Fake Journals: Not Always Valid Ways to Distinguish Them

Abstract

In their recent paper, Esfe et al. (Sci Eng Ethics, doi: 10.1007/s11948-014-9595-z 2014) present some criteria for fake journals and propose some 'features' to recognize them. While I share most of the authors' concerns about this issue in general, some of the reported criteria are not fit to differentiate fake journals from genuine ones. Here are some examples derived from their list, which illustrate that such criteria are not necessarily specific to fake journals only, but they could also apply to well-established journals and, therefore, should not be considered as is.

Keywords: Common science pitfall; Fair publication system; Fake journals; Open access; Publication frenzy; Publishing bias; Research misconduct.