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The Ethics of Predatory Journals

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Abstract

Predatory journals operate as vanity presses, typically charging large submission or publication fees and requiring little peer review. The consequences of such journals are wide reaching, affecting the integrity of the legitimate journals they attempt to imitate, the reputations of the departments, colleges, and universities of their contributors, the actions of accreditation bodies, the reputations of their authors, and perhaps even the generosity of academic benefactors. Using a stakeholder analysis, our study of predatory journals suggests that most stakeholders gain little in the short run from such publishing and only the editors or owners of these journals benefit in the long run. We also discuss counter-measures that academic and administrative faculty can employ to thwart predatory publishing.

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Funding

The study was completed independently without a source of funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Alexander McLeod

  2. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Arline Savage

  3. University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Mark G. Simkin

Authors
  1. Alexander McLeod
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  2. Arline Savage
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  3. Mark G. Simkin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arline Savage.

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Conflict of interest

Alexander McLeod, Arline Savage and Mark Simkin declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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McLeod, A., Savage, A. & Simkin, M.G. The Ethics of Predatory Journals. J Bus Ethics 153, 121–131 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3419-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3419-9

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