Is Predatory Publishing a Real Threat? Evidence from a Large Database Study

Abstract

Using a database of potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly openaccess journals, the objective of this research is to study the penetration of predatory publications in the Brazilian academic system and the profile of authors in a cross-section empirical study. Based on a massive amount of publications from Brazilian researchers of all disciplines during the 2000-2015 period, we were able to analyze the extent of predatory publications using an econometric modeling. Descriptive statistics indicate that predatory publications represent a small overall proportion, but grew exponentially in the last 5 years. Departing from prior studies, our analysis shows that experienced researchers with a high number of non-indexed publications and PhD obtained locally are more likely to publish in predatory journals. Further analysis shows that once a journal regarded as predatory is listed in the local ranking system, the Qualis, it starts to receive more publications than non-predatory ones.

A systematic review of unsupervised learning techniques for software defect prediction

“…Note that the number of experimental results in these primary studies varies greatly from 1 to 751 thus some papers have more propensity for error. We thus classify the 48 selected papers into two groups according to whether they are found in the so-called 'predatory' publisher lists [14]. The list aims to identify standalone publishers with questionable approaches to peer review rigour.…”

Application of entity linking to identify research fronts and trends

“…By examining the instances in the IS literature in which particular topics appear, an increase in the use of the topic predatory-to describe predatory science, academia and publications (fake journals)-becomes apparent. Researchers examine the spread of predatory publications (Demir 2018;Perlin et al 2018) and regard predatory academia as a growing problem (da Silva and Tsigaris 2018;Perlin et al 2018). Others argue that there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of predatory publications and urge academics to exercise caution in selecting conferences (Lang et al 2018).…”

The challenge of the predatory open-access publishing outbreak

“…The profile of the authors who published in or cite from predatory journals seems related to young inexperienced scholars from developing countries [5]. Africa (i.e.…”

“…research hypothesis or further analyses. Academic promotions and fund rising may be achieved with the help of the detrimental practice of predatory publishing [5]. Predatory publishing is also an "hot topic" on the general and social media undermining the reputation of Science to general public [5].…”

“…Academic promotions and fund rising may be achieved with the help of the detrimental practice of predatory publishing [5]. Predatory publishing is also an "hot topic" on the general and social media undermining the reputation of Science to general public [5]. Lastly, stolen identity for fake Editorial board membership may be detrimental for respectful scholars (usually 'opinion leaders') who can be unaware of this issue.…”