How to spot a predatory journal: 7 signs

Predatory journals publish almost any article for a fee, without real peer review. On the surface they look like ordinary academic journals, with a website, an editorial board and an “impact factor”. But a publication in such a journal may not count at attestation, can damage your academic reputation and wastes money and time.

The problem is that they often target exactly the candidate who is in a hurry: a promise like “published in 5 days” sounds very tempting when the defence date is close.

7 warning signs

1. 1.Very fast acceptance is promised. “Review in 3 days”, “published within a week” – genuine peer review usually takes several weeks or months.
2. 2.The journal accepts any subject. Medicine, economics and philology side by side in one issue is a sign of no specialisation.
3. 3.Unfamiliar “impact factors” and indexes. The website shows unknown ratings, while its Scopus or Web of Science status cannot be confirmed in an official source.
4. 4.Aggressive emails. Messages like “dear professor, we look forward to your paper” from a journal you have never heard of are reason enough to be careful.
5. 5.The fee (APC) is not clear in advance. The price is named only after acceptance or changes unexpectedly.
6. 6.No verifiable information about the editors. Names are listed, but their affiliations, ORCID or other publications cannot be found.
7. 7.No ISSN, or one that belongs to another journal. Some sites copy the name and ISSN of a well-known journal – such “clones” are especially dangerous.

One sign alone does not make a journal predatory. But if two or three appear together, check the journal in official sources before you submit.

How to check in official sources

When checking, trust only these official sources, not claims on the journal's website. To spot a clone, compare the website address with the one given in the official source.

About quartiles

Many candidates believe that publishing in Q1–Q2 journals is mandatory. According to the official HAC answer, Decree PF-98 itself does not set a mandatory requirement for all candidates to publish in Q1–Q2 journals; publication requirements are governed by regulatory documents. So be especially careful with paid offers that come with a “Q1 guarantee”.

If your article is already out

1. 1.Check the journal's status in the sources above – it may not be as bad as it seems.
2. 2.Ask your supervisor and department whether this publication counts at attestation.
3. 3.Prepare your next article for a reliable journal on the HAC list.
4. 4.Do not answer new offers from this journal and do not pay anything.

The “Journal check” tool shows HAC status, Scopus, quartile, DOAJ and warning signs by journal title or ISSN. In Telegram, send @ilmbazabot the /jurnal command with the journal title.