From my own experience I would say that both of these forms of publishers should be phased out for the sake of scientific advancements. One doesn’t seem to have enough resources to do their job properly, and the other just blindly follows the leaders to barricade their doctrines. The best is to submit our works to ResearchGate, and probably viXra if you don’t mind.
A few years ago, I inadvertently published a paper in a "predatory journal": Article Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession
The peer review process was very light with two reviewers providing minor comments, but the journal published within weeks of submitting, created a nice-looking pdf, and I paid USD 70 for open access. I was looking for speed in the publication process because the issue needed to be brought to the attention of the Indonesian government quickly. So, I got speed and open access, allowing me to use the link in media, and I know that government became quickly aware of the issues discussed in the paper.
I felt bad when I noticed that the publishing group was listed on Beall's list (which was then still in use), but in the end I don't really mind. Time is often a crucial factor in conservation. Orangutans, the species I was working on, are disappearing at a rate of 6,000 per year. Of course, publishing alone is not going to stop the death of these animals but some publications have been very influential in conservation.
One problem with publishing in predatory journals though is that few will cite the paper. People generally prefer citing papers published in high impact journals, which is why they are high impact. Our paper was viewed 3605 times and downloaded 112 times, but I don't think that anyone but myself has ever cited it. It's not a bad paper, but I doubt it will get much scientific attention.
One thing to remember is that cheap journals provide an opportunity for young scientists who do not have access to publishing funds to get started with their publications. If you are from a country where monthly salaries average USD 250, a publication fee of several thousand dollars is an insurmountable barrier. Cheaper options may provide opportunity to hone research and writing skills so that later one can attract the kind of funding that allows one to pay higher publication fee. How many budding scientists have turned away from science because they couldn't get published?
Hi, not all labelled predatory Journals are fake. Some of them are of great quality only that they are open access Journals. Some persons have seen that Open access Journals are doing because researchers can easily access information from them then others come up with discouraging ideas. Just study the Journals well and if they are of repute, publish with them.
No, because you will not get any critical reviews to better your paper and also, nobody will find or quote your unrefereed paper and you will gain no credit for it.
There are truly predatory journals that exist. Although, Universities have varying criteria for defining 'Predatory'. And I have observed that predatory journal in one University might not be predatory in another.
However, It will be discrediting to an academician/researcher if almost all his/her publications do not meet minimum international academic publishing standards.
The next question will be, who set these standards?
It is universally known that there are some publishers and journals that have high standards and only publish good quality researches. Academics should make efforts to have most of their publications there and also in Institutional based journals.
Perhaps. but the concept of naming some journals predatory is under scholarly scrutiny
I fully agree with Prof. Ian Kennedy.
Irrespective of open access or not, the journal should follow a standard peer-review process. Publishing a paper in a non-peer reviewed journal is useless.
It will be academically suicidal to publish in a predatory journal, if indeed it really is. Such a publication is crippled in terms of international readership and citation. It is tantamount to 'throwing away' one's precious research work! It is an unhealthy path that no serious academic should tread.
Not at all!
We should not publish our scientific works in the so-called predatory journals.
Publication of research in predatory journals leads to the loss of effort and and the research value.
A few years ago, I inadvertently published a paper in a "predatory journal": Article Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession
The peer review process was very light with two reviewers providing minor comments, but the journal published within weeks of submitting, created a nice-looking pdf, and I paid USD 70 for open access. I was looking for speed in the publication process because the issue needed to be brought to the attention of the Indonesian government quickly. So, I got speed and open access, allowing me to use the link in media, and I know that government became quickly aware of the issues discussed in the paper.
I felt bad when I noticed that the publishing group was listed on Beall's list (which was then still in use), but in the end I don't really mind. Time is often a crucial factor in conservation. Orangutans, the species I was working on, are disappearing at a rate of 6,000 per year. Of course, publishing alone is not going to stop the death of these animals but some publications have been very influential in conservation.
One problem with publishing in predatory journals though is that few will cite the paper. People generally prefer citing papers published in high impact journals, which is why they are high impact. Our paper was viewed 3605 times and downloaded 112 times, but I don't think that anyone but myself has ever cited it. It's not a bad paper, but I doubt it will get much scientific attention.
One thing to remember is that cheap journals provide an opportunity for young scientists who do not have access to publishing funds to get started with their publications. If you are from a country where monthly salaries average USD 250, a publication fee of several thousand dollars is an insurmountable barrier. Cheaper options may provide opportunity to hone research and writing skills so that later one can attract the kind of funding that allows one to pay higher publication fee. How many budding scientists have turned away from science because they couldn't get published?
No not at all. Hard work (thorough research) really deserve worthy and reputable journal publication not in predatory ones.
One should avoid such journals because it does not give credibility to the hard work done
I would like to push back on the comments by Oluwaseun Otekunrin and Jumoke Soyemi. Can anyone tell me what defines a predatory journal? I set up a journal, Suiform Soundings, 12 years ago. It covers research on wild pigs, peccaries and hippos and serves as a communication tool for researchers working on these species. Our editorial processes are light, because all work is voluntary and we don't have the capacity to organize full independent peer review. Publications fees are zero and all is open access. As chair of the IUCN Wild Pig Specialist Group I regularly ask our members for contributions. You publish with us you do get cited but not much. Are we a predatory journal, and if not, what makes us different from those predatory journals? Are we different because we are for free? I am not quite sure what distinguished predatory journals from us, but I do know that scientists like publishing certain types of papers with us, and that we fulfill an important role in the limited field of conservation of these species groups.
I ask: perhaps the Q1 journals that publish 5000 papers a year or more and charge a fee of € 1800 and ask to suggest possible referees, do not do the same as the predatory publishers. Really all your referees are highly qualified and all jobs are of quality?
How do you identify a predatory journal? In most of the high impact journals, the processing fee is high and the citation is low because to read it one has to pay. There are credible journals that provide good reviewing process and takes time to publish the materials. We all have to chose the journal with carefulness because we are sending out information for scientific world to know.
Where did Darwin, Einstein, Aristotle, Curie and others published their findings. Were they reviewed?
Write for the audience, Start with the objective of Research, Base your research on past work, Brief beginning, Choose your side of the story, Show knowledge in method, Simplify on interpretation, and edit by Proofreading. If an article fulfills these standards, where should it be published? Do the so-called predatory journals fall within these standards?
This is a very good website dealing with the issue of 'predatory journals' rather in detail:
Article What is a predatory journal? A scoping review
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Publishing