Be alert for predatory publishers Sam Oakley Iss-research@swansea.ac.uk

Key Message! If you get an email asking you to submit a paper for a journal or conference, proceed with extreme caution and make careful checks Emails may reference previous work or a conference presentation The journal may look highly relevant or professional

What’s the problem? Publishers are setting up journals to try to make money Fraudulent or low quality journals are targeting researchers They are then charged to publish (even to withdraw a paper)

Why is this happening? The payment of article processing charges to publish open access is an opportunity to make money Pressure on researchers to publish makes them potentially vulnerable (or is the whole system at fault?)

Warning Signs… Journal websites may lie about their impact factor (or use misleading metrics) Journals may mimic existing titles Health especially vulnerable, often targeting specific research areas Many journals are poor quality & publish dubious research

Check any offers carefully Think, Check, Submit has general advice: Do you know the journal & read its research? Can your colleagues recommend it? Who’s the publisher & the board? What’s their peer review process?

Specific checks Check the journal’s claimed impact factor Check SUNCAT: is it subscribed to by UK universities? Is the journal indexed by major databases? Scopus? Web of Science? PubMed?

“One dodgy publication in your publication list brings all the others into question. If you are attaching that publication list to a research grant application, it works against the whole submission.” “Are my publications any good?” Blog post by Jonathan O’Donnell, 22 Mar 16 on “The Research Whisperer”

We would be glad to double-check any journal for you: iss-research@swansea.ac.uk