There were an estimated 996 publishers that published over 11,800 predatory journals in 2015. In 2021, another estimate said there were 15,000 predatory journals. This trend could weaken public confidence in the validity of research on everything from health and agriculture to economics and journalism.
Predatory publishers often use deception to get scholars to submit their work. That includes false promises of peer review, which is a process that involves independent experts scrutinizing research. Other tactics include lack of transparency about charging authors to publish their research.
Authors who publish in fraudulent journals may add these articles to their resumes, but such articles are rarely read and cited by other scholars, as is the norm with articles in legitimate journals. In some instances, articles are never published, despite payment.
Predatory publishing creates a major obstacle in the drive to ensure that new research on critical topics is well-founded and truthful. This can have implications in health and medical research, among other areas. High standards are crucial across all areas of research. Policymakers, governments, educators, students, journalists and others should be able to rely on credible and accurate research findings in their decision making, without constantly double-checking the validity of a source that falsely purports to be reputable.
Establishing faith in science through publications is possible today in almost the only way - to move from the Author-Publisher-Reader model to the Author-Reader model. It is for this that the InGraph Platform was created, which assigns a decisive role to the Author and does not take away his/her rights or money. Instead, the Author himself/herself manages his/her publications and monetizes them at will directly, without any publishers as intermediaries.
