Predatory journals and fake conferences

Scientific publications are the currency of research. Publication in established journals and participation in prestigious conferences are important measures of scientific success. For you as a scientist, it is of great importance to make your research results visible through publication. Questionable publishers and dubious organizers try to exploit this.

Was sind Predatory Journals?

Predatory journals, often also referred to as predatory journals or pseudoscientific journals (see also Open Access Glossary), pursue a business model in which authors are offered the opportunity to publish their scientific work in return for an article fee, but without offering scientific standards such as quality assurance procedures and editorial work as in serious scientific journals. Content in predatory journals is generally not recorded in the relevant specialist databases, regardless of the quality of the respective article. They therefore remain hidden from the specialist community.

Checklists and criteria for checking the trustworthiness of journals

However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize dubious journals. If you are planning to publish in a specialist journal, it is advisable to talk to your peers first. If the journal is not known in specialist circles, it should be checked carefully. The following criteria can provide further clues:

• Is the publisher a member of the Open Access Scholarly Association (OASPA)?
• Is the publisher a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)?
• Is the publisher a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Media Publishers (STM)?

The Think – Check – Submit service is also available for orientation.

Compass To Publish can also help with the selection of reputable journals. Users are guided through a series of questions in the University of Liège’s service and can independently identify (potentially) predatory publications using a color scale.

Directories of quality-checked Open Access journals

If you publish in an open access journal, you can check whether it is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Only journals from trustworthy publishers with appropriate peer review procedures are indexed here.

What are Predatory Conferences?

In addition to predatory journals, another negative phenomenon has emerged in the scientific publication and communication system in recent years: predatory conferences (also known as fake conferences). These are the counterpart to predatory journals. At first glance, these conferences may appear to be serious and scientifically sound. In reality, however, they offer no real added value in the scientific sense and are organized by the organizers solely with the aim of earning money through conference fees. The participants and presenters are exploited in the process.

Criteria for checking the trustworthiness of a conference

In the course of our day-to-day work over the years, we have noticed a number of recurring signs that can indicate or at least provide an initial indication of whether a conference is a rather questionable event:

• Neither you nor your professional colleagues have participated in the conference before
• You are not yet familiar with the conference
• You are repeatedly invited to participate in the conference by email, including requests for the keynote speech
• An initial online search for “predatory” or “predatory conference” and the event name or organizer leads to testimonials in forums, social networks or comments
• The conference page lacks professionalism (e.g. spelling mistakes, private email addresses of contact persons, lack of contact options, blurred images)
• Payment details are only hidden on the website or cannot be found at all
• Details of the conference program are unclear or not shown at all
• Participants and the location of the conference are boldly advertised
• Conspicuous conference sponsorship (e.g. numerous sponsors, sponsors unrelated to the conference theme)
• No clear statements on the peer review process and/or the publication of conference contributions
• It is promised that the conference contribution will appear in a journal that exhibits the characteristics of a predatory journal

Further resources for checking the seriousness of a conference

A checklist that can also help you identify dubious conferences can be found at Think. Check. Attend.

Links

• Think. Check. Submit. (Checklist for checking the reliability of journals, books and book chapters)
• Think. Check. Attend. (Checklist for checking the seriousness of a conference)
• Compass To Publish (Questionnaire to check the authenticity of a journal)
• OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Association)
• COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
• STM (International Association of Scientific, Technical & Media Publishers)

We will be happy to advise you on Open Access

You can reach the Open Access team via mail openaccess@tuhh.de.

Please also feel free to take part in our Open Access consultation hours via Zoom (identification code: 190591) if you have questions regarding Open Access (every Friday from 10:00 am to 10:30 am).