Empowering researchers to identify predatory journals and publishers. Transparency, trust, and academic integrity for the scholarly community.
Discover Core10 PrinciplesPredatory journals are deceptive publications that exploit the open-access model for profit, often lacking proper peer review, editorial standards, and transparency. They may mislead authors, publish low-quality or fake research, and damage the integrity of academic publishing.
Is Predatory Journal? is your trusted resource to identify, evaluate, and avoid such journals and publishers, inspired by the best practices from Think. Check. Submit., COPE, and Others.
The 10 essential principles every legitimate journal and publisher must adhere to for transparency, quality, and ethical publishing.
Clear, rigorous, and unbiased peer review process.
Qualified, verifiable, and active editorial board members.
Well-defined aims and scope, not misleading or overly broad.
Truthful statements about indexing and impact factors.
Clear, upfront information about all publication charges.
Verifiable publisher contact and ownership information.
Clear policies on ethics, copyright, and licensing.
No aggressive or misleading email invitations.
Consistent, high-quality editorial and technical standards.
Active engagement with the academic and research community.
Is Predatory Journal? uses the Core10 principles, combined with established checklists from global initiatives like Think. Check. Submit. and COPE, to assess journals and publishers. Our evaluation process includes:
We invite researchers, librarians, and academics to participate in our evaluation process. Share your experiences, take part in surveys, and help us build a transparent, trustworthy database of journals and publishers.
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