What is a predatory journal?

The definition was agreed in April 2019 in Ottawa by 43 participants from ten countries, among them publishing societies, funders, researchers, libraries and patients who engage actively in research (Grudniewicz et al., Nature 2019). It names four features: false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, lack of transparency, and aggressive, indiscriminate solicitation. Examples of false information include fake impact factors, incorrect addresses, and untrue claims of indexing or membership.

The group deliberately left out journal quality and intent to deceive: an under-resourced journal can also be of low quality, but it does not intend to deceive. Membership of COPE or DOAJ, or indexing, does not by itself guarantee quality, because predatory journals have slipped into such lists.

To check a journal, Think. Check. Submit. asks whether you know the journal, whether the publisher is easy to identify and contact, whether the type of peer review is clear, whether articles are indexed and archived, whether fees are stated, and whether the publisher belongs to an initiative such as COPE. It advises submitting only if you can answer yes to most or all of the questions. Of the 93 checklists for detecting predatory journals that Cukier et al. (BMC Med 2020) reviewed, 90 were not evidence-based, so a result is best read as a set of warning signs, not a verdict.