Warning Signs of a Predatory or Cloned Journal

What Predatory Means

A predatory journal takes publication fees but offers little or none of the editorial service that would justify them, meaning no real peer review, no copy editing, no preservation and no serious oversight of ethics. Knowing this definition helps you judge a journal by what it actually does, not by how it presents itself.

The harm goes beyond money. Work that appears in such a venue is frequently absent from the databases your assessors rely on, can be ignored by hiring and promotion panels, and cannot be sent elsewhere because it counts as already published.

The Warning Signs

• An unrequested, flattering email asking you to submit on a subject only loosely connected to your latest paper
• Assured acceptance, or a publication date promised ahead of review
• Very rapid turnaround marketed as a selling point — real review needs time
• Payment requested prior to or during review, or charges kept hidden until acceptance
• Metrics that cannot be checked — impact factors issued by bodies you cannot identify
• A crowd of logos below "Indexed In" without links to verify them
• Board members who cannot be traced, or who appear on the list without knowing it
• An unnamed editor, no postal address and no identifiable company
• A scope that spans everything but has no experts behind it — a real multidisciplinary journal names the editors and reviewers for each field it covers
• Weak language across the site and the published articles, which suggests nobody copy edits
• Missing policies covering ethics, corrections, retractions or archiving

Any one sign proves nothing by itself, but several together form a pattern.

Cloned Journals

A cloned journal imitates a legitimate title, its ISSN and frequently its site design so as to catch authors and take fees. The genuine journal may be fully reputable and have no idea. Always compare the details with the original source before you trust a lookalike site.

• Go to a journal by entering its official domain yourself, and never through a link in an email
• Compare the ISSN shown on the site with the official ISSN record for that title
• Treat lookalike domains and odd suffixes with suspicion
• Verify payment details with the editorial office using a contact route you located yourself

Pre-Submission Checklist

• Is it possible to identify the editor-in-chief and confirm where they work?
• Does the journal describe its peer review in concrete terms?
• Are charges stated before you submit, and due only once the paper is accepted?
• Can you read the journal's policies on ethics, corrections, retractions and archiving?
• Does each indexing claim check out on the indexing service's own website?
• Is there an unbroken publication record that you can look through?
• Do the published articles show signs of copy editing?
• Is the scope reasonable for one journal?
• Are there a genuine postal address and a publisher you can identify?
• Is the title familiar to colleagues in your discipline?

The Grey Area

Being small, new, regional or absent from a selective database does not make a journal predatory. Every journal has to begin somewhere, and one that openly says it is not in Scopus is being candid with you rather than admitting a flaw. Judge each journal by its conduct, not by its size or age.

What separates the two is honesty and service rather than prestige: does the journal portray itself accurately, review what it publishes and deliver what it promises? A modest journal that is open about itself is a legitimate venue, while a polished one that misstates its coverage is not.

When You Have Submitted Already

1. Before publication: withdraw at once in writing and retain a copy. Make no further payments.
2. After publication: ask for retraction in writing. Certain journals refuse, or ask for money to take the article down.
3. While the work is still published, do not send it to another journal, since that causes a duplicate publication problem which will be blamed on you.
4. Inform your supervisor or research office at an early stage; they have often dealt with such cases and can give advice.
5. Save all emails and receipts.

Protecting Yourself

Pick your target journal while you are still writing, not once the paper is done. Ask colleagues where they publish. See whether the journal's claims can be confirmed within minutes; if not, you have your answer. Keep notes of what you verified so you can show a supervisor your checks later.

Related reading: Journal Indexing in Plain Language, along with this journal's own transparency disclosures.

At-a-Glance Checklist

1. ISSN agreesTitle and publisher as in the ISSN record
2. Claims confirmedEvery index checked at its origin
3. No promisesAssured acceptance is a warning sign
4. Fee follows acceptanceNot before review
5. Official domainEntered by you, not taken from an email link

Questions Researchers Often Ask

More Researcher Resources

Authors and researchers will find in the JMVRA Researcher Resources library this guide, written as practical help that can be checked and that avoids promotion.

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Related Reading

Further reading on the same theme from the JMVRA blog.