Is a note on author fees — or a statement that there are no author fees — clearly visible in the email and on the journal's home page?
Finally, if you have any questions or concerns, contact your university librarian, who can help you ensure that the journal you choose for your next article is a legitimate one.
