Page 142 - Academic and Research Book_WEB

CHAPTER 15

Predatory Journals: Causes and Consequences

Shubhada Nagarkar

Introduction

Predatory publications have been extensively debated in literature over the last decade and global efforts
are underway to educate new researchers about predatory publishers. Jeffrey Beall was the first one
to report such publishers on his blog, making it clear that they had exploited the Open Access (OA)
publishing model and had attracted gullible researchers and faculty members to publish their research
in their journals (Beall, 2012). Scholars, desperate to meet publication norms for career promotions
and other academic purposes, unknowingly fall prey to these publishers. The “pay and publish” model
that bypasses the peer review process, and accepts and publishes research papers has been made
easier by predatory publishers. Therefore, several substandard papers are flooding research literature
across disciplines, and are proving immensely harmful to society. By adopting conscious, calculated
and frequent changes in their practices, predatory publishers have made it difficult for unwary authors to
differentiate predatory journals from respectable/standard journals (Beall, 2016).

Here we provide a clear overview of the meaning, origin, and characteristics of predatory journals.
Different types and examples of predatory journals are listed; the reasons for their existence are
addressed; and the implications they have produced are pointed out. A checklist for the identification
of predatory publications is presented and a reference is made to the efforts of the global campaign
against predatory journals.

The Academic Journal

Researchers worldwide are engaged in discovering new knowledge and reaffirming the results of
previous endeavours. Research ventures are disseminated through academic journals ,which reveal
the author’s credentials, methods of investigation, observations, and outcomes of the research;
mapping the progress of any discipline. Academic journals have a long tradition of publishing (first
published in 1665), in print format by universities and learned societies, surviving on individual or
institutional subscriptions. The stringent editorial practices with the strong editorial board and peer
1
review systems rendered these journals authentic and therefore trusted among researchers (Smith,
1999; Cope and Phillips, 2014; Weiner, 2001).
Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) transited the print journal to the
electronic format (through the World Wide Web), significantly impacting academic publishing by
giving free online access, that is, Open Access (OA) (Harnad, 2010). Although new pricing models for
print only, print and online (hybrid) (Green OA), and online-only (Gold OA) journals were brokered.
The standard publishing practices were not diluted (Björk and Solomon, 2015).
For Green OA, the researcher is required to wait for the embargo or moving wall period (usually 12 to
24 months) to be over, prior to archiving his or her published paper in any repository. Alternatively,
researchers have the option to publish their papers online through preprint archives (arXiv, bioRxiv
and engrXiv etc.),with an online peer review process.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND RESEARCH QUALITY | 131