Are you prey to predatory journals?

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“While predatory journals may not have sound ethical practices, the publication alone does not dictate the research’s validity. Let the quality of the study, the completeness (or lack thereof) of the data, the author’s intent, the appropriateness of the citations, and other characteristics speak for themselves.”

All veterinarians should strive to practice evidence-based veterinary medicine. This approach to clinical practice permits veterinarians to combine clinical proficiency with sound medical decisions based on well-studied, appropriately designed, and properly evaluated (statistically and interpretively) research studies.1 However, this can be challenging in today’s scientific climate, especially in the face of misinformation and the skyrocketing numbers of predatory journals.

What are they?

“Predatory journals” exist for the owners of the journals to make money from publishing fees and who generally do not care much about the quality of what they publish (with some being far worse than others).

There are other highly unreliable journals set up by vested interests that, while they may not care about making money from publishing, their criteria for publishing may differ from that of a high-quality scientific journal. Examples are journals set up to publish positive findings in a particular field. In such journals, the definition of a “good” paper is often a positive result rather than sound scientific methodology. Similarly, journals may be set up and run by pharmaceutical companies to (indirectly) help increase the sales of their products.2,3

Concerns about the increasing number of open-access journals with questionable publishing practices associated with them were raised in 2008.4 While these journals were initially developed to lower publishing costs and increase research access, with this model came the pay-to-publish rather than the pay-to-access model, which led to predatory publishers. Such journals lack both transparency and legitimacy.

An initial list of such publications through 2021 has been compiled,5 and additional indexes,3,6–10 pointing out further possible means of disseminating false information, publishers notorious for predatory behaviors, incomplete or poorly conducted research, or non-peer-reviewed or improperly reviewed data, have been gathered.

OPEN ACCESS SIGNIFICANCE

Open-access journals were initially considered a faster way to get articles published with a less rigorous review process, and the format is becoming increasingly prevalent due to a need and desire for research to be more globally accessible.6 Unfortunately, this also serves to make predatory journal assessment more difficult.3,8,16

Predatory journal criteria

The term predatory, as it pertains to conferences, presentations, and publications, has been defined as, “currently used to identify entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of the ethical codes that rule scientific divulgation.” 11
Four categories initially helped guide the initial defining characteristics of predatory journals: 12,13

  • Staff and editors (e.g. a lack of properly identified individual editors or a failure to identify a specific or formal review board).
  • Management style or business practices (e.g. lack of openness about author fees).
  • Integrity (e.g. claiming false impact factors, having peer reviewers with incongruent attributes for the specific research of interest, journal names mimic or resemble reputable journals).
  • Other (e.g. lack of sufficient proofreading/copyediting, grammatical errors, journal/publisher owners and editors are one individual, rapidly publish within weeks).

Additional concerns

Even if not recognized as predatory, when evaluating research and individual journal articles, various practices should give veterinarians pause. Additional concerns include:3,4,10,12–18

  • A failure to narrow a journal’s focus to ensure a large number of entries and revenue.
  • Journal titles (and related submissions) combine subjects not normally seen together (e.g. the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence, Taxidermy, and Veterinary Medicine.).
  • Authors are charged fees to publish and often must sign over copyrights.
  • Policies and ethics regarding publication affiliation are lacking or false (e.g. placing the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) logo on the company website without being a member)
  • Failing to provide appropriate reference identifiers, such as proper Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) or International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN).
  • Failing to follow applicable industry-set standards.
  • Publishers/journals are not referenced in recognized search engine databases, yet claim to be.
  • Editorial board members have no published articles to their names.
  • An optional expedited peer review service, a so-called “fast-track” method, is offered.
  • Spam emails and solicitations for peer reviews or article submissions are the norm.
  • Deceitful advertising or website practices.

Do predatory journals give usable scientific evidence?

A blanket statement about the research findings in predatory journals cannot be made. It is possible all the parameters of a good study could be met, but a less-than-ideal journal publication was chosen.

However, systematic reviews support the claim that predatory journals publish less valid, less generalizable, poorly designed research.19 Predatory journals may publish incorrect papers without careful methodological and bias assessment, adding to the expanding body of misleading or incomplete research.

Why do they end up in public, reputable databases?

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has a Public Access Policy established to ensure peer-reviewed articles the agency finances are available in PubMed Central (PMC). Upon acceptance of NIH-funded research to any publication, regardless of the journal’s quality, it must be listed in PMC; and because the database includes citations from other databases, such as Medline, the content is linked to PubMed.20–22

Further contributing to the problem is in August 2022, U.S. President Biden announced by December 31, 2025, all federally funded research must be published in open-access journals that are free to the public.23 Thus, it is increasingly important to establish a better means to monitor, navigate, and incorporate predatory journals.

What can be done?

The scientific community should take various actions to detect predatory materials and reduce misinformation propagation. For example, to avoid predatory publications, Scopus, PubMed, and PubMed Central must check journal submissions and publishers more thoroughly.24 Further, there are possible steps we can take to lessen the negative impact of predatory journals, reducing the mistrust of scientific information.

Collectively, the scientific community needs to advocate for several possible actions, including:15,25,26

  • Instituting penalties for predatory behaviors by the Federal Trade Commission.
  • Individual fields of study should establish monitoring committees to keep track of predatory practices in their areas and disseminate their findings.
  • Electronically identifications of abnormalities in website practices, including spamming.
  • Universities should collectively establish bans on known offending journals/publishers.
  • Universities must also teach undergraduates and post-graduates in scientific and medical fields about these journals’ existence and their associated problems.
  • Universities or government agencies should adopt policies preventing authors in known predatory journals from obtaining positions discouraging their use.

Additionally, one can evaluate the characteristics of journals based on various registries. Being able to verify the presence of an ISSN in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or The Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD) and actual membership in COPE further suggests validity to a journal.16,18,27

Take-home points

While information in predatory journals are not necessarily invalid, veterinarians may consider:28

  • Looking at how many times an article is cited in related works
  • Evaluating the references cited in the article for quality, impact factor, and relevance
  • Assessing the study design and other parameters individually and comparing them to related works
  • Determining if the statistical analysis is appropriate
  • Assess the study individually and as a whole; and if high-quality evidence, consider the relevance

While predatory journals may not have sound ethical practices, the publication alone does not dictate the research’s validity. Let the quality of the study, the completeness (or lack thereof) of the data, the author’s intent, the appropriateness of the citations, and other characteristics speak for themselves. Just because something is published in a predatory journal does not make the results invalid.29

We cannot make a blanket statement that all predatory journal articles are invalid and should be excluded from the pool of evidence. However, articles in predatory journals can be read critically for their concordance with principles of evidence-based medicine before using them as a basis for medical decisions.

Erica Tramuta-Drobnis, VMD, MPH, CPH, is the CEO and Founder of ELTD One Health Consulting LLC. Dr. Tramuta-Drobnis works as a public health professional, emergency veterinarian, freelance writer, researcher, and consultant. She is a member of the Evidence-Based Veterinary Medical Association (EBVMA), with different members writing this column. While all articles are reviewed for content, the opinions and conclusions of the author(s) do not necessarily reflect the views of the EBVMA. For information about the association or to join, visit https://www.ebvma.org/.

References

  1. Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association (EBVMA). What is the EBVMA? Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association (EBVMA). Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.ebvma.org/
  2. Tsuyuki RT, Al Hamarneh YN, Bermingham M, Duong E, Okada H, Beall J. Predatory publishers: Implications for pharmacy practice and practitioners. Can Pharm J (Ott). 2017;150(5):274-275. doi:10.1177/1715163517725269
  3. Vakil C. Predatory journals. Can Fam Physician. 2019;65(2):92-94. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6515480/
  4. Beall J. Predatory publishers are corrupting open access. Nature. 2012;489(7415):179-179. doi:10.1038/489179a
  5. Bueter R. Research Guides: Predatory Publishing: Jeffrey Beall. George Washington University’s Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library. Published August 7, 2023. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/PredatoryPublishing/Beall
  6. Open Access Journals. (New) List of Predatory Journals – 2023 » Open access journals. Published July 18, 2020. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.openacessjournal.com/blog/predatory-journals-list/
  7. Predatory Reports. List of all MDPI predatory journals (*Updated). Predatory Reports. Published February 22, 2023. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://predatoryreports.org/news/f/list-of-all-mdpi-predatory-publications
  8. Eriksson S. Where to publish and not to publish in bioethics. The Ethics Blog. Published April 19, 2016. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://ethicsblog.crb.uu.se/2016/04/19/where-to-publish-and-not-to-publish-in-bioethics/
  9. Konieczny A. LibGuides: Predatory Publishing: Detecting Predatory Publishing. FLITE Library. Published July 27, 2022. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://ferris.libguides.com/predatorypub/detecting
  10. Oviedo-García MÁ. Journal citation reports and the definition of a predatory journal: The case of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). Research Evaluation. 2021;30(3):405-419a. doi:10.1093/reseval/rvab020
  11. Cortegiani A, Catalisano G, Manca A. Predatory Journals and Conferences. In: Integrity of Scientific Research: Fraud, Misconduct and Fake News in the Academic, Medical and Social Environment. Springer International Publishing AG; 2022:Chapter 49: pp. 501-508. Accessed August 30, 2023. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/philau/detail.action?docID=7110277
  12. Beall J. Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access Publish – 3rd Edition. Published online January 1, 2015. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://crescent.education/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Criteria.pdf
  13. Frandsen TF. Are predatory journals undermining the credibility of science? A bibliometric analysis of citers. Scientometrics. 2017;113(3):1513-1528. doi:10.1007/s11192-017-2520-x
  14. Asadi A, Rahbar N, Asadi M, Asadi F, Khalili Paji K. Online-Based Approaches to Identify Real Journals and Publishers from Hijacked Ones. Sci Eng Ethics. 2017;23(1):305-308. doi:10.1007/s11948-015-9747-9
  15. Eriksson S, Helgesson G. The false academy: predatory publishing in science and bioethics. Med Health Care and Philos. 2017;20(2):163-170. doi:10.1007/s11019-016-9740-3
  16. Duc NM, Hiep DV, Thong PM, et al. Predatory Open Access Journals are Indexed in Reputable Databases: a Revisiting Issue or an Unsolved Problem. Med Arch. 2020;74(4):318-322. doi:10.5455/medarh.2020.74.318-322
  17. Kurt S. Why do authors publish in predatory journals? Learned Publishing. 2018;31(2):141-147. doi:10.1002/leap.1150
  18.  Akça S, Akbulut M. Are predatory journals contaminating science? An analysis on the Cabells’ Predatory Report. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 2021;47(4):102366. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102366
  19.  Bianchini C, Cosentino C, Paci M, Baccini M. Open Access Physical Therapy Journals: Do Predatory Journals Publish Lower-Quality Randomized Controlled Trials? Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2020;101(6):969-977. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2019.12.012
  20.  PubMed Central® (PMC). PubMed Central® (PMC). PubMed Central (PMC). Accessed August 31, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
  21. Yates F. How Do Predatory Journals End Up in PubMed? University of Pittsburgh’s Health Sciences Library Update (HSLS). Published August 2021. Accessed August 31, 2023. https://info.hsls.pitt.edu/updatereport/2021/august-2021/how-do-predatory-journals-end-up-in-pubmed/
  22.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). When and How to Comply. NIH Public Access Policy. Published August 29, 2022. Accessed August 31, 2023. https://publicaccess.nih.gov/
  23.  White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). OSTP Issues Guidance to Make Federally Funded Research Freely Available Without Delay | OSTP. The White House. Published August 25, 2022. Accessed August 31, 2023. https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/08/25/ostp-issues-guidance-to-make-federally-funded-research-freely-available-without-delay/
  24.  Beall J. Ban predators from the scientific record. Nature. 2016;534(7607):326-326. doi:10.1038/534326a
  25.  Eriksson S, Helgesson G. Time to stop talking about ‘predatory journals.’ Learned Publishing. 2018;31(2):181-183. doi:10.1002/leap.1135
  26.  Olivarez JD, Bales S, Sare L, vanDuinkerken W. Format Aside: Applying Beall’s Criteria to Assess the Predatory Nature of both OA and Non-OA Library and Information Science Journals | Olivarez | College & Research Libraries. Published online January 3, 2018. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.1.52
  27.  Bagues M, Sylos-Labini M, Zinovyeva N. A walk on the wild side: ‘Predatory’ journals and information asymmetries in scientific evaluations. Research Policy. 2019;48(2):462-477. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2018.04.013
  28.  Taşkın Z, Krawczyk F, Kulczycki E. Are papers published in predatory journals worthless? A geopolitical dimension revealed by content-based analysis of citations. Quantitative Science Studies. 2023;4(1):44-67. doi:10.1162/qss_a_00242
  29.  Barker TH, Pollock D, Stone JC, et al. How should we handle predatory journals in evidence synthesis? A descriptive survey-based cross-sectional study of evidence synthesis experts. Research Synthesis Methods. 2023;14(3):370-381. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1613
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