Beware of Predatory Journals
At lunch with a bunch of academics the other day, I heard about a very startling idea relating to publications. In the academia, publications are a very important and essential part of the academic life. People work really hard to create a journal or conference paper. At the beginning and in the end, he or she is working to build a name, a legacy. The name and legacy being built must be an authentic name, by showcasing a lot of hard work and effort.
The problem is, there is a rise to predatory journals. Predatory journals, who are out there to make money. One of my colleagues had mentioned that after a lot of hard work, she submitted a paper to a journal. She got a letter back from the journal (after waiting of course), stating how great of a job she did. They offered to publish the paper for $800. The sad part is, the editor of that journal was a very esteemed editor. However, after checking with the VT Library, she was told that it would be better *not* to publish the paper there. This was when she was introduced to the idea of predatory journals.
The sad part is, a lot of time, effort, and money is invested in the paper that’s submitted to a predatory journal. Just waiting until you hear a yes or no response takes time, and isn’t too great.
According to this reference, the problem is becoming a lot worst now. The numbers of predatory publishers and journals are exponentially rising. They are calling themselves open source journals, but however, they are indeed predatory. There is a long list of predatory journals, and other useful information at the bottom of the first link useful for the academic aspiring to publish. Just thought it would be good to share.
September 21, 2015 @ 6:12 pm
I am really glad that you’re bringing this issue up. And, it’s not only the fact that the number predatory journals are rising, but the number of journals in general rising, because there is so much pressure on people to publish.
Because, of this, the pressure gets added to not only publish, but to get published in recognized and respected journal, which forces graduates students to compete with faculty and tenured professors.
I am getting stressed about it just writing this comment.
October 19, 2015 @ 5:18 pm
Sorry for my late response Shelby, but I totally feel your pain.
Hopefully we all get to publish in highly esteemed journals soon 🙂
September 21, 2015 @ 10:15 pm
I find it interesting that you consider an open source “predatory”. Have you ever considered the other side of the coin? Essentially, many open source journals charge people to publish, but provide the published work for free to the public. On the other hand these traditional “non-predatory” journals publish your work for free and then charge astronomical costs to readers.
I understand there are issues with each way to cover the cost of publishing, but is it any more “predatory” to pay to publish in a journal than to pay to read a journal?
October 19, 2015 @ 5:20 pm
Hi Micah,
Thanks for your comment, and sorry for the late response.
The journal I referred to in this particular entry was actually one that was predatory…
It was one the VT Library went back to them, and told them they are predatory.
I understand that astronomical costs aren’t good, but at the same time, publishing for money if the journal isn’t reputable isn’t also the solution.
Don’t you think so?