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Types of Predatory Publications

A perusal of extant literature allows categorization of the various types of predatory journals:
• Shoddy/sham journals: Journals having all characteristics and unethical features mentioned
above (Klyce and Feller, 2017).
• Hijacked journals: They are difficult to recognize as they mimic the standard publications in
name, logo, and website (Dadkhah and Borchardt, 2016). They look as good as the standard
legitimate journals.
• Cloned journals: They are online dubious versions of print only authentic journals. Here the
names and ISSN (if any) are the same (Asim and Sorooshian, 2019).
• Crony publishing: Institutional publications in which editorial board members and a majority
of the authors are from the same institutes, across a majority of the issues of the periodical.
Editorial misconduct by editors and their associate reviewers (groups of friends from either the
same or different institutions are on board of reviewers).

Consequences of Predatory Journals

As discussed earlier, anyone can publish on any topic in predatory journals. There are no efforts to
check the quality of research by predatory publishers as they are interested in APCs alone. Research
in the biomedical field often leads to improved therapies, new medicines, new surgeries and
improved patient safety. Therefore, if the research results are published without scrutiny, doctors
and individuals may use false information. Journalists or media people may mislead people if they
publish information, without ascertaining journal credentials (predatory or legitimate).Therefore,
information published in predatory journals, without any “peer review”, threatens the society at large
with uncharted pitfalls.
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Other Implications of Predatory Journals

• Corruption in Science and Other Disciplines: A recent study shows that predatory journals
contaminate the scientific archive as mainstream journal articles do cite journals that have been
published in predatory journals. Others, not being aware that these papers have not really been
peer-reviewed, may take them as being validated by experts in the area. This could lead to a real
negative impact on the credibility of science and disciplines.
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• Influence on Key Sectors such as Human Health: Misleading information can influence
behaviour and cause damage to human health. There are no mechanisms to authenticate the
information, test veracity of claims and avoid findings that can be potentially harmful to patients
and others (Hansoti, et al., 2016).

• Damage to the Career of Researchers: Publishing in predatory journals reflects poorly on the
researchers and harms their CVs. Experts assessing the researchers, whether for job interviews
or job promotions, will weigh and favourably assess quality against quantity. The papers
published in predatory journals are unlikely to be cited, which ultimately affects the researcher’s
metrics such as h-index and makes his/her research integrity and credentials questionable.
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• Damage to the Institution’s Reputation: Publishing in predatory journals by the researchers
affiliated to the institutions causes collateral damage to the profile of the institution. Moreover,
the institutions will not squander precious funds on predatory publications; with the added
danger of exposure to negative external scrutiny which would certainly tarnish their image.
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