Not all publishers are the same. Whether traditional subscription, open access, hybrid, or monographic, it's important to evaluate a publisher before agreeing to publish anything with them.
All authors, editors, and reviewers should be familiar with guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics: Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Being an informed author is important for your own publication record, and for the records of those you mentor or influence.
Predatory publishing
Predatory publishing remains a threat to scholarly communication and to the reputations of authors and researchers. While there is no one list to identify potentially predatory publishers, you can use the guide below or review the checklist at Think, Check, Submit to make decisions. You are welcome to contact the library for advice on publishers and journals.
Regardless of access method, here are a few things to consider in your evaluation of a publisher or publication. No single consideration is more important than the others. Publishing is a complex business, and these questions are designed to work in conjunction with each other to give you an overall picture of a publishing organization. You can always reach out to the editor-in-chief of the journal, or the subject editor for a monograph, if you have questions.
For Journals
Who is on the editorial board? Are the editors clearly identified? Are their email addresses and/or phone numbers provided directly on the publisher's site? Do the editors also show up on other journal boards for this publisher?
Can you confirm that the editors really are serving in that role? Do the editors have this position listed on their online CV or faculty/research web page?
What is the acceptance rate of the journal? (Note: Some legitimate mega-journals, such as PLOS ONE, accept any methodologically sound study that passes the scrutiny of peer-reviewers. This is a new model that attempts to share good research regardless of trends in popularity or research interests, but mega-journals should be closely evaluated for quality leadership, editors, and reviewers.) And how quickly is peer review happening?
What is the impact factor of the journal? Journal impact factors can be manipulated and are increasingly seen as an inaccurate measure of quality that help large publishers and hurt small, but legitimate, operations. Furthermore, new journals are likely to have a lower impact factor than more established titles. Whether or not an impact factor is provided on the publisher's site, use the library's subscription to Journal Citation Reports to either verify the impact factor or look for it.
Who founded the journal? Who owns it/runs it now? Do they have an academic background?
Can you retain your copyright, or any subset of copyrights you want to keep, to your work? For example, can you use the publication in presentations, in course readers, in future publications if revised and expanded? Can you add it to your own site, or archive a copy in an online archive/repository?
Are there clear guidelines for authors, including when and if fees to authors may be assessed? Legitimate publishers will be upfront with their publication practices and author rights. For authors, there should be no surprises or uncertainty about a publisher's procedures.
Is the publisher a member of a recognized industry initiative? Do they belong to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) ? If the journal is open access, is it listed in the Directory of Open AccessJournals (DOAJ) ? If the journal is open access, does the publisher belong to the Open AccessScholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA) ? Is the publisher a member of another trade association?
Is the journal indexed in MEDLINE? Here is an example. Replace the journal name with your journal name.
For Monographs
Who is on the editorial board? Are the editors clearly identified? Are their email addresses and/or phone numbers provided directly on the publisher's site?
Is there an editor for your specific subject area?
Can you confirm that the editor really is serving in that role? Does the editor have this position listed on their online CV? Can you confirm with the editor via email?
Who founded the publishing house? Who owns it/runs it now? Do they have an academic background?
Are there clear guidelines for authors? Legitimate publishers will be upfront with their publication practices. For authors, there should be no surprises or uncertainty about a publisher's procedures.