Predatory publishers are "publishers" who attempt to collect money from authors without providing essential services such as peer review. Predatory publishers typically accept any article, as long as the author agrees to pay a fee. Some predatory publishers are low quality and full of errors, while others pretend to be sophisticated, or may even mimic legitimate journals in an attempt to solicit money. Predatory practices also exist in other academic contexts, such as predatory conferences.
For readers, predatory journals present a danger because they are not peer reviewed and are often full of grievous scientific errors. Predatory journals lower the standard of discourse in academia, and often lead laypeople or novice researchers to question the scientific process itself.
For researchers, publishing in predatory journals brings the legitimacy of your research into question. Predatory journals often disappear, meaning all your research could disappear with it, and once an article is published (even in a disappeared predatory journal) other legitimate journals will not re-publish it. Predatory journals may also list your name as a reviewer or editor, or plagiarize your research.
For more information on predatory publishing, see our Strauss Library Classes page for the next predatory publishing class.
