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An in-depth analysis of predatory publishing, a phenomenon in academic publishing characterized by low quality, unethical practices, and often open access. the history and characteristics of predatory publishing, its impact on the scholarly community, and strategies for identifying and avoiding it. It also highlights the role of librarians in educating users about predatory publishing and the importance of critical evaluation of scholarly communications.
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Introduction: Librarians and Predatory Publishing Librarians have a key role to play in educating users about predatory publishing. Predatory publishing can be described as low quality, amateurish, and often unethical academic publishing that is usually Open Access (OA). Understanding predatory publishing helps authors to make more informed decisions about where to publish. In the process of educating our users, librarians can set the ground for important conversations that encourage critical thinking about the scholarly communications process. Predatory publishing stems from broader prob- lems including overemphasis on publication quantity, an OA models based on traditional, for-profit publishing, and resource disparities in the Global South. When users take fuller responsibility and ownership of scholarly communications, knowledge can be a public good and not a commodity. A more sustainable and just scholarly communications ecosystem can be a reality. As effective advocates for OA, librarians need to be ready to respond to those who conflate OA and preda- tory publishing. It is helpful to contextualize predatory publishing as an aspect of evaluating publishers and the quality of scholarship. This helps promote the idea that due diligence is the responsibility of all scholars, whether as authors, peers, or administrators. Additionally, positioning (deliberate) predatory publishing in the broader arena of unethical and fraudulent scholarly practices helps to decouple predatory publishing from OA and boosts our ability to communicate effectively with non-librarians. Overview Defining predatory publishing is challenging: the word “predatory” may not do justice to a complex subject. It is helpful to re-contextualize predatory publishing as scholarly misconduct as well as understand that it is not new. Before the digital age, predatory publishing took the form of vanity monograph publishing. Other types of sketchy publishing have always existed. How and why did predatory publishing arise and how did a journal- ist stunt shock the scholarly publishing and information community? The results of this stunt, the “Bohannon Sting” resulted in some significant changes. Understanding the detailed characteristics and practices of preda- tory publishing as well as the research on publishers, authors, and editors is critical to moving towards the praxis of educating users. When predatory publishing is situated as just one aspect of evaluating the quality of scholarly publishing, some of the hysteria related to predatory publishing is mitigated, creating possibilities for generating critical thought about scholarly communications. * Monica Berger is Associate Professor, Instruction and Reference Librarian, New York City College of Technology, CUNY, email: mberger@citytech.cuny.edu.
Challenge of Defining Predatory Publishing Predatory publishing is an awkward topic. Sometimes called “fake publishing,” it has been described as the “dark side of publishing.”^1 “Dark” connotes nefarious as well as that which is inscrutable or obscured. This double meaning is helpful in thinking more deeply about predatory publishing. The term “predatory publishing” was coined in 2010 by librarian Jeffrey Beall, creator of a now defunct and well-known blacklist of journals and publishers. This term is reductionist. Predation by definition implies inten- tionality and not all predatory journals are deliberately exploitive. Alternative language for predatory publishing suggested includes “dubious,” “low credibility,” and “deceptive,” publishing as well as “scholarly bad faith.”^2 The terms “fake journals,” “sham journals,” and “pseudojournals” are also used. No other language describing this phenomenon has taken root: this may be an outcome of Beall’s domination of the discourse. Beall’s list has func- tioned as the only listing of predatory journals. Beall points to predatory publishers’ “deliberate intent to deceive,”^3 as does Anderson.^4 Unfortunately, the situation is more complex: some publishers identified as predatory may be low quality or amateurish. That said, most predatory publishing exists to make money with little or no consideration of the scholarly record. Preda- tory publishers use spam and they promise rapid peer-reviewed publication in order to attract authors. These authors may be naïve, desperate, or knowingly disingenuous. The peer review process that occurs is superficial or non-existent. Predatory publishers will peer review and accept papers or conference proposals in absurdly short periods of time, sometimes as little as a day or two. Fees for publication are often not transparent. The worst situation is when authors, who recognize too late that a journal is not legitimate, are unable to withdraw their papers. As to predators and victims, the picture is far more complex than meets the eye. Beall stated “unfortunately, there is no objective way to measure or determine whether a publisher is predatory.”^5 This ambiguity is helpful for many reasons. It is not fair to pass judgment when someone innocently becomes associated with a predatory journal as an author, editor, or editorial board member. Checking our privilege is important as well: many preda- tory journals are based in the Global South (less developed countries) and it is all too easy to make insensitive generalizations. Lastly, sometimes a journal starts off as insufficiently rigorous and then meaningfully raises its standards: Hindawi Press is a good example.^6 Unethical Scholarly Practices and Vanity Publishing Situating (deliberate) predatory publishing as a type of unethical scholarly practice or research misconduct is meaningful. Retraction Watch^7 is an excellent resource to keep up with news related to “bad science” and other manifestations of unethical scholarship. Carafoli,^8 Berdahl et al.,^9 as well as Reid and Cress,^10 provide detailed overviews on scholarly and scientific misconduct that include predatory publishing. In mainstream scholarly publishing, bad practices of authors include fabricating and falsifying data, plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and gaming author metrics and padding curriculum vitae with excessive self-citation. Gift au- thorship is a nefarious practice where a researcher gives another scholar sham authorship credit. Unethical editor and publisher practices include bogus peer review and coerced citation (excessive citation of journals from an ar- ticle’s publisher) as well as “advocacy” research, (publications with a hidden agenda promoting a business interest). A well-known publisher famously created and then withdrew journals promoting a pharmaceutical company.^11 Predatory publishing is often a type of vanity publishing. Vanity academic publishing has a long history chiefly in the form of monograph publishing. Typically, the author pays to publish but there are many mono- graph publishers who instead pass their fees on to libraries by charging exorbitant prices. Librarian Drew Askey was sued unsuccessfully by Mellen Press, a publisher using this model.^12 MARCH 22–25, 2017 • BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Predatory Publishing but Were Afraid to Ask 207
Blacklisting is an entirely different response to predatory publishing. Jeffrey Beall’s list of “potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers,” was created years before the “sting.” After the “sting,” Beall was profiled by the New York Times. Beall’s website, which was taken down without explanation by Beall January 2017, was useful but highly controversial. Crawford noted that Beall did not consistently justify his de- cisions.^24 Beall also was considered biased against publishers and journals based in the Global South.25,26,27^ For example, SciELO, the highly regarded South American OA publishing cooperative, was characterized by Beall as a favela (slum).^28 Beall was unsuccessfully sued for a billion dollars by OMICS,^29 one of the world’s biggest and most concerning predatory publishers, currently under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.^30 Beall’s article in tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique^31 proved Beall to be hostile to OA. Wayne Bivens-Tatum’s response makes for provocative reading.^32 A 2015 Beall article in Academe provides further evi- dence of Beall’s animus towards OA.^33 Beall’s list was overused as a shortcut in place of thoughtful investigation of publishers and journals. If Bohannon had also sent his “garbage” article to traditional, toll-access journals, how many of those jour- nals would have accepted his article? Bad or fraudulent peer review and other misconduct occur in all types of scholarly publishing.^34 The lack of a reward system for performing peer review and increasing numbers of articles needing peer review has created a fairly unsustainable situation. Open (and post) peer review, which have varied models,^35 provide for greater transparency, as does sharing data. Steel and Gardy^36 and Wehrmeijer^37 discuss how new models for peer review have potential to diminish predatory publishing. Detailed Characteristics of Predatory Journals Below are some of the typical practices and characteristics of predatory publishers. These indicators do not re- place first-hand experience interrogating a publisher’s website, cross-checking its claims and personnel and as reading its content.
ISSN of an established journal. Well-known examples include Wulfenia Journal, Jokull Journal, and Sylwan. Dadkhah has written at length on the topic: for a quick overview, see Bohannon’s short article in Science.^38 Hijacked journals may be the worst form of predatory publishing. They are especially de- ceptive and exist purely to defraud scholars, sometimes accepting author fees without publication.^39
English proficient scholars are more likely to game the publishing system and engage in unethical behaviors including plagiarism.^56 Rezeaian in his article about non-English speaking biomedical research notes that in the Global South, publication ethics is not usually taught in universities and that few or no governing bodies are in place. In addition to greater potential for corruption, scholars and scientists in the Global South face myriad infrastructure disadvantages.^57 Research on African, Indian, and Chinese Scholars and Predatory Journals In some African countries, quantity is strictly valued and quality is generally disregarded. This value stems in part due to the newness of research at some institutions. The more fundamental issue is a lack of funding and support. Monies go to NGOs for research but not to support publishing. African academics insufficiently take advantage of international funding programs. Academic communities are semi-closed in their interac- tion with public policy-makers and others outside of academe.58–60^ In response, great strides towards quality OA have been made by Research4Life, an African organization providing access to scientific information and support for publishing. It has partnered with DOAJ to assure their journals meet high standards.^61 The Dakar Declaration and CODESRIA Open Access Conference also support quality OA and stand against predatory publishing.^62 India’s rapid expansion without sufficient infrastructure for technology and research outside of its elite insti- tutions has been problematic. Emphasis may be placed on quantity, not quality,^63 and there is a lack of knowledge about publication ethics.64,65^ Some Indian medical researchers may not comfortable with the criticism of peer review and peer review isn’t part of medical training culture.^66 Chinese authorship is growing the most rapidly globally. Unfortunately, China has the most retractions of any country.^67 There is a heavy focus on publishing in top journals with high impact factor leaving a few publish- ing venues for the best. Many authors publish in low caliber journals. An estimated $154,000,000 is spent on publishing in “assisted publishing” which includes vanity/predatory journals and other “underground trade.”^68 A Science investigation of Chinese scientific publishing found previously published articles for sale via article bro- kers as well as other modes of scholarly cheating.^69 Efforts to change the culture include training to help Chinese scholars learn about predatory publishing.^70 Authors, Early Career Research points to a scholarly information literacy gap on the part of faculty and other scholarly authors. In particular, early career scholars seem vulnerable to predatory publishing because they are receptive to OA.^71 Watkinson and Nicholas’s research views this cohort as less capable of identifying predatory journals and assess- ing journals and less meticulous in their literature reviews.72,73^ These academics “lack a publishing culture” and Google Scholar decontextualizes the literature.^74 Editors Who are the predatory journal editors who consciously opt into their role? Sometimes authors in predatory journals are invited to become editors of these journals.^75 One case study is da Silva and Al-Khatib’s examina- tion of an editor of a specific journal. The authors of the article do not share their correspondence with their subject.^76 In nursing, some predatory editors mean well but “fail to do their due diligence” about the journal.^77 Plackett tells the story of a well-regarded scholar who agrees to be editor of new journal but then gets pressured to forego peer review.^78 ACRL 2017 • AT THE HELM: LEADING TRANSFORMATION 212 Monica Berger
Tenure and Promotion Committees, Faculty Awareness There has been little research related to those who assess scholarship and predatory publishing. The exception is Margaret Ray’s article on the University of Mary Washington College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate’s policy decision to create a policy on “fraudulent publishing.”^79 Christopher and Young surveyed medical and veterinary students and faculty^80 and Noga-Styron surveyed academics in criminal justice.^81 Each study confirms faculty ignorance related to predatory publishing. Educating Users Guides and handouts are helpful but the most effective outreach through teaching. Librarians can empower users to advance their ‘scholarly publishing literacy’^82 : the intersection of information literacy and scholarly communications. Grappling with ambivalence related to OA “provides a teachable moment for libraries.”^83 No scholar should ever hesitate to publish OA. If predatory publishing is situated as one of many aspects of finding quality publishers and evaluating scholarship, the overall tone shifts from negative to positive. Opportunities to discuss about the pros and cons of various forms of peer review and bibliometrics/altmetrics as well as the many benefits of quality OA are golden. More importantly, these are moments for advocacy for evaluating scholarship based on quality and not quantity.^84 Emphasizing disciplinary differences is also helpful in encouraging critical thinking about scholarship and its evaluation. Partners In addition to the usual library based activities and workshops, librarians can consider partnering with campus centers for faculty teaching and writing or other units that support faculty scholarship. Mid-career academ- ics particularly may need publishing support. Graduate students as well as new faculty are another important cohort. Administrators and decision-makers including departmental and college appointments committees are key players: discussion related to evaluation of scholarship is crucial to changing campus culture. Tools Although there are complex journal quality scoring systems, simpler tools are better: every user should embrace due diligence. Think. Check. Submit. is a useful to tool to help faculty to begin to evaluate publishers. Key ques- tions include: Can you contact the publisher by telephone, e-mail and post? Is the journal clear about the type of peer review it uses? Is it clear what fees will be charged? Do the editorial board mention the journal on their own websites?^85 Beaubien and Eckard’s rubric of quality indicators for journal evaluation is another excellent tool.^86 Hand- outs and guides familiarizing authors with typical indicators of predatory publishing as well as trusted sources and partners like DOAJ and OASPA are helpful particularly in conjunction with a talk or a workshop. It is very important to emphasize the importance of evaluating a journal by reading some recent articles. Activities The best activity is to directly analyze potential predatory journals, and spam emails. Megan Wacha, CUNY’s Scholarly Communications Librarian, created an activity entitled “Is It Predatory? Checklist for Evaluating Jour- nals” based on Beaubien and Eckhard’s excellent rubric. We preselected a series of journals, mixing in some journals that were not obviously predatory. Using think-pair-share, faculty analyzed the journals and reported MARCH 22–25, 2017 • BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Predatory Publishing but Were Afraid to Ask 213