Avoiding Predatory Publishers
The following is an archived list of "predatory publisher" violations. When using this list, please note that some publishers have appealed, were reviewed thoroughly, and were then determined to be credible. Contact the Director of the College Library or your department's liaison librarian to determine whether the journal you have selected has predatory characteristics.
- Beall's List of Predatory Publishers
- This list was taken down after some controversy, but archived at the link above. See the Inside Higher Ed story here
- Beall's archived criteria for vetting publishers
- Cabell's Blacklist Violations
How to Find Quality Journals
Journals/monographs should be a member of, adhere to, or be listed in the following organizations and codes of conduct:
- The Directory of Open Access Journals
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Best Practice Guide
- The Directory of Open Access Books
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices
- International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) Code of Conduct
- Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
Common Myths About Open Access
MYTHS
1. You can only publish in open access journals to make your work open access.
Open access journals represent the gold publishing route. However, you can also self-archive your work in an open access repository like our own Scholars Square. This is referred to as the green route.
2. Open access journals are expensive.
Open access journals are free to access, and can also be inexpensive or free to publish. According to the Directory of Open Access Journals, around 70% of journals do not charge author fees or article processing charges (APC).
Commercial publishers do often charge article processing charges, but authors can sometimes get fees waived if they claim financial hardship, and sometimes grant funders or institutions will assist authors paying fees.
3. Open access journals are poor quality and predatory.
According to this article by Peter Suber, since "2004, Thomson Scientific found that in every field of the sciences "there was at least one open access title that ranked at or near the top of its field" in citation impact. The amount of peer-reviewed open access journals has only grown since then.
There are predatory journals, but they often come with incredibly high author fees, without peer review, and will send unsolicited emails asking faculty to publish in their journals. Look out for exorbitant fees and direct solicitation, and email the Director of the College Library if you have any questions.