Unethical and vanity publishing

Unethical or predatory practices can be found across a wide range of conferences, journals and book publishers.

Unethical journal publishers (sometimes referred to as predatory) seek to take advantage of the Gold Open Access model of publication, whereby the author pays to have an article available open access. Such practitioners can set up websites that closely resemble legitimate online publishers, and often send out spam emails requesting authors to submit articles or to become an editor or peer reviewer. Academics considering publishing in journals should carefully evaluate the scholarly credibility of both the publisher and the journal.

Listen to the ABC Radio National Background Briefing segment on predatory publishing and the tactics used in this growing sector.

Identifying reputable open access journals

  • The Think section in Strategic scholarly publishing explains strategies to choose the best journals for your research
  • Learn about open access publishing

To assess an open access journal you're considering publishing in, check:

  • UQ Journal Search – which is compiled from authoritative resources. The Journal search also incorporates/consolidates information from other resources you can choose to check the suitability of a journal to publish in.
  • DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) — a directory that indexes high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
  • Ulrichsweb for the peer-review status of a journal and journal history.
  • If the journal is indexed in the major databases, such as PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science.
  • JISC open policy finder – a resource that compiles and analyses open access policies, from authoritative publishers and journals globally.
  • The Impact Factor and Quartile using Journal Citation Reports or Journal Rank using SCImago. 
  • If the publisher is a member of a reputable industry organisation such as Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association or the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
  • The journal website to confirm accurate contact information (including postal address) and transparent peer review guidelines. 
  • The editorial board to confirm that their affiliation is legitimate.

Is a journal predatory or unethical?

Check further if the journal you are considering raises any of these concerns:

  • Sends spam emails inviting article submissions.
  • Article processing charges (APCs) are difficult to locate on the journal's website.
  • New publishers launch a fleet of empty journals.
  • Publisher uses fake impact factors and indexing platforms.
  • Deceptive information on journal content and the editorial board.
  • Publisher promotes the ISSN as a sign of quality.
  • Journal website doesn't adhere to industry standards and has grammatical errors.
  • Anonymous, fictitious editorial board, editors, researchers or listed without consent.
  • Article processing charges are applied, but the journal does not deliver services such as peer review or indexing.
  • Web searches of the publisher name with keywords (such as complaint, scam, or fraud) retrieve results.

Do not make assumptions based on one of these points alone but be alerted to investigate further. 

Read Why do predatory publishers send emails and what can you do? – a blog post on techniques used by unethical publishers.

Vanity publishing

Vanity publishers are publishers that will charge the author a fee for publishing a book. Vanity publishers do not get their money from selling the book, but rather from selling the book production services to the author. Vanity publishers often target early career researchers who are seeking publishing opportunities or may offer to publish your thesis.

Vanity publishers’ fees for publishing (and possibly distributing) an author’s work and are popular with authors of novels, fan fiction, poetry or short stories, or those writing memoirs or family histories. There is nothing inherently wrong with paying someone to publish your book, but there are some vanity publishing considerations.

Check the Directory of open access books (DOAB) to verify if the publisher is a legitimate, open access book publisher.

Be aware that where you choose to publish your book will determine whether it will be counted for Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) as a traditional output.

Vanity publishing will usually:

  • Not undergo peer review.
  • Require the author to pay a publication fee.
  • Not provide any copyeditor or proofreading service (though may charge extra for this service).
  • Not pay any royalties.

The strategy of dishonest vanity publishers can be to use email addresses from reputable conferences and journal papers for targeted academic spam. You may receive spam emails requesting:

  • Attendance and/or participation at a conference.
  • Publication of your research online.
  • Publication of your thesis in the form of a printed book.
  • Publication of your research papers as book chapters.

Such offers may tempt early career researchers who are seeking publishing opportunities, however, vanity publishing will not add value to your academic profile.

As advised by the Australian Society of Authors, "Vanity publishers understand the scarcity of traditional deals. They understand how desperately many writers want to get published. And they know exactly how to manipulate those writers to put money in their own pockets."