Kyoto University Library Network Predatory Journals Awareness Leaflet

For Researchers who are:Considering submitting a paper to a journal
Being asked to perform a peer review

Supervising graduate or postdoctoral students

Beware ofPredatory Journals
What They Are and How to Avoid Them

Involvement in predatory journals can damage youracademic credibility and reputation as a researcher.

What are predatory journals?
Predatory journals are low-quality academic
journals that do not conduct proper peer reviews
and publish papers with the sole purpose ofobtaining submission fees from authors. They
exist solely to make money. In recent years, thetactics of such journals have become
increasingly sophisticated, and it is becoming
increasingly difficult to identify them.

Journals that will publish any article for a fee
can be very convenient and appealing toresearchers seeking to rapidly advance theircareers, but please consider the risks entailed insuch an approach.
To protect the academic careers of yourself andyour students, it is vital that you and thestudents that you supervise do not become
involved with predatory journals in any way: asauthors, reviewers, or supervisors.

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Experiences

The Actual Risks of Predatory Journals
The Kyoto University Library Network has received anumber of reports from KU researchers regarding predatoryjournals. Here are some of their actual experiences.

I submitted a paper and it wasaccepted without any editing.
I was requested to write a paper under
the name of a prominent researcher,but it was fake.

As aAuthor

I accidentally submitted a paper to a
predatory journal, and when I asked themto retract it, they did not respond.
I realized my co-author had submitted
our paper to a predatory journal after
it was published.
After contacting the journal once, I wassubjected to persistent solicitation emails.

The period of the peer review was too short(10 days), and I felt that they did not reallyreview my paper.

I rejected a low quality paper, but the editor
ignored my review and published it
without revision.
When I accepted a guest editorship, I wasgiven the email addresses of numerous
researchers, and was asked to send themsolicitation emails.

As aSupervisor

As aReviewer

I heard that someone at another universitysubmitted a paper to a known predatory
journal, and it caused problems with theaward of their degree.

2The Way of Deception areMore Sophisticated
No Perfect List

Journal Spoofing

There is a list of “suspicious journals” that iscommonly used as a way of identifying predatory
journals. In contrast, there are lists of “safejournals.” There are also checklist tools to verify
whether a journal is trustworthy or not. It is
common for journals to be considered lessdangerous if they are included in the famous
databases.

There are fake journal websites that falsely use thenames and ISSNs (international standard serialnumbers) of existing journals. The sites
impersonate the existing journals to fraudulently
receive article processing charge from authors.
The journals of small publishers and academic
societies are the most common targets.
Once you have confirmed the official name and
ISSN of the journal to which you are submitting,search the journal's official website using a searchengine, not via a link posted in an information
email.

Unfortunately, such lists, tools, and databases
cannot be completely trusted. In recent years,p r e d a t o r y p u b l i s h e r s h a v e i n c r e a s i n gl ysophisticated in the way of deceptions. They haveformalized their editorial and peer-review policies
to ensure that their journals are included in “safe”
lists. There are the case that the contributors being
asked to cite the journals to which they contributein order to give the appearance of a high citation
count and boost the journal's reputation.

Predatory Conferences
In addition to predatory journals, please beware of
predatory conferences only for obtaining
participation fees.

There is no perfect list to identify predatory
journals.
It is important to make a comprehensivelyinformed decision about which journal to submit
to, without relying too much on lists, and bygathering information yourself fromwide range of sources.

Such conferences do not provide participants with
useful information. Presentations may not havebeen subject to the proper checks. And, there may
be no active discussions. In the worst cases, they
may be suddenly cancelled with no refund of theparticipation fee.
With an increasing number of online conferences,
online predatory conferences have also beenreported.

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How Long Does a Peer Review Take?

A proper peer review takes a considerable
amount of time. Before submission, check theofficial website of the journal to confirm theperiod of peer review. Is it too short comparedto other journals in the same field? This tableshows the average peer review periods fordifferent fields.
The website called SciRev* enables users tocheck the total peer review times for individualjournals. It can be used to get an overall
impression of current peer review times.
※SciRev

https://scirev.org

3TotalFirstresponsetimeAll

17 weeks

13 weeks

NaturalSciences

14 weeks

11 weeks

Humanities

22 weeks

16 weeks

Huisman, J., Smits, J. Duration and quality of the peer
review process: the author’s perspective. Scientometrics
113, 633–650 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192017-2310-5
Processed Table 1 and 2.

Check Before
Submission & Peer Review
POINT

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POINT

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POINT

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POINT

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 Ask Other Researchers
Ask researchers in the same or similar fields about the journal’s reputation andwhether involvement with the journal would be beneficial to your researchcareer.
Are there any comments about the journal's quality on social networking sites?

 See the Official Website
Google the journal’s official website yourself and check it.
Do NOT use a link in invitation email.
Is the period of the peer review too short? Is there anything suspicious about
the website logo, such as poor image resolution or a distorted layout?

 Read Previous Articles
Read previous articles published in the journal.
Do they match the scope of coverage stated on the official website?
Does the quality of the articles indicate a journal worthy of publishing yourown research?

 Check the Editor’s Profile
Are the editors listed on the official website researchers that you have heard of,or researchers in the field that you want to contribute to?
Does the editor's own official website (e.g. the website of their university)
clearly state that he/she is an editor of the journal?

If you have any doubts at all, it is not appropriate to submit.
If you have difficulty to make a decision, please contact the Library Network.

The Library welcomes questions from KU members and provides information about predatory journals.
If you have anything suspicious, or a case to discuss, contact us from the form below.

Predatory Journal Inquiry Form

https://www.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/form/1380548?lang=en

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