Integrative Review Capstone Toolkit

Tips & Tools

The following resources can help you identify a journal that might be a good fit for your paper.

Avoiding Predatory Publications

What is a 'predatory publication'?

“Predatory journals and 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.”¹

These predatory publications typically collect large article processing charges (APCs) without providing the peer review and editorial support that can be expected from a quality scholarly publication.
 
Checklist to evaluating a journal²

• Check that the publisher provides full, verifiable contact information, including address, on the journal site. Be cautious of those that provide only web contact forms.
• Check that a journal’s editorial board lists recognized experts with full affiliations. Contact some of them and ask about their experience with the journal or publisher.
• Check that the journal prominently displays its policy for author fees.
• Be wary of e-mail invitations to submit to journals or to become editorial board members.
• Read some of the journal’s published articles and assess their quality. Contact past authors to ask about their experience.
• Check that a journal’s peer-review process is clearly described and try to confirm that a claimed impact factor is correct.
• Find out whether the journal is a member of an industry association that vets its members, such as the Directory of Open Access Journals (www.doaj.org) or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (www.oaspa.org).
• Use common sense, as you would when shopping online; if something looks fishy, proceed with caution.

1. Grudniewicz, A., Moher, D., Cobey, K. D., Bryson, G. L., Cukier, S., Allen, K., ... & Lalu, M. M. (2019). Predatory journals: no definition, no defence.
2. Declan Butler, Butler, D., & others. (2013). The dark side of publishing. Nature, 495(7442), 433–435.

Resources for Evaluating Journals