Understanding the principles and best practices of publishing and using evaluation tools can help you avoid predatory journals but due to their prevalence and depending on circumstances and timing, you may still inadvertently submit your research to a predatory journal. Being aware can significantly decrease your changes of doing so! One red flag is an overly flattering email asking you to submit your research, particularly if it is from a journal that is beyond the scope of your research. Other resources to help you evaluate if a journal is legitimate are as follows:
- The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) are scholarly organisations that have collaborated to identify principles of transparency and best practice for scholarly publications.
- DOAJ: The Directory of Open Access Journals is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
- Cabell's (subscription required): Collects and publishes information about academic journals
- COPE: Provides leadership in thinking on publication ethics and practical resources to educate and support members, and offers a professional voice in current debates. Promoting integrity in scholarly research and its publication.
- Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker
- Think Check Submit: Resource to help researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research. Through a range of tools and practical resources, this international, cross-sector initiative aims to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications.
