en ity ssurence ant sustenance in Higher Eduction: Rol of Academie Libra —_ —$_— &xeoa&a&aerreer®™rorvr——s Predatory Journals: What, why & how? ee Prof. Ramesh .C. Gaur* Dr. Sudipta Biswas** Abstract: Inthe moderneru, the publishing is the biggest challenge for a researcher as to how to identify and avoid publishing in predatory journals/publishers, The phenomenon of predatory journals/publishers which, mainly started in the beginning of 21" century, has now become a common practice in the publishing industry. This is a kind of business model followed by few a unethical publication houses where they collect a fee from the researcher to publish their research work in open access platforms but do not maintain the quality and integrity they have promised for. At the end result, the researchers not only lose their money, but also the intellectual appreciations as well. In most of the cases, the researchers fall into this trap because of lack of understanding about a quality open access journal and predatory journal. So, it is high time to spread awareness about predatory journals ~ /publishers and in this regard, there is humongous role to play by the library professionals. This paper focuses on discussing different nuances related to predatory journals/publishers, how to identify and avoid in publishing these journals and also benefits of publishing in quality *Dean & Director (Library & Information), Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi ** Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Dethii eri oe Quali tssurance and Sustenance lucution: Role of Academic Libraries eee uch as UGC- journals. Initiative: ‘ARE list of quality Journals, have also Introduction: "In the 1980s, India was among the top 10 countries in the world producing original research, slipping to no. 12 in the 1990s. And in the first decade of the new millennium, its position further slipped, alarmingly, to below 20. Research w ‘0 longer seen as a prestigious career option because India has failed to provide adequate encouragement, incentive and appreciation for students to get into research areas," said Narayan Murthy. Contrary to this in recent years India’s Research Output has increased many folds. India was at 11" position in 2009 in terms of Research output and now we are amongst the top 5 countries of the world. RESEARCH OUTPUT 2019 (JANUARY TO OCTOBER 2019) Country/Territory Documents United States 567082 4 China 564197 United Kingdom 178898 Germany 151919 India 150937, Italy 104195 Canada 97703 France 99970 Australia 95195 Spain 84745 Source : Scopus (Output as on 05/11/2019teademic Libraries Predatory Journals refer to Open Access publishing model Journals in which Article Processing Charges (APC) are being paid by the author. Predatory Publishers /Journals are those that exploit this gold open-access model for their own profit. However, these journals are lacking on quality and legitimacy parameters. Jeffrey Beall, a Librarian at the University of Colorado in Denver, first coined the term “predatory journals” and maintained a listing of predatory journals which was later taken down due some controversies. As of 2015, there were an estimated 996 predatory publishers (including 447 publishers of standalone journals) that published over 11,800 journals. Of those, roughly 8,000 journal titles were active and published a total of approximately 420,000 articles. About 2592 such journals published from India. Hundreds of thousands of researchers worldwide have published in these so-called predatory journals in recent years. Among them are researchers from renowned research institutes and universities, employees of federal authorities — even a Nobel laureate (7,8). India ranked 5” in terms of number of articles published in various journals. Recently, the Hyderabad-based OMICS Group, which publishes over 700 journals, was in the news for its deceptive business practices. The US-Federal Trade Commission charged OMICS with making false claims about peer reviewing and listing editors who have not agreed to be associated with the journals.~ The Hindu (28" November, 2017) University Grants Commission is an autonomous body of Government of India which prepares guidelines and regulations for Higher Education Institutions(HEIs) in India. As per current guidelines and regulations, it is mandatory for Ph.D students to get registered in Indian Universities to publish minimum two research papers during the period of their research. Besides, an Academic Performance Indicator (API) score based on your academic and research performance including books and article published is also mandatory for recruitment as a faculty as well as for further promotions. Moreover, most quality open access Journals charge very high Article Processing Charges (APC). Many a times, due to lack of proper research guidance, young researchers find it difficult to differentiate mE 7) 7°— sonecurena Ree Quality Assurance and Sustenance i Education: Rol. a ————————— ———-2?', vO Sh aeeséeaNeAS between a quality open acce: journal and predatory journal. India is large country and having a large student population. It is also not possible that Fig: 1 1000 9 aor 880 872 are 702 763 | | | | | | | liliii sos 301 00 Pia wa 128 320 a ae GIA LOS Af COPS El all research done can find a place in quality journals. Keeping all these in view many commercial publishers has started publishing Predatory Journals. Countries with the highest number of publications in predatory/falee journals(PFJs)~ [Link] joi.2018.10.008 Defining Predatory Journal/Publisher There has been a lot of dissociation in different platforms about identifying and defining the predatory journal. A plenty of research papers have been published regarding spreading awareness about the issue, since the term ‘Predatory Publishers’ has been coined by Professor Beall, then the Librarian at the University of Colorado Denver in 2010 [1]. The Hindu Defined predatory journals as “A predatory journal is a publication that actively asks researchers for manuscripts. They have no peer review system and no true editorial board and are often found to publish mediocre or even worthless papers. They also ask for huge publication charges” [2]. In April 2019, a team of researchers and leading publishers came together — RS aseme eee Orally Assurance and Sustenance in Hi neation: Role of 4 ries SSE eee uJ from all over the globe at Ottawa, Canada to indentify and define the concept of predatory publisher. The discussion took place for two days including twelve hours of regressive discussion on eighteen questions through three rounds to reach the definition [3]. The definition is published in Nature with the article titled “Predatory journals: no definition, no defence.” The definition is as follows; “Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices” [3]. How predatory publishers work? ‘The trap of predatory publishing has its roots deep inside open access publication. Open access movement has gained its popularity in the last decade of the last century. According to Wikipedia, “Open access (OA) is a mechanism by which research outputs are distributed online, free of cost or other access barriers” [4]. There are majorly two ways of scholarly publications through open access, namely ‘Green Route’ and ‘Golden Source: hitps://[Link]/what-is-open-access/ GOLD OPEN ACCESS »>| »> Figure-1: Processes Involved in Gold Route of OA. AN san ae gro | SE bsQuality Assurance and Sustenance in Higher Educatic Route’. According to green route, a researcher is allowed to archive his/her pre-print or post-print paper in an OA repository. No fees are involved in this process and the research paper gets a wider range of audience. According to golden route, the researcher or his/her institute/funding agency has to pay a fee to the publisher to make the research article OA Figure-1, given by Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG) is depicting properly the processes involved in Gold Route of OA. The predatory publishers exploit this Gold Route of OA to gain monitory benefits. They collect fees as Article Processing Charge (APC) from researchers but do not serve the purpose. Now the question might be raised, why do researchers publish their work in a predatory journal? The main reason is lack of awareness about the issue and the consequences. In addition, there is a huge pressure on researchers to increase the quantity of publication in the "publish or perish” scenario of academic world and, on the other hand, predatory journals helped many pseudo- researchers to prosper. In this gloomy situation, the best way to brighten the future of a research publication is to spreading awareness about predatory publishers and the dos and don'ts related to the issue. How to avoid predatory publishers? There have been a plethora of checklist and guidelines are available on- line today to identify and avoid predatory publishers. One of the most prominent and trusted sources is the Think Check Submit campaign. The founder and contributor members of the campaign are the key player of Open Access Movement, a few significant names are like; Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), ISSN International Centre, Springer Nature, etc. The Think Check Submit campaign promotes and helps researchers to choose a trustworthy and appropriate publisher/ journal to publish their research work. According to this, there are three steps to reach the appropriate journal to publish. First step is to ‘Think’Education: Role of Academic Libraries Quality Assurance and Sustenance in Highe Figure-2: The first step according to Think Check Submit campaign Source: Attps://[Link]/insights/think-check-submit- cheeRlist-selecting-the-right-journal-for-your-research-paper?refer= scroll-to-1-comic_strip which involves awareness regarding predatory journals and the major journals including OA journals of a given domain. The second step is to ‘Check’ which suggested taking precautions related to the publisher/ journal where the researcher is going to submit his/her research work. It may include several factors like; the journal is an open access journal or not. Ifthe journal is claimed to be an open access journal then isit listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Is the journal indexed by well reputed citation indexes or not? Has the journal been already identified as predatory by others or not? Is it listed on the Cabell’s blacklist? One needed to check the impact factor of the journal as well [5]. Along with that the Think Check Submit campaign has given a checklist, which is shown below in the figure-3. The checklist includes prior knowledge about the journal among colleagues, the ease of communication to the publisher, the transparency i Se,a Dee cg | a ‘Can you easily contact the publisher? fa} {s the journal's peer review system/process clearly mentioned on its website? Are the articles published in the journal indexed in awell known database or service you roo | | | | | (B Ree eer ee SC ee aU | ea Do you recognize the editorial board members of the journal? | ec aoa og Figure-3: The second step according to Think Check Submit campaign Source: [Link] /insights/think-check-submit- checklist-selecting-the-right-journal-for-your-research-paper?refer= scroll-to-1-comic_strip of pre-review process and fees, recognization of the editorial board, participation of the journal in any well known OA platforms, ete [6]. The third and final step is to submit the research work in journal but before that the precautions one researcher must take according to the campaign are listed below [6]; a. Contact Information: A researcher must double check the authenticity of the contact information and address of the publisher. b. Scope of the journal: A researcher must be aware about the scope of the targeted journal. If one journal is calming its scope SS ||, Eile aedeagus Semmes | aese es Oily surance und Sustenance in Higher Edueation: Role of Academic Libraries _————— as multi disciplinary or different disjointed discipline together, itis, recommended to avoid the journal as publishing platform for any research work ¢. Editorial Board: A researcher should check the list of editors for a given journal. He/she must look for well known experts in the concerned domain as a member of the editorial board. However, it is also to be keep in mind that predatory publishers put many well known expert’s name as editors of their journal without communicating to the expert. So, it is suggested to cross check and contact with few experts to ensure the experiences of the editors with the journal. This is especially applicable when the journal is new and not recognized by many. d. Author fee policy: If there is an author's publication fee or article processing fee involved, then the author/researcher must ensure that the fee policy is transparent enough and there is no sudden change or hike in fees after submitting the research paper. e. Quality of articles: It is advisable to keep a track on the quality of articles the journal had published earlier so that the researcher can rightly pickup a journal for his/her research work. f. Pre-review Process: Most of the trust worthy and significant journals are likely to describe the pre-review process evidently in their website. If there is any ambiguous statement related to then it is better not to choose the journal the pre-review proces for publication. g. IndexingInformation: A researcher should consider a journal trustworthy if the journal is indexed by recognized citation indexes (e.g. Scopus) or a member of a prominent publisher association. mE AAality Assurance and Sustenance in Higher Education Re iaumlive — h, Retraction Policy: Before summation of a research paper the author must well be aware of the retraction policy of the journal as there might be any ci umstances to withdrawal of the paper from a certain journal. Most of the predatory journals do not have clear for recalling articles. i. Piteh for Author: The predatory journals target the authors rather than the users. They promise quick review and rapid publication. So, the author must not put himself in these kinds of traps which is too good to be true. j. E-mail Invitation and Submission: Predatory journals send e- mail invitation to authors/researchers, which a repudiated journal will never do. In the e-mail invitations, most of the times, they claim to be a pioneer publishing house and they show fake matrices Generally, this kind of journal names start with ‘International journal o . and often their names are ambiguously similar to some renowned journals’ name. As the summation process often predatory journals ask for submission through e-mail whereas authentic journals prefer submission through a proper portal t mostly through their own websites. ' Except the above mentioned checklists, there are a few more points to check for like; i. Spelling Mistakes: As the predatory publishers lack the professionalism, it is often noticed that there are spelling or grammatical mistakes in their websites. So, if an author notices any kind of such error it is better to avoid the publisher/journal to publish any of their research work. ii. Copyright Information: A researcher must clarify and understand the copyright ownership related to the content and material before submission. The prominent publishers habitually clearly follow and mention this kind information in their website. ca nmamaiCR > mmm acen Orality tssurance and Sustenance in H iii. Preservation Policies : A predatory journal will never have a comprehensible preservation policy related to the journal material, whereas reputed publishers always have a strong and well defined preservation policy. So, while submission, this criteria also needs to be considered. iv. List of Blacklisted Journals: As predatory publication has become a nuisance in the academic community for decades, there are already several lists of predatory journals made by activists and scholars. Few prominents are Beall's List of Predatory Journals and Publishers, [Link], Cabell’s Scholarly Analytics, Pubs Hub, etc. Therefore, before submitting any research work, it is suggested to check these lists and avoid the journal if the name is mentioned in any of those lists. v. List of Recommended Journals: Like the blacklisted journals there are a few authorities who have identified and recommended trustworthy journals for a given domain. For example, in India there is UGC-CARE List. So, choosing a listed journal from these lists will be the most safest platform to publish your research work. UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals an unique Indian national initiative to control menace of Predatory Journals To promote quality research, academic integrity and publication ethics among Indian Higher Education Intuitions, University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India on Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) to develop Reference list of quality Journals. The basic purpose of UGC-CARE list of quality Journals is to discourage Researchers from publishing in low quality journals or predatory journals.serena ancein Higher Edwaion Reunion! !!]]— (Quality Assurance and Sus Objectives of the UGC-CARE ® To promote quality research, academic integrity and publication ethics in Indian universities. ® To promote high quality publications in reputed journals that would help in achieving higher global ranks ® To develop an approach and methodology for identification of good quality journals. © To prevent publications in predatory / dubious / sub-standard journals, which reflect adversely and tarnish the image of Indian academia. ® To create and maintain a “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List) for all academic purposes. The UGC-CARE is managed by an Empowered Committee with the help of 31 UGC-CARE Members. Besides, there are four coordinating Universities to create awareness among the Researchers and also to provide necessary support and guidelines for the faculty and students in different zones. ' Organization of the UGC-CARE UGC-CARE Empowered Committee (UGC-CARE EC) UGC has formed the Empowered Committee (UGC-CARE EC) to supervise the functioning of UGC-CARE. The same committee will govern the activities of UGC Cell for Journal Analysis at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Pune. UGC-CARE Council members Council Members are representatives from Statutory Councils/ Academies / Government bodies in Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts and Fine Arts, Science, Medical, Agriculture, Engineering and the Association of Indian Universities. ST Lane eS > eeelemic Libra 1 Education: Role of A 1. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) 2, Association of Indian Universities (ATU) 3. Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) 4, Central Hindi Sansthan (CHS) 5. Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) 6. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) 7. Indian Academy of Sciences (LASc.) 8, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) 9, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) 10. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) 11. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 12, Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) 13. Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) 14. Indian Institute of Advanced Study (ILAS) 15, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) 16. Indian National Science Academy (INSA) 17. Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA) 18. Lalit Kala Academy (LKA) 19. National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) 20. National Academy of Sciences, India (NASD, [Link] Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) 22, National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) 23. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (RSS) (Deemed University) 24, Sahitya Academy (SA) mm ag| DoEeee rian evince’ ___— Quality Assurance and Sustemance in 25. The Bar Council of India (BCD) 26, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 27. M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara 28. Tezpur University, Assam 29. University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 30. INFLIBNET, Gandhinagar 31. Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune (CPE, UGC Cell) UGC-CARE Universities Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, (Northern Zone) (Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand] The M.S. University of Baroda Vadodara, (Western Zone) [Chhattisgarh, Dadara and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra] University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (Southern Zone) [Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Laksha weep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana] Tezpur University, Assam (Eastern Zone) {Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal] UGC Cell for Journal Analysis UGC has established a “Cell for Journals Analysis” at SPPU, Pune (UGC Cell, SPPU) at the Centre for Publication Ethics (CPE), Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) to create and maintain the UGC-CARE List. INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar, is serving as a supporting agency. UGC-CARE List of quality Journals. The UGC-CARE List of quality Journals which was launched this year includes research journals from all disciplines and mainly divided into two EE agroups. Group I Journals found qualified through UGC- CARE Protocol. Group II Journals indexed in globally recognized databases. The list is dynamic in nature and is being updated quarterly on the first of January, April, July and October every year. Need for UGC-CARE List . The credibility of research publications is extremely important because it represents the academic image of not just an individual, but of the institution and the entire nation. ~ . The number of research articles published in reputed journals is one of the globally accepted indicators considered for various academic purposes such as institutional ranking, appointments, promotions of faculty members, membership of academic com- mittees, award of research degrees ete. 3. The problem of predatory / dubious / sub-standard journals has become a cause of serious concern all over the world. 4. The percentage of research articles published in poor quality journals is reported to be high in India, which has adversely affected its image. a . Publications in dubious / sub - standard journals reflect adversely leading to long-term academic damage and a tarnished image of an individual, institution and the nation. The Scope of the UGC-CARE List ® UGC-CARE has taken the responsibility of preparing the “UGC- CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List). ® A list of Indian journals, especially from disciplines of Arts, Humanities, Languages, Culture and Indian Knowledge Systems is being prepared and updated quarterly (UGC-CARE Group I) ® The UGC-CARE List includes journals from all disciplines indexed in globally accepted databases, such as indexed in Scopus (Source NRG en | |list) or Web of Science (Arts and Humanities Citation Index Source Publication, Science Citation Index Expanded Source Publication, Social Science Citation Index Source Publication). These journals are to be considered for all academic purposes. Journals indexed in Scopus and / or Web of Science are part of UGC- CARE List Group IL UGC. The UGC-CARE List now has only TWO groups, instead of the original FOUR groups to simplify the search process. These are NOT hierarchic or ranked groups. ® UGC-CARE List Group I: Journals found qualified through UGC- CARE protocols ® UGC-CARE List Group II: Journals indexed in globally recognised databases Updation of UGC-CARE List The UGC-CARE List is dynamic. It shall be updated quarterly i.e. on the first of January, April, July, and October (or on the next working day if CARE List there is a public holiday on these dates) every year. UGC-CARE List Group I: Anyone can recommend journal/s, whether Indian or foreigner, for inclusion in the UGC-CARE List, Group I by following the prescribed submission process available at [Link] preferably through UGC-CARE Member or UGC Coordinating Universities or IQAC Cell of any college or University. Publishers can also submit journal titles through IQAC Cell of any affiliated college/ University following the prescribed submission process with the recommendation of teaching faculty along with the duly signed declaration form by competent authority. The title is/are reviewed by the UGC Empowered Committee and if qualified on parameters and UGC protocol, it is included in the list. Apart from these journals, a list of Indian journals, especially ee ——nfrom disciplines of Arts, Humanities, Languages, Culture and Indian Knowledge Systems, is being prepared and updated quarterly. It has good organizational structure to identify and prepare a list of reputed journals not indexed in international indexing databases. UGC-CARE List Group II: The Journals which are included in reputed and globally recognised indexing databases such as indexed in Scopus (Source list) or Web of Science (Arts and Humanities Citation Index Source Publication, Science Citation Index Expanded Source Publication, Social Science Citation Index Source Publication) etc. have been included under this group. What more? For the benefit of the Scholars and Researchers from time to time, UGC- CARE develops the guidelines and organized training programmes. On the recommendation of UGC-CARE, University Grants Commission has approved 2 Credit courses to create awareness about publication ethics and publication misconducts entitled Research and Publication Ethics (RPE) to be made compulsory for all PhD students for pre-registration course work. It is going to be 30 hours course and having six modules. UGC has also issued a notification that Researchers will not be having benefit of getting research score for the papers published in Journals not listed in UGC-CARE list. Important tools to find out the predatory Journals @ Think. Check. Submit. > [Link] @ [Link] > [Link] © UGC-CARE List of Journals > https:/[Link]/site/website/[Link] Pea i ee a eee iachality Assuranc ind Sustenance in Higher Education: Ro Conclusion: Predatory Journals are great hindrance in enhancing quality research. All stakeholders i.e. research administrators, researchers, trustworthy publis of open access movement are concerned about the mushrooming of these predatory journals. These journals can only be stopped when ers, academicians and supporters researchers decided not to contribute to such journals. Creating awareness amongst researchers about these journals; how to identify? Why not to publish? Benefits of publishing in quality journals ete are the other ways ahead in discouraging predatory publishers. Frame guidelines and policies Research Guides, open access Policy, Plagiarism Policy, strengthening academic and research Libraries, including above in curriculum for Pre- PhD Course works, Develop your Research Infrastructure, Library Resources, Learning Centre, Research Management Tools, and Internet Infrastructure are some of the measures to be taken by each and every Higher Education Institutions. Librarians are domain experts in this filed, so the libraries be integratedin research and they should be assigned the roles and responsibilities in designing vatious research support services, e-research ‘Literacy, Citation and Reference Management, Plagiarism detection and avoidance, effective research writings, research Metrics, Research data Management, conducting 2 Credit courses to create awareness about publication ethics and publication misconducts entitled Research and Publication Ethics (RPE) and above all in educating researchers what to search and what not to search. Search is the first step in research. Librarians can also guide them where to publish and where not to publish as they know basic difference in predatory journals and quality journals and are familiar with related tools and technologies in this field. ed | EEEel Seeeneneene Orit) Assurance and Sust References: Bhushan Patwardhan, Why India is striking back against predatory journals. Nature [Link] 023-7 Grudniewicz, Agnes, Moher, David, Cobey, Kelly D., [Link]. (2019) Predatory journals: no definition, no defence, Nature, 576, 210-212. [Link] [Link] [Link] 015-0469-2 [Link] [Link] [Link] selecting-the-right-journal-for-your-research-paper?refer=scroll-to- 1-comic_strip - _[Link] [Link] [Link] observatory-targets-predatory-publish-ers?fbclid=IwAR2si HO4VZWUONizD3UK3LZQRRuEH3QPLseRF'mX PJ XGpkxi6GXTX ZoUJzOY Patwardhan, Bhushan, Thakur, Archana (2019) UGC-CARE initiative to promote research quality, integrity and publication ethics, Current Science, 117, Predatory publishing and cybercrime targeting academics, Mary Grace Umlauf RN. PhD, Visiting Professor Yuki Mochizuki PhD. Research Associate Professor _[Link] doi/full/10.1111/ijn.12656 The Hindu (28th November, 2017) = poe