Guides: Scholarly Communication: Evaluating Publishers

Predatory Publishing

Predatory or deceptive publishing is a business model in which publishers exploit researchers’ need to publish as part of the tenure and promotion process. These publishers charge authors submission and/or publication fees and while the article will probably get “published” online, it also won’t receive quality peer review or editing.

About Predatory Publishers

University of Manitoba Libraries, 2018

Web Resources

Think. Check. Submit.
"This site helps researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research. Through a range of tools and practical resources, this international, cross-sector initiative aims to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications."
Open Access Journal Quality Indicators
Grand Valley State University Libraries
Directory of Open Access Journals
"DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals."
JANE (Journal/Author Name Estimator)
Retraction Watch
The Predator Effect: Understanding the Past, Present, and Future of Deceptive Academic Journals

Library Databases

Cabell's Predatory Reports
A list of journals that exhibit behavioral indicators which show they engage in predatory or exploitative operations. Cabell's also maintains a list of high impact journals, called Journalytics.
Cabell's Journalytics
Database of curated journals that provide high impact for the designated discipline. The whitelist includes contact information, manuscript and submission guidelines, and metrics such as acceptance rate. Cabell's also maintains a list of predatory journals.
Web of Science
Access scholarly literature and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Includes unique search options like Cited Author and Cited Reference.
Includes some sources published from 1900 to present.
Milner's subscription includes:
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present)
- Book Citation Index Science (2005-present)
- Book Citation Index Social Sciences & Humanities (2005-present)
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index Science (1993-present)
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index Social Sciences & Humanities (1993-present)
- Science Citation Index Expanded (1900-present)
- Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present)
Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory (was Ulrich's Periodicals Directory)
Comprehensive database providing detailed information about various periodicals (e.g. journals, magazines, newspapers) such as ISSN, publisher, language, subject, abstracting & indexing coverage, full-text database coverage, tables of contents, and reviews written by librarians.