Researcher Guidance on Publishing

With hundreds of new OA journals being established by reputable publishers, scholarly societies and universities each year, small numbers of pay-to-publish vanity journals are appearing. This is where academics are being duped into publishing in these journals that have no proper quality control or peer review processes. Alongside this there have been examples of scams that are asking for monies to fast-track research to get published.

Publishing in a sub-standard vanity journal has the following risks:

• No real peer review is undertaken to preserve the quality of the research output.
• Reputational damage to the researcher and the university.
• Researchers and institutions lend their reputation to predatory publications.
• Negative impact on the REF submission, if the publication is not detected.
• Researchers paying to publish, which is a scam.

• Journals with dubious addresses for their registered office.
• Unsolicited email or paper communications inviting to publish in journals that you have not heard of.
• Unsolicited invitations to conferences run by event managers, not professionals in the research area, often at attractive destinations.
• Asking for monies upfront to publish in exchange for fast-track publishing.

• Resist the temptation to publish quickly and easily, be aware of the publication landscape in your field and the most reputable journals.
• Research the publisher.
• Consult the Directory of Open Access Journals for reputable journals.

Think. Check. Submit. is a campaign to educate researchers to identify trusted journals and publishers for their research, with the goal to promote integrity and build trust in credible research and publications.

Please contact openresearch@cardiffmet.ac.uk for more information.