Predatory journals: Do they really exist?

 

Predatory Journals: Do They Really Exist?

 

David Lester

 

          We read a lot about predatory journals. This seems to mean that they charge large amounts of money for your article to appear in them. It does not mean that the articles are not reviewed, but it does mean that the articles may not be listed in the abstracts of the disciplines that provide listings and abstracts of published articles (such as PsycInfo).

 

          But are the other, high prestige, journals non-predatory? I just submitted a brief article to a high prestige publisher which publishes hundreds of journals. The journal was open-access, and the charge would have been $900. I continued with the submission because, in this instance, the charge was waived.

 

          High prestige journals charge for open access articles. Predatory journals charge for open access articles. There really is no difference. If you want open access for your article, you will have to pay, period. On occasions, I receive requests for submissions from the predatory journals saying that the charges are waived and, as a result, I have published in those journals. In the present instance, the high prestige journal waived the publication charge and, so again, there really is no difference in their behavior.

 

          The difference is that you can get an article published without charge in the high prestige journals if you reject open access. Of course, you may have to wait two years or more for it to appear!!!