Open Access (OA) publishing is a publishing model where non-subscription-based journals charge a fee to authors or institutions to publish their material and make it immediately available to the public. Many of these publishers are legitimate, many with excellent journal impact metrics. However, with the rise in OA publishing, there has been an increase in predatory publishers who abuse the open access author-pays model for their own profit. This is a fast growing industry and can cause problems for academics by (among other things) permanently damaging their reputations!
Cabells Journalytics & Predatory Reports - Medicine
Cabells Journalytics & Predatory Reports - Academic
Beall's List (No longer maintained read more)
Directory of Nursing Journals from International Academy of Nursing Editors
Web of Science Journal Metrics
Scopus (free) Journal Metrics
Sherpa/Romeo - RoMEO is a searchable database of publisher's policies regarding the self- archiving of journal articles on the web and in Open Access repositories.
Google Maps - Look at the street view of a publishers address using Google Maps. Does it look like the type of office you would expect a publisher to operate from?
Consider the database inclusion criteria:
When evaluating scholarly journals, try to find as many of these positive indicators as possible.
Here are some definite red flags to consider.
Follow the Think! Check! Submit! guidance!
There are checklists for books/monographs (NEW), journals and conferences (Think! Check! Attend!).
For additional help, contact Carpenter Library.
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