There currently exists a black market economy of publishing scams, typically referred to as “predatory journals.” These are journals designed to look like genuine scholarly sources, but they publish whatever an author submits in return for payment of an article processing charge (APC). The purpose of a predatory journal blacklist is to identify and call attention to such scam operations so that unsuspecting authors are not fooled into publishing in these journals. Cabell’s has been a well regarded journal directory and now offers a blacklist which the USF Libraries has purchased. It is a welcome development for scholars. Criteria for inclusion on this list are clearly set out and publicly available. Blacklist ratings are given at the journal level with indicators about violations of Cabell’s criteria. This resource should help USF Scholars in avoiding predatory, questionable, or low-quality journals.
Category: Open Access
Plan-S: EU Plan for Free and Immediate Open Access to Journals
A controversial and recent initiative by the European Commission and a group of national researchers includes a plan to make thousands of research papers free to read on the day of publication, a mandate that could force a major change in the …Continue Reading