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Research Impact and Evaluation

Checking Quality

Experts do not always agree on the most appropriate place to publish or present a particular piece of research, but all agree that this choice is important, especially for early-career authors. In summary, prioritize metrics, indexes, peer review processes, policies, other recognition​; avoid claims of unreasonably fast turnarounds, lack of copyediting, and misleading claims about discovery.

  • Seek Advice: Ask your colleagues in person or on a professional discussion list; ask your Subject Librarian
  • Editorial Board: Are the scholars listed known in your field? Have they published important, cited papers?
  • Peer Reviewed?: Ulrichsweb will usually indicate whether a journal is peer refereed / peer reviewed.
  • Where Indexed?: If a journal is not indexed in important article databases in your discipline, you should look very critically at the title. 
  • Publication Fees:  Many traditional journal have page charges or other fees; many open access journals use an "author pays" procedure. Publication fees do not mean a journal is low quality or fraudulent, but high article publication charges are the motivation for recent frauds.

Truly Predatory vs. Non-mainstream

"Predatory" publisher definition: 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 (Grudniewicz, 2019).​

From Monica Berger's Bibliodiversity at the Centre: Decolonizing Open Access:

"Where there are no scholarly-community-based local publishing options, exploitative (predatory) publishing is more likely to occur. ... A conflation of unethical and exploitative publishers with resource-constrained operations hinders support for local publishing ... Due to the legacy of Beall and his list, small publishers, the non-mainstream and the truly deceptive continue to be lumped together (Bergerand Cirasella, 2015)."

Berger, M. (January 2021). "Bibliodiversity at the Centre: Decolonizing Open Access." Decolonizing Open Access in Development Research, (52, 2), 383-404. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12634