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• Loss of Money: By publishing in predatory journals, many researchers lose money because either
their articles are not published at all, even after paying the exorbitant APCs or even though they
are published, they are not peer-reviewed and archived (Moher, et al., 2017).
• Waste of Time and Efforts: Time invested in research and in writing papers is precious,
and results in a compounded loss of time and effort if the work is published by mistake in a
predatory journal (Van Noorden, 2020; Moher, et al. op. cit.). Predatory journals waste the time
of academics and researchers which could otherwise be spent for presenting, reviewing, and
serving as editors for established journals (Cress, et al., 2019).

Checklist to Identify Predatory Journals

• ISSN: Although the ISSN is not an indicator of any quality, it should be verified by researchers
from the ISSN-providing agencies or from some secondary source.

• Publisher address / Editor address: Addresses can be verified from secondary sources Such as
Google Map, or similar online searches.
• Impact Factor: Verify IF with Journal Citation Report by Clarivate Analytics.
• Indexing database: Check authenticity of the database (contact details, journal inclusion
criteria, etc.). Google scholar, aggregators, library catalogues are not indexing databases.
• Credibility of editor/s: Credibility can be checked with publications of editors-in-chief and
editorial board members in respectable journals.
• Publication in a short duration of time: Always check dates of submission and acceptance of
papers.
• Journal back volumes: Availability of the archives can be checked.
• Annual listing of reviewers: Does the journal publish a list of reviewers in the Annual Issue/
number? [optional feature]

Reasons for Publications in Predatory Journals

Apart from mandatory publications for career advancement becoming a major cause of the growth of
predatory journals, there are a number of other reasons as well (Demir, 2018).

• Fear of job loss and the “publish-or-perish” pressure.
• Failure to publish in journals indexed in world recognized databases.
• Rejection by standard/respectable journals due to inadequate research skills .
• Competition among colleagues; desire to score higher and gain respect.

• Lack of awareness among researchers and new faculty members.

Battle against Predatory Journals

After taking strict cognizance of the unethical practices in publishing, the battle against predatory
journals was initiated by Jeffrey Beall who worked as the Scholarly Communications Librarian and
Associate Professor at Auraria Library University of Colorado Denver. He started a blog “List of
Potential Predatory Journals and Publishers” in 2008, which was closed down in 2017 due to the
controversies it evoked.

Kscien Organization for Scientific Research Kurdistan has recruited a special committee consisting
9
of 23 young researchers, to prepare the Kscien list of predatory journals. They are working to keep the

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