I’ve blogged about predatory journals in the past and explained why they are more than just a nuisance cluttering up your inbox. Now there is a wonderful new resource to help us navigate the hazardous world of predatory journals, courtesy of The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI).
Let’s assume you already know that a predatory journal is one you should avoid. OHRI defines them as follows: “Predatory journals & publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.”
If you are a graduate student or an early career researcher wanting to get published, this is not the route to take. Yes, it’s important to get your work in print. No, you don’t want to be associated with bad actors, nor should you be supporting this industry to pad your CV.
To be fair, sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between legitimate publishers and those motivated only by revenue. The OHRI resource states the following to explain why the lines are sometimes blurred:
- Many legitimate journals operate behind closed doors (e.g., conduct closed peer review), meaning that it is difficult to openly evaluate their practices.
- Journal operating budgets vary tremendously – some actions considered to be best practice have costs barriers that are too high for some legitimate journals to overcome (e.g., costs associated with archiving).
- It’s possible that ‘junk science’ (e.g., research with poor methodological quality or reporting) can appear in legitimate journals. While this is problematic, we view this as a distinct issue.
In 2019, Nature published the results of a 12-hour discussion on predatory journals that came to this conclusion: “Predatory journals are a global threat.” Let that sink in.
The article also says: “Naive readers are not the only victims. Many researchers have been duped into submitting to predatory journals, in which their work can be overlooked. One study that focused on 46,000 researchers based in Italy found that about 5% of them published in such outlets. A separate analysis suggests predatory publishers collect millions of dollars in publication fees that are ultimately paid out by funders such as the US National Institutes of Health.” There are much better ways to spend that money!
A total of 43 scholars and publishers, from 10 countries, attended a two-day meeting held in Ottawa, Canada, that was the foundation for the 2019 Nature article. Many of the participants were either associated with the University of Ottawa or OHRI, and a subset also form the team behind OHRI’s resource.
The site has information developed for researchers, patients, journalists, funders and other groups, which you can access here.
With health misinformation and disinformation running rampant on the internet, it’s more important than ever to distinguish between real and fake health information.
The team behind OHRI’s resource is currently developing a “journal authenticator tool” to help users decide whether to interact with a journal – for example read it, submit a paper to it, etc. There’s a call for people 18 years of age and older, who live in Canada and speak English, to become focus group participants. No experience is required and you will be paid for your time. Please watch the video below for more information.
Stacey Johnson
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