Avoiding predatory journals and selecting a legitimate journal for publication is very important for maintaining the integrity of your research and academic reputation.
Currently, thousands of predatory journals exist online. This blog aims to guide researchers in avoiding fake and selecting legitimate journals for their publications.
In this blog post of PhdTalks, we will cover the following points:
- What are predatory journals?
- How to identify a predatory Journal?
- How to select the right journal?
- Top Journal Finder Tools
- Top 20 Research Journals in the World
What are predatory journals?
The main aim of predatory journals is to make money. They charge high publication fees without offering essential services like proper peer review, editing, or quality control.
How to identify a predatory Journal?
Predatory journals mislead researchers by claiming false indexing or fake impact factors. They offer rapid publication but lack transparency about peer review and author fees.
A few Predatory journals are also indexed in Scopus and Web of Science (especially ESCI) by doing malpractices. Recently, Scopus discontinued 12 journals from it list.
Many predatory journals lack a specific theme and publish random research regardless of the subject area.
Predatory journals don’t follow any peer review process and take very less time (less than one month) for publication.
Tips to identify Predatory Journals
- Predatory Journals have no peer review process, and offer guaranteed quick acceptance.
- Their Journals name are very similar to a reputed journal (e.g., “Nature Science Journal”).
- They have Fake metrics (e.g., “Global Impact Factor instead of Impact Factor”).
- There is No proper editorial board, or fake editor names.
- Unprofessional website design with typos or broken links.
- Excessive or hidden publication charges.
- Predatory journals send a lot of Spam emails to researchers.
Examples of Predatory Journals
- Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis
- Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- International Journal of Reconfigurable and Embedded Systems
- Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology
You can explore Beall’s List – of Potential Predatory Journals and Publishers.
How to select the right journal?
Publishing in quality journals is not easy, as reputed journals require well-written and high-quality research papers. Journals indexed in reputable databases are generally considered reputable journals.
Make sure the journal you choose for your publication is indexed in a reputed database. Reputed databases include Scopus, Clarivate’s Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, ABDC, or a country’s official journal list.
In India, there is UGC CARE list.
In Pakistan, there is HEC recognized journals.
In South Africa, DHET Accredited Journals.
Some journals that publish quality research may not be indexed in recognized databases. They might be newly launched. In such cases, researchers should ensure that these journals are published by reputable publishers such as Springer, Elsevier, or well-known organizations, institutions, or universities.
Tip for selecting a right Journal for publication
Researchers are advised to check journal indexing. Prefer journals that are indexed in reputable databases:
- Scopus
- Web of Science (SCIE / SSCI / ESCI, AHCI)
- PubMed (for medical/life sciences)
- DOAJ (for open access)
- UGC CARE (India)
To assess a journal’s quality, consider its Impact Factor (from Journal Citation Reports for Web of Science), CiteScore (for Scopus journals), and the journal’s H-Index.
Journal Finder Tools
PhdTalks Journal Finder
PhdTalks journal finder tool recommends the best indexed journals. It Search the database with over 1 Lakh international journals.
Springer Journal Finder
Springer Journal Finder tool assists to browse over 3,000 journals across all of Springer Nature’s brands to discover the perfect journal for you.
It allows you to enter a manuscript title, abstract, or keywords.
Elsevier Journal Finder
Elsevier Journal Finder also assist researchers to find the right journal for your research. It also allows researchers to enter abstract, or keywords to find journals from elsevier database.
Taylor Francis Journal Suggester
Taylor & Francis Tool ask researchers to paste in the full abstract of your article, or several relevant keywords. The suggestions will be more accurate if you use a full abstract containing relevant keywords.
IEEE Publication Recommender
This IEEE tool allows to enter keywords, key phrases, or article title to search 200+ periodicals and 2000+ conferences, compare critical points such as Impact Factor and Submission-To-Publication Time
Journal Searches
JournalSearches is an all-in-one tool for researchers. While journal finder tools by Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, or Taylor & Francis recommend journals only from their own databases, the JournalSearches tool searches across all these databases and provides journal recommendations based on the information provided by researchers.
Moreover, this tools also help in finding journals authenticity like journal indexing, ranking, impact factor, other details.
Top 20 Research Journals in the World
These journals are indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed and other databases.
| Rank | Journal Title | Publisher | ISSN | Impact Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA-A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS | Wiley | 1542-4863 | 503.1 |
| 2 | NATURE REVIEWS DRUG DISCOVERY | Nature Publishing Group | 1474-1784 | 122.7 |
| 3 | LANCET | Elsevier | 1474-547X | 98.4 |
| 4 | NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE | Massachussetts Medical Society | 1533-4406 | 96.2 |
| 5 | BMJ-British Medical Journal | BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP | 1756-1833 | 93.6 |
| 6 | NATURE REVIEWS MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY | Nature Publishing Group | 1471-0080 | 81.3 |
| 7 | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology | Nature Publishing Group | 1759-4782 | 81.1 |
| 8 | Nature Reviews Materials | NATURE PORTFOLIO | 2058-8437 | 79.8 |
| 9 | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | Nature Publishing Group | 2056-676X | 76.9 |
| 10 | NATURE REVIEWS CANCER | Nature Publishing Group | 1474-1768 | 72.5 |
| 11 | NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY | Nature Publishing Group | 1740-1534 | 69.2 |
| 12 | NATURE REVIEWS IMMUNOLOGY | Nature Publishing Group | 1474-1741 | 67.7 |
| 13 | Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning | NOW PUBLISHERS INC | 1935-8245 | 65.3 |
| 14 | JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION | AMER MEDICAL ASSOC | 1538-3598 | 63.1 |
| 15 | World Psychiatry | The World Psychiatric Association | 2051-5545 | 60.5 |
| 16 | NATURE MEDICINE | Nature Research | 1546-170X | 58.7 |
| 17 | ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY | Oxford University Press | 1569-8041 | 56.7 |
| 18 | CHEMICAL REVIEWS | American Chemical Society | 1520-6890 | 51.4 |
| 19 | NATURE | Nature Research | 1476-4687 | 50.5 |
| 20 | Nature Reviews Methods Primers | SPRINGER NATURE | 2662-8449 | 50.1 |