Does the notion of 'predatory' publishing alarm, confuse or amuse you? This session will consider what makes a publisher predatory, who is affected by so-called predatory publishers and how the scholarly community is responding to the perceived threats such publishers pose.

1. 1 April 2018
Should we really be worried
about predatory publishers?
HELEN DOBSON
Scholarly Communications Manager
The University of Manchester Library
@h_j_dobson

2. Jeffrey Beall
Scholarly
Communications
Librarian, University
of Colorado, Denver
Your pledge
A picture of Jeffrey Beall. Uploaded on his Flickr account. CC-BY 2.0

3. The phrase
• ‘Predatory publishers’
• “there is always the
possibility of engaging
in unethical behaviour
to chase large profit
margins and the
publishing industry is
no different” Raju
(2018)
• Assessment criteria
https://beallslist.weebly.com/upl
oads/3/0/9/5/30958339/criteria-
2015.pdf
• Potential, possible or
probable predatory
publishers/journals
A challenge
• #predatorypublisher
• https://beallslist.weebl
y.com/
• A different lens
Blacklists
BEALL’S LEGACY

4. Subjectivity
• Individual view
• “No single person or
source is equipped to
bear the responsibility
of being the ultimate
authority on what
constitutes as a best (or
poor) practice scholarly
publishing outlet”
Pleffer & Shrubb (2017)
• Criteria not limited to
OA journals
• “development of
additional criteria that
focuses on subject
content”
Olivarez et al (2018)
• Conferences
Angle
• Geographical slant
• “intolerance is a
reflection of inward
thinking and a
superiority complex”
Raju, 2018
Completeness
CRITIQUING THE CRITERIA

5. EXTRA CRITERIA..?
Librarians and publishers
• Increased transparency
• Increased affordability
• Liaison with OA publishers
• Payment on delivery
• No paid-for fast-track
publication option
• Refunds for errors
Authors and publishers
• Clarity on peer review
process/length
• Clarity on costs
• User-friendly systems
• Get out option
• Clarity on value-
added/benefits

7. ‘BEALL’S’ LIST II
https://beallslist.
weebly.com/

8. CABELLS BLACKLIST

9. CABELLS BLACKLIST

13. WHAT CAN LIBRARIANS DO?
• Change the focus from journal to article
• Review publishing training/support
• Facilitate peer support
• Advocate for OA small presses/new journals

14. WHAT CAN OTHER SERVICES DO?
• Review inclusion criteria regularly? (Ulrichs,
RoMEO, DOAJ, OASPA)
• Review application criteria regularly? (ISSN,
Crossref)

15. ACTIVITY
• Discuss questions in groups
• Feedback using Trello link
https://trello.com/b/KdnYM2pQ/uksg-predatory-
publishers

16. helen.j.dobson@manchester.ac.uk
@h_j_dobson
THANK YOU