Evaluating open access publishing opportunities: Recognizing and avoiding predatory journals

Abstract

Track: Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy & Open Access Scholarship

Open access publishing provides many benefits, including increased readership and higher citation rates. But when evaluating and selecting open publication venues, authors must be aware of practices and characteristics that are associated with predatory publishing. These publications use deceptive practices and prioritize self-interest and financial gain over scholarship quality, often charging authors to publish their work without providing peer review, editing, and other services associated with legitimate scholarly publishing. New scholars - especially graduate students - need to be educated to recognize and avoid these journals, but even experienced authors can be caught unaware, as predatory practices evolve and change over time. 

This session will discuss predatory and deceptive academic publishing practices–including new and developing concerns in this area–offer methods and resources to help evaluate journal quality, show examples of red flags related to journal practices, and offer tools and tips to help authors avoid entanglement with predatory journals.