Predatory journals: Part II

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<< Go back to Part 1


Xia et al. (2014): Who publishes in "predatory" journals?

This study tried to figure out if there were some patterns in the author profiles who tend to use this predatory publishing business. The researchers looked for patterns based on publication history and geographical locations of authors. They categorized authors as those belonging to Group 1 (publishing articles in predatory journals) and Group 2 (publishing articles in non-predatory journals).
Out of 941 authors publishing in predatory journals, 725 hailed from India. The next contenders were Nigeria (80) and Pakistan (44). 
Disturbing, isn't it?
Unsurprisingly, 75% of the predatory journal-authors were South Asian. And the credit defnitely goes to India. The Discussion section of this paper elaborates on the status in India.
"Noticeably, researchers from India and Nigeria rarely appear in prestigious OA (open-access) journals, while authors from Austalia, Europe and North America have stronger publication and citation records."
A round of applause, please.
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Shen and Bjork (2015): 'Predatory' open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics

This was a pretty holistic study on predatory publishing, but I'm going to focus on 2 questions that it asked:
  1. Who is publishing these predatory journals?
  2. Who is publising in these predatory journals?
    (Who is submitting articles for publications to these predatory journals, or even more simply, who are the direct clients?)
And here are the answers:

 


Just in case you didn't notice and balk at this alarming and humiliating fact, India is the leading nation in both cases.

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Clark and Smith (2015): Firm action needed on predatory journals

This editorial discusses the issues of predatory publishing, Beall's list and the need for every journal to address this issue. (On my end, I believe it is imperative for every genuine academic to also raise awareness about this problem). They point out that:
"Predatory journals are yet another problem that disproportionately harms people in low and middle income countries, and the response will rest primarily with institutions in those countries."

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Moher et al. (2017): Stop this waste of people, animals and money [Nature | Comment]

This study reiterates how India is right at the top of the predatory-publishing-game, but also mentions how predatory publishing is not restricted to lower income countries.

Among Indian institutions, the University Grants Commission, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, D. Y. Patil University and Manipal University were mentioned.
I'm pleased to note that when Manipal University was contacted by the authors, the administration reported their own efforts to combat this issue (kudos!). Also, while the UGC has released a list of recommended journals, we still have a long way to go in raising awareness.

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Epilogue

Beall's list has now been taken down, under what kinds of pressures I can only imagine. Here is an alternative list that identifies both standalone predatory journals as well as publishing houses. Please use this list while evaluating the research of fellow researchers.

 I will be updating this page as I come across more studies. But honestly, I'd be surprised if India loses the tag of World No. 1 in academic corruption anytime soon. And as my personal contribution to a much-needed Swachcha Bhaarat Abhiyaan, I will be calling out people, journals, anyone, anything ... who are consumers to this predatory publishing and hence encourage it.

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