Predatory journals and hijacked journals

According to Guideline 15 of the DFG Code of Conduct, authors are required to choose publication media for their research outputs with due care. Particular care in this decision is essential in order to safeguard research integrity. In particular, the chosen publication medium should offer transparent internal editorial quality assurance processes, ideally complemented by external academic peer review. While the publication medium alone cannot determine the quality of a paper or the research that has gone into it, publication in a disreputable outlet should be strictly avoided.
 
Yet there are providers operating in the publishing market primarily for commercial gain that target prospective authors with publication formats that do not meet the above-mentioned quality standards. The terms “predatory journals” and “hijacked journals” refer to differing forms of such disreputable outlets. Researchers should exercise caution in this regard, since choosing such a publication medium can both damage their scholarly reputation and potentially infringe on the rights of others.

Predatory journals

Predatory journals (more broadly referred to as “predatory publishing)” are disreputable outlets whose operators charge publication fees while offering little or nothing in the way of publishing services. They generally fail to offer any meaningful quality control or only give the appearance of doing so. The term “predatory journals” covers a wide range of questionable publishing practices – from journals with low scientific standards to those that deliberately act with deceptive intent and pursue aggressive business practices.

Hijacked journals

Hijacked journals are a specific type of predatory journal. They imitate the look and feel of reputable academic journals – for example by copying the cover (sometimes with slight modifications), ISSN, editorial board, website design and even URL of an existing or discontinued legitimate journal. In some cases, journal databases are manipulated so that users are redirected to the hijacked version instead of the original journal.

Guidance on choosing a publication medium

A number of strategies and support tools are available to help researchers identify reputable publication media:

• In addition, blacklists such as the Hijacked Journal Checker curated by Retraction Watch can provide indications of a publication medium’s lack of credibility.
• engaging with the research community and seeking advice from support services at your institution can be particularly useful when assessing the reliability of a journal or publisher.
• Offerings such as Think. Check. Submit and COPE provide structured checklists for assessing the scholarly integrity of a publication medium.
• Recognised databases such as the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Web of Science and Scopus provide lists of quality-assured publication media.