How to Avoid Being Featured in a Predatory Scopus Publication: Instructions for Scientists
Introduction
Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of publications by Kazakhstani researchers in predatory journals, especially those with a high percentile in Scopus. Such publications attract authors with promises of quick publication, but can cause serious harm in the long term. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, a mandatory condition for defending a dissertation or receiving an academic title is that the publication must be active at the time of these events. That is why we have prepared a short instruction for you that will help you pre-evaluate the journal and avoid publication in a predatory publication.
The main reason for publication in predatory publications by Kazakh scientists
One of the mandatory conditions for defending a dissertation or receiving an academic title is publication in high percentile journals. Kazakh scientists strive to publish their research as quickly and effortlessly as possible. That is why they often fall into the trap of predatory journals.
Most often, this happens after receiving an invitation to publish via email. The editors promise short publication times for a certain fee. At first glance, such publications comply with all scientific standards and do not arouse suspicion. Scientists send an article there, and the journal very quickly accepts it without proper peer review. The authors are happy that their article has been accepted for publication, pay for the publication, and the material is quickly published, and sometimes even indexed in Scopus. However, along with their article, the journal begins to publish dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of similar materials en masse. As a result, the journal is subject to verification and excluded from Scopus. This is one of the most common scenarios, due to which many scientists lose money, time, and nerves.
Do you need publication in a guaranteed journal that will not be excluded from the database and with the required percentile?
Article Academy is ready to help you with publication in reliable journals:
Writing and publishing scientific articles "turnkey" in all branches in magazines Scopus with 100% Publication Guarantee!
Go to our Co-authorship Catalog and choose your topic!
- More 13 industries knowledge.
Instructions: how to avoid this
1. Critically evaluate the publication that invites you to publish.
Inviting articles for publication is not prohibited - it is a good marketing tool. However, it is important to pay attention to the content of the letter. If it promises a quick review and publication - this is already an alarming sign. Even if you submitted an article to such a journal and it was accepted in a few days without proper review, it is better to refuse publication and find a more reliable publication.
2. Analyze Aims & Scope.
Check whether the published articles correspond to the stated subject of the journal. For example, if a journal on economics starts publishing materials on medicine, this is a reason to be wary. To check, look through the latest archived issues.
3. Estimate the number of articles in the issues.
If the number of publications in a journal has increased sharply recently, this is an alarming signal.
4. Check reviews of the magazine on Scimago.com.
Unscrupulous journals often have negative comments from scientists.
5. Analyze the quality of articles in the journal.
Look at the articles from the last 3-4 issues. If they are only 5-6 pages long and the bibliography consists of 5-10 poorly formatted sources, this is already a reason to doubt.
Conclusion
The problem of publishing in predatory journals is becoming increasingly important for Kazakhstani scientists. The requirement to publish in high percentile journals forces many researchers to look for quick and convenient options, which often leads to cooperation with unscrupulous publishers. The main danger of such journals is that they can lose indexation, which will deprive scientists of published results, as well as wasted money and time.
To avoid publishing in predatory journals, it is necessary to critically evaluate the invitations received, analyze the relevance of the journal to its subject matter, check the number of publications, read reviews on specialized platforms, and evaluate the quality of already published materials. Following these simple recommendations will help scientists maintain their reputation and ensure high quality of scientific publications.
