A study done in 2015 found that there are around 8,000 active 'predatory' open access journals. Predatory open access publishing is a exploitative open access model that involves charging publication fees to authors without providing editorial, peer review, and/or publishing services that are associated with legitimate journals. It is extremely beneficial to review and evaluate a journal before publishing in it for the first time. This section will help you evaluate scholarly publishing opportunities.
Cabell's Whitelist is a guide to academic publishing, listing journal contact information, manuscript and submission guidelines, and evaluation metrics.
All journals included in Cabell's Whitelist (over 11,000 academic journals) receive a full review of the journal's policies and procedures, including peer review process, manuscript submission process, and publication practices. Cabell's also offers documentation on journals that have been removed from the Whitelist, allowing for researchers to make informed decisions regarding their publication choice.
Steps to help identify if a journal or publisher might be considered predatory:
Sharing research results with the world is key to the progress of your discipline and career. But with so many publications, how can you be sure you can trust a particular journal? Follow this check list to make sure you choose trusted journals for your research.
From Grand Valley State University, these guidelines help evaluate open access publications as you consider appropriate publication venues, or invitations to serve as reviewers or editors.
Article abstract: The scholarly publishing paradigm is evolving to embrace innovative open access publication models. While this environment fosters the creation of high-quality, peer-reviewed open access publications, it also provides opportunities for journals or publishers to engage in unprofessional or unethical practices. In response to growing faculty concern in this area, the Grand Valley State University Libraries developed and evaluated a set of Open Access Journal Quality Indicators that support faculty in their effort to identify the characteristics of ethical and unethical open access publications.