{"id":9653,"date":"2025-07-23T13:20:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wissenschaftliche-integritaet.de\/?post_type=kommentare&#038;p=9653"},"modified":"2025-07-23T13:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:20:28","slug":"predatory-hijacked-journals","status":"publish","type":"kommentare","link":"https:\/\/wissenschaftliche-integritaet.de\/en\/comments\/predatory-hijacked-journals\/","title":{"rendered":"Predatory journals and hijacked journals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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.<br>&nbsp;<br>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 \u201cpredatory journals\u201d and \u201chijacked journals\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Predatory journals<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Predatory journals (more broadly referred to as \u201cpredatory publishing)\u201d 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 &#8220;predatory journals&#8221; covers a wide range of questionable publishing practices \u2013 from journals with low scientific standards to those that deliberately act with deceptive intent and pursue aggressive business practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hijacked journals<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Hijacked journals are a specific type of predatory journal. They imitate the look and feel of reputable academic journals \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong>Guidance on choosing a publication medium<\/strong><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A number of strategies and support tools are available to help researchers identify reputable publication media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In addition, blacklists such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/the-retraction-watch-hijacked-journal-checker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hijacked Journal Checker<\/a> curated by Retraction Watch can provide indications of a publication medium\u2019s lack of credibility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offerings such as <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkchecksubmit.org\/\">Think. Check.<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/thinkchecksubmit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Submit<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/publicationethics.org\/news-opinion\/predatory-behaviour-publication-ethics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">COPE<\/a> provide structured checklists for assessing the scholarly integrity of a publication medium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recognised databases such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/doaj.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Directory of Open Access Journals<\/a> (DOAJ), Web of Science and Scopus provide lists of quality-assured publication media.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"links-block_db9eab4679ffe58b16b62218cbddbbb4\" class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links links\"><h3 class=\"mb05em\">This summary is based on: <\/h3><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\"> <\/div><div class=\"mb05em\">Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany (2024): Handreichung zu Predatory Journals<\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/ombudsgremium.de\/13305\/handreichung-zu-predatory-journals\/?lang=en\"  target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/ombudsgremium.de\/13305\/handreichung-zu-predatory-journals\/?lang=en<span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"links-block_d896beed136ce02052348661db2361fa\" class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links links\"><h3 class=\"mb05em\">On this subject, see also:<\/h3><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\"> <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dfg.de\/en\/research-funding\/funding-opportunities\/programmes\/infrastructure\/lis\/open-access\/what-is-open-access\/predatory-journals\"  target=\"_blank\">DFG, German Research Foundation &#8211; FAQ: Predatory Journals<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thinkchecksubmit.org\/\"  target=\"_blank\">Think \u2013 Check \u2013 Submit<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/publicationethics.org\/news-opinion\/predatory-behaviour-publication-ethics\"  target=\"_blank\">COPE, Predatory behavior in publication ethics<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/doaj.org\/\"  target=\"_blank\">Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/the-retraction-watch-hijacked-journal-checker\/\"  target=\"_blank\">Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker: <span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><div class=\"mb05em\">Helmholtz Open Science Office: <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/os.helmholtz.de\/open-access\/open-access-gold\/\"  target=\"_blank\">Information on disreputable publication models (predatory publishing)<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><div class=\"mb05em\">Walger\/Walger (2019): Vom Schein des Rechten get\u00e4uscht. Raubverlage und was die Wissenschaft dagegen tun kann. In: Information. Wissenschaft &#038; Praxis 70 (2-3), 91\u201397:<\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/iwp-2019-2009\"  target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/iwp-2019-2009 <span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><div class=\"mb05em\">Mills et al. (2024): \u2018Special issue-ization\u2019 as a growth and revenue strategy: Reproduction by the \u201cbig five\u201d and the risks for research integrity. In: Accountability in Research, 1\u201319: <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/08989621.2024.2374567\"  target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/08989621.2024.2374567 <span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.lse.ac.uk\/greeceatlse\/2024\/12\/10\/the-rise-of-predatory-publishing\/\"  target=\"_blank\">Dergiades et al. (2024): The rise of predatory publishing. In: Greece@LSE blog, 10.12.2024<span><\/span><\/a><div class=\"dfg_links_link_title\">  <\/div><a class=\"kodex__comments-full--used-links  outside-link\" href=\"https:\/\/oaspa.org\/principles-of-transparency-and-best-practice-in-scholarly-publishing-3\"  target=\"_blank\">Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing<span><\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Predatory journals are dubious publication media that only appear to uphold academic standards. Hijacked journals deliberately imitate the appearance of reputable journals in order to deceive authors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","kommentar_cats":[257],"kommentar_tags":[236],"class_list":["post-9653","kommentare","type-kommentare","status-publish","hentry","kommentar_cats-general","kommentar_tags-publication"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Predatory journals and hijacked journals - Wissenschaftliche Integrit\u00e4t<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Predatory journals are dubious publication media that only appear to uphold academic standards. 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