News from Mayo Clinic Libraries

Mayo Clinic Libraries announce new tool for combatting predatory publishers

The Mayo Clinic Libraries are pleased to announce the addition of Cabell’s Predatory Reports, a tool for identifying predatory open-access journals. Authors can use this tool to help decide where to submit their articles for publication.
Predatory Open-Access Publishing is a growing problem. Fake journals solicit articles from authors and collect open-access publishing fees without providing any of the services promised for these fees. Predatory journals publish articles with little or no peer-review or editing, and these journals are not indexed in major databases. Predatory journals can be difficult to identify, as they change names and tactics frequently, and often have titles very similar to established, well-known journals. Cabell’s Predatory Reports provides a searchable database of journals that have been identified as potentially predatory. Each journal on the list has been evaluated against a list of specific criteria, and these criteria are further divided into different severity levels. Finding a journal title on this list is a good indicator that there are problems with the journal, and authors should avoid submitting their articles there. Confirming that a journal does not appear on the list does not guarantee a journal is produced by a reputable publisher, but it is a useful tool for evaluating publishers.
The Mayo Clinic Libraries have created a guide with additional information about predatory open-access publishing. If you have questions about predatory publishing or would like assistance evaluating a journal, please get in touch with the library at library@mayo.edu or 507-284-2061.