Skip to Main Content

Course & Subject Guides

Illegitimate & Predatory Publishing

A guide to assist in the identification of illegitimate and predatory publishing.

Case Study: Illegitimate Publisher Approaches Savvy Grad Student

You're a savvy graduate student who is looking out for opportunities to publish your research. You receive the following email, but you know that you must use the Think, Check, Submit guidelines in order to know whether this journal is legitimate or not. 

The Email

The spam email from a predatory publishing journal.

 

 

The Website

This journal only has one indexed issue, even though it claims to be of great repute.

This journal does not make it clear if they use peer review or if so what type of peer review process is involved, just that the publication process is rapid and easy.

You check known and trusted databases for a listing of this journal.

This journal did not appear in any of these databases.

Then you check for the publisher "Innovative Journal" in trusted publisher databases. 

Not finding the publisher's name in any of these trusted resources, you can feel safe in your decision that this journal well and truly is illegitimate.