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Review
. 2020 Aug;74(4):318-322.
doi: 10.5455/medarh.2020.74.318-322.

Predatory Open Access Journals are Indexed in Reputable Databases: a Revisiting Issue or an Unsolved Problem

Nguyen Minh Duc  1   2   3 , Dang Vinh Hiep  4 , Pham Minh Thong  5 , Lejla Zunic  6 , Muharem Zildzic  7 , Doncho Donev  8 , Slobodan M Jankovic  9 , Izet Hozo  10 , Izet Masic  11
Affiliations
Review

Predatory Open Access Journals are Indexed in Reputable Databases: a Revisiting Issue or an Unsolved Problem

Nguyen Minh Duc et al. Med Arch. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Pseudo journals, hijacked journals, fraudulent journals, fake journals, and predatory journals waste valuable research when authors publish their studies in them.

Aim: This article described novel suggested features for the identification of fraudulent journals and aimed to explain this issue to help inexperienced scientists avoid publishing in predatory journals.

Methods: The articles related to this topic in were retrieved from PubMed and trustable Internet sources.

Results: Unfortunately, some fake journals have made their way into reputable databases, such as PubMed, PubMed Central, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science; thus, the serious question has been raised regarding how we should address this problematic phenomenon. We recommended 28 suggested characteristics of predatory journals for readers to take into consideration.

Conclusion: Unaware of the detrimental effects associated with publishing in disreputable journals, inexperienced researchers can fall victim to them. Together, as both readers and writers, we should completely boycott predatory journals.

Keywords: Medline; Predatory journals; Pubmed; Pubmed Central; SCOPUS; Web of Science.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

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