Predatory publishing is a fraudulent business model pursued by certain Open Access publishers: they appear to be fully fledged scientific journals and collect the article processing charges customary in the Open Access segment from authors – but do not provide the editorial and publishing services expected of a reputable journal, such as a proper peer review.

The following checklist will give you the greatest possible certainty that you are not publishing in a predatory journal by mistake:

• Check how you were contacted: Spam emails inviting you to publish are an initial indication of a poor reputation – as are very generic references to your research (e.g. "I saw your paper on the xy conference website and it fits well with our journal.").
• Look it up in DOAJ: Search for the journal in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). This white list only includes Open Access journals with adequate quality assurance processes.
• Verify memberships directly: Check the databases of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) yourself, rather than trusting the journal's own website.
• Check transparency criteria: Reputable journals meet the (revised) Principles of Transparency jointly defined by DOAJ, COPE, OASPA and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
• Use "Think. Check. Submit.": The website "Think. Check. Submit." provides further criteria for assessing journals and editors.
• Ask colleagues: Find out whether anyone has heard of the journal, and flag it to others if you have any suspicions.

For further information, see the handout on Predatory Publishing (PDF) from the ZBW.