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Avoiding Problematic Publishers

Learn what problematic (or "predatory") publishers are, how to identify and avoid them, and how to select reputable journals for publishing your research. No information on this guide should be construed as legal advice.

How to Avoid Problematic Publishers

Legitimate Journals Will Meet the Following Criteria

  1. Website will have clear and verifiable information about the publisher and their publishing process
  2. Scope of the journal is well defined
  3. Adhere to international standards of peer review. According to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), those include: 
    1. Peer review processes are transparently described and well managed
    2. Journals provide training for editors and reviewers
    3. Publishers have policies on various aspects of peer review, especially processes for handling conflicts of interest, appeals, and disputes
  4. Editorial board members are experts in their field
  5. Journal is associated with a scholarly or academic organization
  6. Website will have clear and easy to locate information about author fees. Fees are comparable to other reputable open access journals
  7. Website has clear information about copyright such as Creative Commons licenses
  8. Instructions for authors to submit their manuscript are clearly outlined and provide information about how manuscripts are processed after submission 
  9. Website has a retraction policy
  10. Journal will have a valid International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
  11. Journal will have an impact factor
  12. Articles will have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
  13. Claims made on the website, such as indexing, impact factor, etc. can be independently verified from trusted sources

Best Practices for Finding a Legitimate Journal

  1. Email or schedule a consultation with a librarian to identify a reputable publisher/journal that aligns with your publication goals
  2. Go through the Think. Check. Submit. checklist
  3. Consult with trusted colleagues. Do they know the journal and its reputation?
  4. Check the editors and board members websites and CV's to confirm the service with the journal or contact them directly to ask about their experience with the journal
  5. Use the resources below to verify that the journal is listed in reputable indexes and that the claims they make on their website are true
  6. Visit our Open Access guide to learn about KUMC's OA funding agreements

Journal Verification Resources

Think. Check. Submit. from Think. Check. Submit. on Vimeo.

  • Searching indexes is a good place to start, but note that some reputable journals, especially newer journals, may not be included in these indexes due to the length of time it takes for review and acceptance.
  • Some problematic publishers are able to get indexed in PubMed and PubMed Central because they have less strict processes and criteria for inclusion than MEDLINE. 

Note: some problematic/predatory journals may claim they are indexed in these locations. Always verify claims within the index itself.

Impact factor scores and other publisher rating systems are imperfect measures of journal quality and should never be the only factor taken into consideration when trying to locate a suitable journal. Publisher ratings systems may also have bias towards in-house publications and U.S./Eurocentric journals.

However, the presence of a journal in an reputable scoring system can indicate that the journal has acceptable quality standards.