Avoid predatory journals as an African researcher - blog feature image

Avoid predatory journals as an African researcher

You’re an African researcher who’s ready to publish your research in a peer-reviewed journal. Did you know that some journals are not reputable? These are known as predatory journals. Read more about them below. 

What is a predatory journal? 

A predatory journal is a journal produced by an unscrupulous publisher whose main goal is to make money without actually providing the services that they should.

These journals often produce research of questionable quality. This is because they deviate from normal editorial and publication practices such as screening papers to ensure their content is of a high standard.

They also use aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices such as spamming your email inbox with invitations for you to publish in their journals.

With the advent of online and open-access publishing, the number of predatory journals has grown. 

We have spoken before about some of the challenges of publishing in reputable journals as an African researcher in our article about how to handle rejection from journals.

It can be tempting to publish in a predatory journal where it seems easier to go through the publication process.

There is also an ongoing debate about some of the gate-keeping practices of conventional (often Western) publishers and what should actually be considered as predatory publishing. Google predatory journals debate to read more about this. 

Why you should avoid publishing in predatory journals

Publishing in predatory journals is unethical and could be costly in terms of your academic career. Many predatory journals ask for money upfront to publish your research, promising quick publication, which can be attractive.

However, it’s a waste of time to put in so much effort to develop a paper then publish it in a journal that’s not recognized. Imagine putting your efforts into designing research, collecting data, analyzing it and writing it up only for it to end up in a predatory journal?

Predatory journals are not recognized in the conventional citation databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. This means that your publishing work that is not recognized by the wider scientific community.

While some publishers such as PLOS are now rejecting conventional impact factors, it is important to note that they are not predatory publishers. Their journals are still recognized in the citation databases mentioned, except that they don’t promote their impact factors. 

If publication in a reputable journal is a requirement for completion of your Masters or PhD programme, then publishing in a predatory journal takes you one step further from your goal.

Universities generally don’t recognize predatory journals and often have internal screening proceses to ensure that such articles are not accepted.

Publishing in a predatory journal may mean you can’t graduate or have to wait another year or two to try to re-publish your work.

Remember that journals don’t accept work that has been published elsewhere so you may have to collect data afresh, unless you have some additional data that you can analyse and publish. 

Your reputation as a researcher, and that of your institution is damaged by publishing in predatory journals. This is mainly because such publishers publish low-quality work, which can damage the reputation of your work by association.

How to avoid publishing in a predatory journal

  1. Check the journal website to see if the journal is listed in reputable databases like the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE), and Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)Do Your Research: Scrutinize the journal’s website and practices. 
  2. Check if the journal has a legitimate editorial board made up of recognized experts in your field. You may have seen some of these experts publications as you were reading through the literature for your research. 
  3. Beware of unsolicited emails from predatory publishers. Predatory publishers often send flattering emails to academics, asking them to publish their work in one of their journals. These emails often called your Dr So-and-so (even if you don’t have your doctorate yet) and praise the quality of your research. 
  4. Understand the Peer Review Process: A legitimate journal will have a robust peer review process where it goes through an editor and then to peer reviewers who give you legitimate feedback to improve your work (sometimes more than one round of feedback!). 
  5. Check the Journal’s Impact Factor: Predatory journals may make up impact factors. Check the journal’s impact factor from a reliable source such as Citescore, SCOPUS, Google scholar and Scimago. 
  6. Consult Blacklists and Whitelists: Use resources like ‘Stop Predatory Journals’ and Beall’s list (blacklists which publish a list of predatory journals) and the DOAJ (a whitelist which has a list of reputable journals) to check the legitimacy of the journal.
  7. Avoid Journals That Charge Fees Without Providing Services: Predatory journals often charge publication fees without providing proper editorial services. While many reputable journals do charge a fee (known as an Article Processing Charge) to publish your work open access, this is often paid at the end of the rigorous review process. Predatory journals will often ask for money before they provide any editorial services.

Additional resources:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): [https://doaj.org/]
  • Beall’s List of Predatory Journals: [https://beallslist.net/]
  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): [https://publicationethics.org/]
  • Think.Check.Submit. [https://thinkchecksubmit.org/]

Have you ever published in a predatory journal or know someone who has? We would love to hear from you in the comments below. 

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