We all get them, some of us more than 10 a day, emails from journals suggesting we publish in their august pages. More often than not, these emails are not sent from Nature or the New England Journal of Medicine, but they seem eager to publish our research. How can we be certain that these are quality publications and not some scam? In the current publishing environment, with the revolution/evolution in on-line publishing offering so many new titles, how do we recognise which are reputable and will be well-received, ensuring that our work stands the test of time.
To achieve the best dissemination of our research efforts many of us seek to publish in Open Access journals - in fact many funding bodies demand that your work is only published in open access journals. Like subscription journals, open access journals run the gamut from reputable and well-regarded to little-known and menial. But, as open access publishers ask authors (or their institutions) to pay article processing charges to make the work open to all readers, the latter group of journals (little-known and sloppy) have the opportunity to make a good deal of money from authors. That opportunity is even bigger in the case of online-only journals. As observed, these journals (or the people behind them) actively solicit manuscripts, often through aggressive and misleading email campaigns, and lack transparency regarding their editorial processes. They do not adhere to established academic standards, posing risks to the credibility of scientific research. Researchers who unknowingly publish in such journals may harm their reputations and face difficulties in having their work recognized by reputable academic circles.
Enter Jeffrey Beall (academic librarian at the University of Colorado in Denver), hero of the hour, who observed that there is a group of open access publishers who can be considered less interested in your science than your money. The term he gave to this behaviour was 'predatory' and in response to the growing number of dubiously titled journals he created an online list of 'predatory publishers.' It seems that identifying predatory journals can be challenging, but they often exhibit red flags such as unrealistic promises of rapid publication, lack of credible editorial boards, or unclear peer-review processes. Many authors found it helpful to check his list before submitting an article to an open access journal. The blog, maintained since 2008, was taken down earlier this month. The reason for removal of the site is unclear but there have been rumours that threats and politics forced Beall to shut down the site.
Which journals should you consider submitting your articles to in the post-Beall universe? We provide some guidance n approaches to selecting your journal for publication in our latest Insider's Insight [1]. You can also find guidance within the literature itself, some articles are even open access [2]. Where Beall’s list was a blacklist there are white lists widely available. These lists identify journals and publishers that follow established, recognised standards in open access publishing — for example the Directory of Open Access Journals (www.doaj.org) or the membership list for the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (www.oaspa.org/membership/members). If a journal is listed in the DOAJ, or the publisher is a member of OASPA, authors can be assured that the journal to which they’re submitting follows responsible publishing practices. However, these are not independent voices — "choose well young Skywalker".
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