Videos Show How to Avoid Predatory Journals

Have you ever received an email invitation from a journal with an impressive name? The editor promises a quick review and a low publishing fee. Before you submit an article, though, you should investigate further. The invitation just might be from a predatory journal.  

Melody Herr, head of the Office of Scholarly Communications, recently released a set of videos about predatory journals.  

"I often get questions about suspicious invitations," Herr says. "I'm happy to help, but I worry that many of our faculty and students don't know what predatory journals are." 

The first video explains how to evaluate a journal and how to avoid low-quality and predatory journals. The second video recommends what to do if you get snared by a predatory journal. 

Predatory journals are a serious threat, and even a researcher with dozens of articles on their resume can fall victim. The email invitations are flattering, and the promise of a quick review is enticing. But what appears to be a quick and easy way to get published could jeopardize a career.   

Yet, Herr maintains, "The best defense for our campus — and for individual faculty and students — is to focus on strategies for publishing in reputable, high-quality journals."   

For this reason, Herr also created the series of videos "Publish Your Research." One video shows how to find suitable journals for the topic, research methodology and target audience. Another video offers tips for successfully submitting a manuscript and navigating the review process. Students and junior faculty will benefit most from this video series, although more established faculty might also pick up a few new tips.  

Herr draws upon her experience as a veteran university press acquisitions editor, journal editorial board member, peer reviewer and author.   

"But I don't know everything!" Herr admits with a grin. "If anyone who watches the videos has additional suggestions, I'm ready to make more videos!" 

Jessica Kelly, scholarly communications assistant, designed the slides, managed the recording sessions and added captions to the videos.  

"Producing these short but significant videos has been eye-opening," she says. "This information absolutely needs to be in the hands of every person who publishes scholarly articles!" 

All the videos mentioned in this article are available online, free of charge, to everyone. They can be found in the Writing & Publishing research guide.