Open Access Journals and Predatory Publications

Excerpted from the Grant Writers’ Seminars & Workshops blog

There are numerous reputable open-access journals; however, the number of publishers who use open-access to defraud authors and readers by promising reputable publishing platforms, but failing to do so, has expanded dramatically. The term “Predatory Publishing” has been coined to refer to this practice (Beall, J. 2016, Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 98:77).

A study published in Science (Bohannon, J. 2013, 342:60-65) provided alarming information about open-access scientific journals. The author submitted a manuscript representing a fabricated study and author, from a non-existent research institute, to 304 open-access journals. The manuscript contained numerous flaws and meaningless results.

Nevertheless, 157 journals (52%) accepted the manuscript, and only 106 (35%) performed any discernible review. Most of the reviews focused on format, language, and layout; only 36 (12%) of the reviews addressed scientific problems, and 16 of these accepted the manuscript anyway.

To read the full story, see the Grant Writers’ Seminars & Workshops blog.