Wayne Hynes
Faculty members have long felt intense pressure to publish, but a modern-day trap awaits the unwary academic, Professor Wayne Hynes of Â鶹´«Ã½'s Department of Biological Sciences says.
So-called predatory journals have multiplied in the past decade, luring scholars with promises of publication but often for a fee and often without peer review. Also booming, Hynes says, is a related enterprise: predatory conferences.
He will lead a workshop on the topics titled "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places" from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. Nov. 1, 2018, in Perry Library Commons, Room 1311. Refreshments will be provided.
The Center for Faculty Development, a co-sponsor of the workshop, reached out to him for an interview about these unscrupulous practices, how to recognize and resist them, and what can be done to stop them. It's important to understand that publishing in a predatory journal can seriously damage your academic career.
What makes an academic journal "predatory"?
An exact definition of a "predatory" journal is difficult to come by. There are even suggestions that we do away with the term ().
So-called predatory journals tend to be open access journals; however, not all open access journals are predatory. Predatory journals are published by for-profit publishing companies; their motivation is financial gain without the hallmarks of legitimate scholarly journals (Ferris & Winkler). The journals, and by inference the publishers, are dishonest, lack transparency, and do not follow the high standards of scholarly publishing (Beall, 2016). They have rapid turnaround from submission to publication, due in part to little or no peer review, and charge publication fees for minimal [no] editorial input. In addition, article processing fees may not be disclosed until late in the process.
Nowadays it can be difficult to tell predatory from legitimate organizations. Be careful when selecting journals for your publications.
How long has this phenomenon been around?
There has been a major expansion in the number of predatory journals in the last 10 years. Estimates put the number of predatory publishers (Lucia, 2017 ) at over 1,150, predatory journals at over 10,000 (Sax, 2018 ), and the number of publications in such journals, in 2014, at over 420,000 (Vence, 2017 ).
How and why have predatory journals thrived?
Predatory journals thrive as we (academics in particular) tend to function in a "publish or perish" society. When we do evaluations for open positions, or promotion and tenure, we look at numbers of publications rather than quality of publications. This needs to change. There must be rewards for publishing in quality journals, or consequences (not considered in evaluations) for publishing in predatory publications.
Another reason these organizations continue to flourish is the large number of researchers in developing parts of the world who need to publish, again because of the need to publish in order to be considered successful.
When did predatory conferences arise and how do they work?
Predatory conferences are often associated with many of the same groups that put out predatory journals. When you go to one of their conferences, you get to publish in one of their journals. Many of these conferences are held in exotic places, and often you will find multiple conferences in the same place at the same time sharing keynote speakers. These conferences offer little, if anything, in the way of content oversight.
It is not just the ability to publish your material in a high-quality journal that you may miss out on, but also development of technologies and the ability to patent such advances. There have been reports that people in the audience are there to garnish information on new technologies. They will then take (steal?) this information, leaving you out in the cold.
What can be done to stop predatory practices at their source?
Predatory publishers and conferences exist because we send them material to publish or present at their conferences. If we cut off their supply, and therefore their income, they will go away. In order to do this we need to be diligent in where we submit and publish.
Most predatory publishers and conferences get our attention through mass e-mailings and advertising that look like legitimate organizations; some have even hijacked names of legitimate organizations. Take care when you receive such e-mails. In many cases they are full of praise for your work (even if it is outside the scope of the journal/conference) and poorly written. Journal e-mails offer quick turnaround for an article or an offer to edit a special edition of the journal in your area of expertise. For conferences the request often comes not only with an invitation to be a speaker, but also to chair a session. What junior faculty member does not want such opportunities?
In 2016 the federal government went after one of the biggest participants in the predatory publishing and predatory conference realm - OMICS - suing them for participating in deceitful practices.
What can academics do to avoid being taken in?
Do your due diligence. Check out journals or conferences before submitting anything. Once you submit something or register, it can be difficult or impossible to back out - these companies hold your work, or money, hostage.
There are a number of sites that provide background information on predatory publishers/publications and conferences. I have included some of these as links from: . Also, talk to others who work in your field - do they publish in a particular journal? Do you recognize the names of journal editors? Is the journal indexed in bibliographic databases? Has someone you know been to the conference previously? Are you citing other publications from the particular journal?
Want to have some fun? Try searching for the address of the publisher (if you can find it) using Google Maps. You will find apartment complexes, private houses, small strip malls, and rent-an-office-for-an-hour retail space.
What drives you to shed light on these practices?
Both predatory publications and conferences diminish the hard work that goes into research, and undermine the basis of science. Researchers build upon the work of others; without high-quality peer review prior to publication, how can we be sure what is reported in the literature is accurate? This leads to increased financial costs and potentially other downstream effects - are medical advances published without peer review safe?
It is so easy to get caught/tricked by these predatory organizations, I want people to be aware they are out there, and to avoid the pitfalls that could have repercussions down the road, not only for themselves but for their departments and institutions.