How can we avoid the risk of publishing in a fake journal and how can we evaluate a journal's quality?

It is extremely difficult to judge the quality of a journal. However, here are two more lists (the so-called Beall's lists) of presumably problematic journals and publishers that should better be avoided:

Yes, the list of predator Journals is very helpful. You can also ask Beall via email.

In addition, you can search the Journal in well-known databases including ISI, Scopus or Pubmed.

As Huy says, the two main international and multidisciplinary databases of academic journals are ISI and Scopus. These two databases are usually used in the evaluation of academic performance in many countries. Each one has at least one indicator of quality of journals as well as quantity indicators. Web of Science publishes anually the Journal Citation Report (JCR) for all journals in science and social sciences. Scopus publishes two quality indicators for journals: the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), those values are provided free of charge in this url: http://www.journalmetrics.com/.

Also you can find all indicators of journals of Scopus and its evolution from 1999 to 2012, in the portal of free access SCImago Journal & Country Rank: http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php. This portal includes the journals and country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.)

If you consider publishing in OA journals I think that Sherpa/Romeo http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/ is a useful tool.

And Ulrich's should always be a good source of reliable information about journals (if we forget about IF:s and such).

Other than that - if it looks too good it usually is.

And you could always ask your Library - they are usually quite well informed and willing to help.

Additional of all before you could analyze in which journals your patrons publish and which journals have been cited. So you can get information, which journals are high important for your patrons and these journals are not fake journals.

Check the journal's homepage in depth. Who's in the editorial board, are there reliable and comprehensive remarks regarding the (scientific, not formal) submission requirements and scope, the review process, rejection rate and indexing in subject specific databases?

Actually, the quality of a journal is determined by the quality of the research findings they publish. That is also based on the validity and reliability of the findings they reports in their articles. And who determine the validity of research? I tell you: Peer-Review system.

Therefor neither Impact factor nor ICV nor H-Index are good indexed to assess the quality of a journal. We should find some qualitative measures rather than those quantitative measures.

Have a good read at this article for more information. It clearly mentioned the way to determine a fake journal and avoid it:

Regarding the GIF and UIF and other fake impact factors, I published an article about them last year. Now I can name ten of them. read the following article:

Please have a look at the most comprehensive list of fake journals and hijacked journals at:

Dear all, 

We must not trust the journal homepage and its information. some of the time we check Master Journal list of ISI for checking the condition of journal, Is it indexed in ISI or not. you can search by title, whole title and Issn. if it is included in ISI, after that we must check its coverage.

in our university, journal/s which is included in ISI, but It is in web of knowledge, it is not acceptable. it must be included in ISI web of Sciences.

based on my little knowledge, we much check and compare the inforation in jounal homepage and available databases such as:

ISI, pubmed and son

Sincerely

T

This is not an answer, but rather an additional question to all you gentlemen who have replied to this query and likely have the experience I am looking for. There are good publishers and journals that are not on the Beall's list, but they provide no information on the download frequency of the papers they publish. How does this failure relate to the integrity of the publishers? 

Dear,

 we must not accept everything that has written in journal  homepage. some of the time, we search in Isi database, but we have two kinds of ISI. web of science and web of knowledge.

this is the site:

after searching our given title or Issn, after finding the positive reply, we must click on coverage. we must follow this for our good searching.

I hoe this phrase can help you for your final decision.

Sincerely

Thank You for you. please read this paper:

it is interested. it is about emergent topic for all researcher. kindly i request to share it to your students and friends.

This article may be useful

Title:  Facts about journal publishing in open access policy 

Also, this website is very good. 

1 or 2 mean good journal, but (-) refers bad journal (fake).   

Please have a look at the list here: https://scholarlyoa.com/

We call it  "Beall's List of Predatory Journals"

Tips to detect and avoid these publishers or journals:

1. Ask money for publications: Reputable publishers only ask money for 'open access'.

2. Doubtful Impact Factor (IF). The IF shown is without any strong and reliable proof.

3. Check the list from reliable sources, such as http://www.scimagojr.com, http://www.impactfactorsearch.com and http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/mjl/. If the publisher or journal is not listed in these reliable sources (using ISSN or Journal name), then it's maybe a predatory (or fake) publisher.

A modest contribution to this query: 

Among oher things, I am interested in receiving service from a journal editor. Even journals listed in  the scholarlyoa.com site sometimes give you service that the "good" journals do not give. I am thinking of view and download statistics. Any journal that provides me with those statistics ranks high with me, regardless of being cited in the scholaroa.com site or not.

Opinion against opinion, facts are facts. If I publish a paper in a journal and the paper is downloaded hundreds o times, I feel I have reached a numerous audience, which is any author's desire. Now if you tell me this journal is not good or is fake, well, why then would people read it and download papers from it???

There is still a lot of relativity here.  

I've dealt with a journal, and it dawned on me it's fake:

The International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology (IJAST)

with fake impact factor.  If anyone has other information about this journal,s  publisher please benefit me because this publisher is a fraud ,I want to raise a lawsuit against him but I do not know how?

You can check the scientific level for any journal using NSD - Norwegian Centre for Research Data website.

The scientific level for good journals are 1 or 2.

Also you can search in Scopus and Thomson Routers websites about the required journal. 

 These are another links which can help you.

Some fake journals you should avoid them:

I had a recent experience where I was surprised to see my name as an International Editorial Board of a Journal. The journal claimed to be ISI registered and had the ISSN (print and online) displayed in their website. so tactics like this may convince one of the good reputation of the journal. after some more investigation with Thomson Reuter I discovered that what was registered with Thomson Reuter is a print version only and so they provided me with email of this print journal registered with them. I communicated with the print journal and was able to verify that they were the original publishers and they are not a journal but a periodical or newspaper they specifically stated that they had no online version. when I clarified this with the journal claiming to be the online version is they denied it and removed my name in their advisory board. surprising enough not more than 24 hours they were able to pick another researcher from our country (I guess he also doesnt have the slightest clue about this). on another note there are journals in the website sholarlyoa.com that are formally registered as ISI Thomson Reuters and are just victims themselves of poor research by the "Librarian". What I think we can all take away from this experience of mine is that very careful scrutiny should be done first before publishing in a journal, try your best to delve into its history, validity and repute. also, be careful who you listen to, just as not all journals on the internet are of good repute so are people claiming to know it all or at least know a lot whether a journal is fake or not is also susceptible to making mistakes and may place really good journals at the negative end of authors perspective and biases. happy journal hunting and investigating everyone!

source: shloralyoa.com

 Examples:

Ponte journal Online is a highly questionable journal because they took the same name as Il Ponte which is the real journal registered in Thomson Reuters this can be a classic example of a "Hijacked Journal"

Asian Journal of Biological and Life Sciences is a very good journal. it is formally registered in ISI Thomson Reuters for several years now but it was in the questionable journal list and for me this is not agreeable because if Thomson Reuter has kept it in its Master Journal list for several years now then they conduct regular QA and QC with the journal history, validy and repute. so is the "Librarian" now objective as a researcher himself in including this journal in his list?

International Journal of Research and Ayurveda and Pharmacy is also a very good journal. it is published by Elsevier and is highly-indexed also. when I informed the Editor in chief that they were listed as questionable journal and should communicate with the "The Librarian" to have their journal removed from that listing she explained to me that the "Librarian" believes that Ayurveda is just a pseudoscience and that is his gauge why he listed the journal as questionable. Now let' s contemplate on this, who is the authority to say whether Ayurveda is a pseudoscience or not? Is this an objective or a personal and subjective evaluation? 

When you check the Real name of the "Librarian"  and cross reference it in different web searche you will also see that there are a lot of Researchers who do not Objectively agree with him in all of his listing content and method of journal shortlisting. 

SCIENCE IS A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE - Socrates

Just read some articles in your field and look wether it makes sense...?

Are IOSR journals Fake?

To see the true evaluations of a journal quality indexed under scopus, you can view the content of scopus journals at elsevier site :

Impact factor (IF) is an index based on the frequency with which a journal's articles are cited in scientific publications in a particular year or period. Some journals put fake impact factor (https://scholarlyoa.com/other-pages/misleading-metrics/) on their own website. Some questionable companies create list of good journals and provide fake impact factor to them without taking approval of publishers. This work is very illegal. The quality of journal should be judged by their indexing in various good databases and universities libraries. The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) by Thomson Reuters are two common measurements or rankings of journal quality.

Dr. Alaedin Alsayed;  IOSR the impact factor calculated by African Quality Centre for IOSR Journals but not Thomson Reuters impact factor

I sended to a hijacked journal (www.pontejournal.net) a paper. And I sended a request many times to remove from this journal web site. But they didn't get an answer :(( I want to send another journal. Whan can I do?

@Sinan Uzman, is your situation resolved?

If not, you might consider a morally questionable solution: paying them the publication fee for them NOT to publish your paper. It might be wrong to give a predatory journal money, but that would free you to submit your paper to a real journal.

Please take a look to Beall list. https://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/

I will suggest to confirm the journal from Thomson Reuters JCR list

Beall's list ( https://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/) is the best resource, reasonable approach would be to avoid publishing in journals that do not have a JIF from Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate Analytics). If it is a new journal that does not have a JIF, should look at the credibility of the publishers in terms of existing journals and their impact.

Beall's list is not available for a long time. There are some other resources to be used in order to avoid predatory publishers and fake journals. Here they are. 

I think we can avoid this problem by screening the journal through renowned databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Medline. Such indexing services are very sensitive in the selection of journals. Thomson Reuters site is also of great help. If the journal is listed on the site, this simply means that it is not fake. However, we must see the latest updated lists as well as impact factor.

Dear,

 some of the time, because of emergency and short time for yearly promotion, graduating, and without searching in master journal list of ISI, pubmed database, science direct and well known databases, we have some problems in detecting fake journals. I hope the best wishes for all of respectful authors who search for the peaces in the world.

I suggest to all colleagues to check this website that I found it recently.

journalindex.org 

It has a powerful serach engine for journals indexed in PubMed, Scupos, Thomson Reuters masterlist, this helping in save the time for check the journal before submitting your work. 

Thanks to all.

 Dear

it is a good idea.

Sincerely

journalindex.org  is fine resource, not only for finding the appropriate journal, but also to avoid predatory publishers and fake journals. They have black list available. 

I also want to suggest, it's not all about the IF. There are nice journals out there from disciplines or fields where IF is not everything that counts.

I would suggest reading through some papers in the particular journal, find information about authors, editors, side affairs like (too many) conferences each year, etc. Then go for the journal that seems be most appropriate for you research, audience, and scope. Maybe you will end up submitting to a journal with apparently no IF what so ever but that "everybody" in the field is reading or even citing:-)

let me know about the scientific  Research publication its fake or what

An update to an old thread... I see that many of the links provided by others in this thread have been deleted or removed. While several of the early lists of "questionable" or fake journals are no longer available (e.g. Beall's original list), many other people and organizations have kept it alive, and added to it over the past year. A quick search will turn up many examples including this one: http://beallslist.weebly.com/

IMHO: One of the best way to review a journal is not based on its score, but instead to review existing published articles on the journal that you are considering. Poor quality methods and techniques used by the others is a great indicator or a poor quality or even fake journal. Do some reading and reviewing first.

You may find a lot of resources about predatory publishing in our project.

Do you have a problem with recommendation of answers?

I suggest 4 Important links to find the best journal:

For ISI indexing journals: https://jcr.incites.thomsonreuters.com/JCRJournalHomeAction.action

For Emerging ISI journals: http://mjl.clarivate.com/

For SCOPUS indexing journals: https://www.scopus.com/sources

For Medline indexing journals: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog

Regards,

MD

In addition to all of the previous answers,

High quality jurnal you can find it from the work quality that have been published before. However, you may use JCR and scopus to know the journal ranking. Usually they gives a history report for the journal.

Abdulkareem

you may use scopus and schimago to check H index of the journal.

There is related questions with some fine answers on Quora.

How to Identify Predatory/Fake Journals

Here are some indicators to look out for:

To complement Ljubomir's answer: the original Beall's list web site (scholarly-oa.com) does not host the well-known Beall's list of predatory journals and publishers anymore but I have recently found a web site

https://predatoryjournals.com/

which, just like http://beallslist.weebly.com/ which was already mentioned in the other answers, claims to build on it and expand the Beall's list (see https://predatoryjournals.com/about/ )

See also the RG question on this site

https://www.researchgate.net/post/A_new_site_listing_predatory_journals_What_do_you_think_of_it

and the project

https://www.researchgate.net/project/ETHICAL-AND-QUESTIONABLE-PRACTICES-IN-RESEARCH-AND-PUBLISHING

I think that the first formal and short-time solution to recognize the validity of a given journal is to consult JCR. If the title appears in JCR (has impact factor), it merits publication. Also, Scopus is acceptable.

It is important to read the scope of Journal carefully from its website. Also check the impact factor and Q of Journal

In addition, you should use the ISSN number of the journal instead of using the title of the journal when searching through scopus/ISI database. Some journals has the same name.

I think one major issue is that we tend to lean on the journal instead of scrutinizing the quality of the paper itself. This behaviour has paved way for doubtful journals and conferences.

I think we need to develop a cultural there a researcher's overall performance is better evaluated instead of; "oh, s/he has got 50 papers published". In so doing I think many of these predatory journals and conferences will become extinct.

Unfortunately there is various and different impact algorithms and they do not always fairly describe the quality.

Maybe one way forward would be to globally regulate this, e.g. like a kind of ISO standards that is flexible enough to appreciate and recognise that scientific research may have many faces. If a journal or a conference does not meet the criteria, then, it's up to us to decide whether to go for that journal or conference anyway. As it stands now, there are so many databases that different disciplines rely on, all claiming, "this is the one to use to evaluate the quality", which makes it very easy for predatory journals to come up with their one database and claim the same.

The stakes are high for academics and the pressure to produce can be overwhelming at times. As a result, the number of predatory journals and questionable conferences is growing at an alarming rate. It can be tricky, even for a seasoned scholar, to spot a bogus venue for mobilizing our research and scholarship.

There are some differences between how predatory journals and conferences operate, but here are a few things they share in common:

...

Please also have a look at this link.

Every researcher should know:

1. Except the IF alloted by Thomson Reuters, all other IF can not be considered as real IF.

2. The NAAS score allotted by one organisation controlled by Govt. of India may be considered as genuine.

3. Indexing in some famous agencies like Scopus, Pubmed etc.can be considered as good indicator of standard of a journal.

Thanks.

Dear Nooruldeen,

Please also see the below given links.

Good luck!

i found these links useful.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/A_new_site_listing_predatory_journals_What_do_you_think_of_it

https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-identify-a-predatory-journal

By following some instructions and suggestion like in these links

https://www.enago.com/academy/how-to-identify-predatory-fake-journals/.

Dear Hany, the resource which you are reffering to, was mentioned long time ago (10 months). It is good to read previous answers in order to avoid duplicates.

Yes, we can avoid publishing in fake journal simply be looking for the jouranl‘s profile plus its indexing by reputable indexing bodies.

I do not understand your contribution dear Saif Hosam Raheem , as you have attached the link of this thread!!! Strange!!!

Dear all,

I know it's an old discussion, but I add this answer for future refers for this question ........

Please refer to this link, it contains related topics about writing a quality research paper

Regards

Samaa

To avoid risk of publication in worthless journals, read below article;

Search journal in the link below

Before u submit ur manuscript, check the journal is it WoS or Scopus, if it is there go ahead, if no don't burn your work.

Thank you all.

Please refer to this link, I put every thing about the good impacted journals also it contains JournalCitation Report (JCR) 2017 and 2018

www.scimagojr.com

Good contributions

I am not surprised that many academics want to publish in fake and worthless journals. Publish or perrish dilemma! More papers, better academic career is very bad practice.

Dear Ljubomir,

You are 100% correct & it is spreading across the academic Institutions of the Globe now. How can one dealt with such a delicate issue? Unless it is checked it will spoil the dignity of the academicians.

Validation is key, each journal will go through a selective panel. It is up to the panel to validate what is presented? At that point, we have a duty to reject, or accept with changes, or major revise. Reading and understanding the topic area is always important and cannot be rushed! There maybe a push for more journals or publications to be produced; however, it still falls down to specialists within the fields. Nooruldeen Nasih Qader to your second part of the question, which journals - standards within area or research within rating!

The first criterion to evaluate is the journal’s reputation. Is the journal published by an acclaimed publisher (e.g. Springer Nature, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, Sage, etc.)?

The second indicator is the journal’s credibility.

The third benchmark to review is the journal’s impact, evaluated by several metrics such as the famous impact factor (IF).

Lastly, the journal quality needs careful examination. Are there any spelling mistakes on the journal’s website? How is the peer review process (e.g. single-blind, double-blind or open)?

Here are some indicators to look out for:

Dear Syed Furqan Qadri , do not practice plagiarism. You should bring the origin of "your" contribution. Link follows!

The very same comment about plagiarism reffers to the contribution of . The link to the original resource follows.

You need to check some index about the quality, as the impact factor. Some informations about the good journals you can find here:

Official websites, journal databases can help avoid fake publication. Visiting nearby institutions with journals is another.

Share my post with your friends.

Don’t get fooled of Journal’s “Indexed in” information: https://www.sarpublisher.com/dont-get-fooled-of-journals-indexed-in-information/

Keep checking the database of valid journals. That is what is required to be done despite having published in the same journal earlier.

Read above article, it may give some ideas about that issue.

Regards and good luck sir,

Emad

There are many factors that I consider in the process of choosing an appropriate journal to submit my manuscript. Listing below the same sequentially.

1.Based on the quality, originality and rigour of the manuscript, determine which category of journal you want to submit to [ABDC rankings - A*, A, B or C]

2. Once decided, shortlist all the journals you think might find your manuscript acceptable (just by looking at the title)

3. Individually check the aims and scope of the journals and eliminate those that doesn't match your field of research.

4. If you have constraints on paying (huge or otherwise) submission fees, its time to eliminate such journals that require you to pay up on submission. At this stage you should seriously consider if paying and submitting is worth a try. Depends largely on the quality of work. These are generally very good journals (not always) which try to avoid mass submissions.

5. From the residual list of journals look for the ones which consistently publish studies that are closely related to yours. Such journals will have several regular reviewers at their disposal and that way you can minimise the turnaround time as well as maximise the probability of acceptance.

6. Lastly, choose between journals on the basis of number of issues each of these journals have per year and also on the basis of the number of papers published in each issue. The more the number of publications in a single year, the better are your chances.

Good luck to all in your publishing endeavours...

Please don't forget to recommend the answer if you found it useful.

You have to follow a trusted academic websutes, like

This fake publishers are more and more affects to identify who is the real researcher.

This is very same research question which was plagiarized!!!

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_can_we_avoid_the_risk_of_publishing_in_a_fake_journal_and_how_can_we_evaluate_a_journals_quality2