Predatory Publishing: Red Flags & Lists

Source:  Stony Brook University Libraries

The following is a list of features that are typical of a predatory publisher.  The list comes from a personal communication on the MEDLIB-L listserv on behalf of Lara Lasner-Frater, Electronic Resources Librarian, Sirota Memory Library - Touro Harlem (2019, June 18):

• Webpages contain bogus journals
• Images appear distorted or fuzzy
• No ISSN
• Vague or incomplete contact information
• Promise of rapid publication
• Unclear or deceptive publishing fees and copyright policies
• Fake names are listed on the editorial staff. Names of prominent scholars are included as editors without the knowledge or consent of these individuals
• Published articles are plagiarized, completely fake, are scientifically unsound, or low quality
• Websites contain many grammatical, spelling and formatting errors

The document below includes even more examples.

Both are written by David H. Kaye, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus at Penn State.