How can I identify Predatory Journals
Some journals claiming to be peer-reviewed open access journals are really "predatory" journals that will publish pretty much anything if you pay a fee. Can you distinguish between a legitimate open-access journal and a predatory one?
Answer
Characteristics of legitimate journals
An open access journal with a legitimate peer review process will usually have several of the following traits:
- Professors in the field have heard of the journal.
- Professors in the field know of the editor(s)
- It is ranked in the Web of Science Journal Citation Reports
- It has a good ranking in a subject area according to Scopus or SciMago
- It is not on Beall's list of potentially predatory journals
- It is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals
- It is listed on the Committee on Publication Ethics(COPE) website as being a member
Often the determination is made on a case by case basis. For example, a journal that is just starting out may take a few years to develop good citation rankings. In some fields, these rankings may not be as important.
See Think Check Submit for more details.