Before you start, talk with your Scholarly Communications Librarian. They can help you navigate through steps to evaluate a journal.
Predatory or Vanity Publishers
So-called predatory publishers are those that lack discernible scholarship, academic rigour or credibility. They use aggressive practices to recruit authors and editors. Predatory publishers’ opaque operations and editorial processed are suggestive of an intention to deceive both authors and readers (Butler, 2013).
Predatory Publisher Red Flags
Notes:
Be wary of lists of predatory publishers, as all publishers on the list may not, in fact, be predatory. For example, sometimes publishers from developing or non-North American countries are labeled as predatory unfairly simply due to less-than-perfect English or lack of Westernized names on the review board. Even major publishers have accidentally published ‘fake’ journals and published articles that went through ‘fake peer review’ (Grant, 2009, Oransky, 2015).