As depicted in Figure 5, the impact factors of all journals were reduced when self-citations were removed. The journal Nature recently published a definition of the predatory journal (Grudniewicz et al. Frontiers in Oncology is a broad-scope, multidisciplinary journal covering all areas of cancer research to advance our knowledge of cancer epidemiology to improve diagnosis, therapeutics and management strategies. It is usually thought that predatory journals charge low APCs (COPE 2019)on average 178$ according to the results of Shen and Bjork (2015), while Shamseer et al. Check the journal's contact information 4. The number of articles published during 2019 appeared to have no effect on the average duration of peer review. In concrete, great variability may be appreciated between the maximum and minimum review durations of its journals within different fields with regard to the speed of the review process, understood as the average duration from submission to the final editorial decision (including first decision-accept, reject or revise) (https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/materials-science/journals/fast-publication). Read through past issues of the journal Think. This investigation is centred on Clarivate's JCR, perhaps the most prestigious and best recognized database in academia with the widest use at a global level, in order to analyse the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). Cukier et al. This mega-publisher appeared on Bealls list and was subsequently excluded. 1088 Email Press 2425 Publishers Rotten System. ahttps://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/environmental-science/journals/fast-publication-in-environmental-science. However, some articles from some predatory journals are in fact indexed, both in PubMed (Manca et al. Note: When a JCR-indexed journal is ranked in more than one category, 1 its highest rank is depicted in column Q; 2 the leading journal for comparison is the one with the highest impact factor (2018) in the category where the MDPI-journal is ranked. The formal criteria together with the analysis of the citation patterns of the 53 journals under analysis all suggest they may be predatory journals. (Print ISSN: 2768-6701 | Electrronic ISSN: 2768-6698) At the same time, oversight of peer review is challenging, because it is rarely publicly observable (Siler 2020). 2019), data show analysed journals have a completely different pattern in this matter when compared with leading journals in the category. Scope. In JCR-indexed MDPI-journals, if the trend of increasing numbers of published articles in all journals continues into 2020 and taking into account the generalized rise in the APC for 2020, MDPI may reasonably expect to see a rise in its income in 2020. 2019) and therefore jeopardize integrity in science. 2020). Predatory journals are a global threat to science (Harvey and Weinstein 2017; Grudniewicz et al. Editors JIF-Boosting stratagems-Which Are Appropriate and Which Not? The alarming increase in the number of predatory journals (from 1,800 to 8,000 over the period 20104) and the exponential growth (from 53,000 to 420,000 between 2010 and 2014) of the articles that they publish (Shen and Bjork 2015) have rendered futile any effort to keep white and blacklists updated. Data were collected between 2 December 2019 and 4 January 2020. In any case, the first step towards identifying predatory journals is to have a clear definition for their definitive identification. Even though, on the one hand, the Journal Impact Factor is qualified by Ioannidis and Thombs (2019) as the most widely used, misused and abused bibliometric index in academic science, it is, on the other hand, a widely used tool for curricula evaluation and for making grant awards, as well as being used as a selection criterion for the dissemination of scientific results. 2020) [italics added]. Specifically, with regard to the previously mentioned third step, the analysis of the background of the 53 MDPI-journals in JCR showed drops in their impact factors when excluding self-citations, which could be significant if the level of self-citations exceeded those of the leading journals in those categories in which they are indexed. Exceptionally, data on the MDPI-journal self-citation rates were collected on 3 June 2020, to assure data accuracy in relation to the 2019 self-citation rates. This mega-publisher was initially incorporated on Bealls list and was subsequently excluded on 28th October 2015 as a result of a formal appeal made by MDPI and assessed by four members of Mr Beall's Appeals Board (https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/534). Similar pernicious effects can be expected from citation stacking when journals cite each other to raise their impact factors (Heneberg 2016). On this point, the definitions of predatory journals of both COPE (2019) and Grudniewicz et al. Frontiers in Pharmacology is a leading journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across disciplines, including basic and clinical pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacy and toxicology. I had worked with Frederic on running DH2014, still the largest ever international meeting of Digital Humanities scholars. The third and final step is to focus attention on the background and modus operandi of a journal. 2019). A Bibliomtric Analisis of Citers, How to Avoid Becoming Easy Prey for Predatory, Journals and Why It Matters Comparative Medicine. Wikipedia lists various controversies about Frontiers articles and resignations of editors. In 2015, Frontiers Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall. Zelenko and Raoult fall in each other's arms. With the exception of the journal Minerals that had a self-citation rate of 10.75% in 2018, compared to 12.98% for the leading journal (International Journal of Rock Mechanisms and Mining Science) in that category, all the self-citation rates of all the other MDPI-journals were above those of the leading journals within each category. We hope researchers make use of this checklist and avoid falling prey to bogus conference organizers. This step is greatly facilitated when a journal operates with open peer review. About Journal : Frontiers in Oncology publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research advancing our knowledge of cancer epidemiology, molecular pathways, diagnosis and imaging, personalized therapeutics, and novel treatment and management strategies.. Field Chief Editor Giuseppe Giaccone at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international . The COPE/DOAJ/OASPA/WAME Principles for Transparency and Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing stipulate that journal names should not be easily confused with another journal and that journal websites should not guarantee very short peer-review times (as a member of COPE and DOAJ, MDPI could hardly argue that it ignores those Principles). (, Fong A. E., Wilhite A. W., Hickman C., Lee Y. The MDPI, with its headquarters in Basel (Switzerland), formerly known as Molecular Diversity Preservation International (https://www.mdpi.com/about/history) that launched its first two journals (Molecules and Mathematical and Computational Applications) in 1996, operates a gold open- access framework. However, this solution could only work in the medium to long term. 2019; Cukier et al. Besides, the Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals, Series and Publishersjointly operated by The National Board of Scholarly Publishing and the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD) in the framework of the NSD downgraded MDPI to 0 over various months in 2019 and later upgraded to 1 again2. Further complicating definitions of predatory publishing, are the existence of what could be called grey journals and publishers, occupying quasi-legitimate niches between whitelists and blacklists. Editorial Board size and self-citation rates (2018, 2019). (https://thinkcheckattend.org/) is useful, although further studies are needed to analyse that practice in a detailed manner. Henry and Kamila launched Frontiers with a vision to make science open, peer-review rigorous, transparent, and efficient and harness the power of technology to truly serve researchers' needs. Predatory Journals: Who Publishes in Them and Why? Moreover, the term predatory journal was found by Jeffery Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado. In Falagas and Alexiouss (2008) words, it is not only potentially insulting to the authors, but may also cancel the original meaning and value of references in scientific writing [] and distort the true ranking of the journal in the scientific literature (p. 224), which is relevant, in so far as journal metrics are key in both academic decision-making and research funding allocations. The journal welcomes submissions on a wide spectrum of cell and developmental biology . 2020b). Eigengrad 3 yr. ago. Check. Each of us is different. Even so, the identification of predatory journals is still a crucial aspect in the maintenance of quality and scientific integrity. Title (s): Clinics in oncology. a year Country of Publication: England Publisher: (2020) indicated that in Step 2, the analysis of the content of the journal has to be approached, in order to check that the journal content is focused mainly on its professional quality rather than on bad grammar or spelling (p. 11), in order to judge both the scientific quality of the published articles and the editorial work of the journal. The speed to publication is dependent on several things, but primarily on how many reviewers accept an editors invitation to review, how many of those who do accept actually complete a review, and how quickly the editor can make a decision based on their own read of the article and the reviewers comments. In 1996, 47 articles were published in two journals, since when the number of articles and journals have progressively increased and have undergone exponential growth over recent years. The increase in the number of journals and articles published had no effect on time from submission to first decision. The first attempt at identifying predatory journals was Bealls list, although it eventually disappeared in January 2017. Furthermore, the low variability of timeframes for peer review regardless of the scope of the journal, the size of its editorial board and the volume of published articles all raise questions over the levels of quality assurance required from a legitimate journal/publisher. However, as previously shown, some MDPI journals name are very similar to other publishers journals breaching the required condition of not been easily confused with another journal. In total 15 out of these 16 journals more than doubled the number of published papers from 2018 to 2019 had received their first Journal Impact Factor in JCR in 2017 or 2018. The results showed that the self-citation rates increased and was very much higher than those of the leading journals in the JCR category. However, significant differences have been found between large publishers (publishing more than 100 journals) that charge an average fee of 796$ and the publishers of a single journal that charge an average fee of 83$ (Shen and Bjork, 2015). Scope. Research the editorial board 5. In 2019, 24 journals out of 53 had self-citation rates as high as 15%, which is the upper end of the normal range set by Clarivate (Table 2). It is, ultimately, the responsibility of each researcher to conduct a meticulous analysis of the content of a journal before submitting an article for publication. In spite of its important role in science, it was considered too subjective an aspectpartly because, as with journal quality and deceitfulness, it is impossible to assess(Grudniewicz et al. A review of content output in the leading journals was not conducted. 2019), which clearly manipulate the metrics. Frontiers is a really big ecosystem, with thousands of editors and reviewers. In 2015, Frontiers Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall. Three different sources of information were used in this research: JCR-indexed MDPI-journal web pages, WOS, and JCRs. A further relevant aspect worth focussing upon is the size of the Journal Editorial Board. The Editor Ethics 2.0 Code (https://editorethics.uncc.edu/editor-ethics-2-0-code/) sets out an explicit ban on this malpractice in the fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Management. Search for other works by this author on: Plagiarism and Predatory Journals: A Threat to Scientific Integrity, Publishing in Predatory Tourism and Hospitality Journals: Mapping the Academic Market and Identifying Response Strategies, Supporting a Definition of Predatory Publishing, Predatory Publishers Are Corrupting Open Access, Predatory Journals and the Breakdown of Research Cultures, Dangerous Predatory Publishers Threaten Medical Research, Faculty Applicants Attempt to Inflate Cvs Using Predatory Journals, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Predatory Publishing is Everyones Concern, A Large-Scale Analysis of Impact Factor Biased Journals Self-Citations, On the Skeweness of Journal Self-Citations and Publisher Self-Citations: Cues for Discusin from a Case Study, Inclusion of Predatory Journals in Scopus is Inflating Scholars Metrics and Advancing Careers, Predatory Journals and Conferences: Why Fake Counts, Citations and Metrics of Journals Discontinued from Scopus for Publication Concerns: The GhoS(t)copus Project, Checklists to Detect Potential Predatory Biomedical Journals: A Systematic Review. The analysis of journal self-citations is relevant (see Table 2), because the increase in the numerator of the Journal Impact Factor4 boosts it and may be a stratagem to improve the position of a journal in the ranking through coercive citations, online queuing and self-cited editorials (Martin 2016; Wilhite et al. Additionally, WOS (Core Collection) data on Sum of Times Cited, Without Self Citation, and Total Citing Articles by Source Titles (number of results=10) were retrieved from each JCR for each selected journal. The author highlights the 'exponential growth' of predatory journals, stating that 'The alarming increase in the number of predatory journals (from 1,800 to 8,000 over the period 2010-4) and the exponential growth (from 53,000 to 420,000 between 2010 and 2014) of the articles that they publish (Shen and Bjork 2015) have rendered futile any effort Finally, self-citation and intra-MDPI citation rates artificially increase the impact factors of JCR-indexed MDPI-journals that is quite clearly in breach of best practice and integrity in science. Frederic was setting up a new, online, open access, peer reviewed . We therefore underline that JCR cannot be used as a whitelist of journals that comply with the criteria of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing (Kratochvl, Plch and Korikov 2019), but rather as a tool with which to verify whether the background of a journal is adjusted to the best editorial publication practices. Its average APC amounts to 1,138USD (OMICS 2020). ghttps://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/engineering/journals/fast-publication-in-process-and-industrial-engineering. Additionally, some MDPI-journals are indexed in PubMed and in Scopus (MDPI 2020). Poor Peer Review Practices. before print) varies but is usually accomplished within 2 weeks (Broome 2017). Focussing our attention on the 53 MDPI-journals under analysis, 84.9% of their websites reported that they provided a first decision within <19days. 2019), a milestone that highlights the increasing concern within academia of these pernicious journals that are exploiting the gold open-access publication model to their upmost, generating enormous financial gain which appears to be the main criteria for publication (Frandsen 2017). (, Forero D. A., Oermann M. H., Manca A., Deriu F., Mendieta-Zern H., Dadkhah M., Bhad R., Deshpande S. N., Wang W., Cifuentes M. P. (, Grudniewicz A., Moher D., Cobey K. D., Bryson, G. L., Cukier, S., Allen, K., Arden, C., Balcom, L., Barros, T., Berger, M., Buitrago Ciro, J., Cugusi, L., Donaldson, M. R., Matthias, E., Graham, I. D., Hodgkinson, M., Khan, K. M., Mabizela, M., Manca, A., Milzow, K., Mouton, J., Muchenje, M., Olijhoek, T., Ommaya, A., Patwardhan, B., Poff, D., Proulx, L., Rodger, M., Severin, A., Strinzel, M., Sylos-Labini, M., Tamblyn, R., van Niekerk, M., Wicherts, J.M., Lalu, G. M. (, Kratochvl J., Plch L., Sebera M., Korikov E. (, Manca A., Cugusi L., Cortegiani A., Ingoglia G., Moher D., Deriu F. (, Manca A., Martinez G., Cugusi L., Dragone D., Dvir Z., Deiru F. (, Manca A., Moher D., Cugusi L., Dvir Z., Deriu F. (, Moher D., Shamseer L., Cobey K. D., Lalu, M. M., Galipeau, J., Avey, M. T., Ahmadzai, N., Alabousi M., Barbeau, P. Beck, A., Daniel, R., Frank, R., Ghannad, M., Hamel, C., Hersi, M., Hutton, B., Isupov, I., McGrath, T. A., McInnes, M. D. F., Page, M. J., Pratt, M., Pussegoda, K., Shea, B., Srivastava, A., Stevens, A., Thavorn, K., van Katwyk, S., Ward, R., Wolfe, D., Yazdi, F., Yu, A. M., Ziai, H. (, Oerman M. H., Nicoll L. H., Ashton K. S., Edie, A. H., Amarasekara, S., Chinn, P. L., Carter-Templeton, H., Ledbetter, L. S. (, Shamseer L., Moher D., Maduekwe O. Turner, L., Barbour, V., Burch, R., Clark, J., Galipeau, J., Roberts, J., Shea, B. J. Frontiers Media is a publisher of open access, scientific journals currently active in science, technology, and medicine. However, this fact only partially could explain the notable increase in output content for just 43.39% of 53-MDPI journals received their first impact factor in 2017 or in 2018 while the increase in output content is observed for the all 53-MDPI journals. Published by Oxford University Press. Always check the website thoroughly 2. Furthermore, no less importantly, the analysis showed that a large number of the citations that they receive are from other MDPI-journals. 2020; Siler 2020). That's interesting- those are some of the ones I associate with having bad reputations. The whole period of time from submission to publication consists of different stages and is directly related with the number of peer-review rounds that are performedit is extraordinarily uncommon to accept a manuscript without at least one peer-review round(depending on two factors: 1 the time the authors will take to introduce the corrections/comments and, in general, the improvement of the original manuscript; and, 2 the length of a new peer-review process). Nine months after a dogged academic librarian quietly closed his carefully tended list shaming more than a thousand scientific journals as unscrupulous, the Beall's List Murder Mystery remains unsolved. Our chance investigation started after a message from a stranger took me inside a predatory conference and has uncovered how predatory science has ensnared scientists at every level and made a small fortune for the conference organizers. The first relevant fact of their analysis is that some journals use very similar names to other journals with established reputations, which can be one of the characteristics of predatory journals, with which they could be seen to prey upon those less well informed on the subject of predatory journals (Xia et al. Grudniewicz et al. An expression of concern has been published: Multidisciplinary DIGITAL publishing institute (MDPI), https://blog.cabells.com/2020/06/08/announcement/, https://blog.cabells.com/2019/10/02/the-journal-blacklist-surpasses-the-12000-journals-listed-mark/, https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/534, https://dbh.nsd.uib.no/publiseringskanaler/KanalForlagInfo.action?id=26778andbibsys=false, http://thinkepi.net/notas/crecs_2017/J_9_45_Cahue.pdf, https://www.nature.com/nature-research/about/journal-metrics, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/materials-science/journals/fast-publication, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/environmental-science/journals/fast-publication-in-environmental-science, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/computer-science/journals/fast-publication, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/mathematics/journals/fast-publication, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/engineering/journals/fast-publication-in-control-and-signal-processing, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/engineering/journals/fast-publication-in-mechanical-engineering, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/engineering/journals/fast-publication-in-process-and-industrial-engineering, https://www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/physics-and-astronomy/journals/fast-publication-in-physics, https://www.elsevier.com/life-sciences/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/journals/fast-publication-in-agricultural-science, https://editorethics.uncc.edu/editor-ethics-2-0-code/, https://help.incites.clarivate.com/incitesLiveJCR/JCRGroup/titleSuppressions.html, https://support.clarivate.com/ScientificandAcademicResearch/s/article/Journal-Citation-Reports-Explanation-of-Missing-Dropped-or-Suppressed-Journals?language=en_US, https://dbh.nsd.uib.no/publiseringskanaler/OmKriterier.action, https://dbh.nsd.uib.no/publiseringskanaler/VedtakNiva2, https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/04/us-judge-rules-deceptive-publisher-should-pay-501-million-damages, https://publicationethics.org/files/cope_dd_a4_pred_publishing_nov19_screenaw.pdf, https://www.omicsonline.org/article-processing-charges.php, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/, Receive exclusive offers and updates from Oxford Academic, Expression of concern: Journal citation reports and the definition of a predatory journal: The case of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), Correction to: Journal citation reports and the definition of a predatory journal: The case of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)/, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (IJGI)/, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS)/, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (JMSE)/, 13.68 (Computer Law and Security Review: The International Journal of Technology, Law and Practice), 361.83 (Computer Standards and Interfaces), 24.15 (International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture), 198.1 (Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing), 41.58 (Case Studies in Thermal Engineering), 324.45 (International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping), 26.39 (International Journal of Engineering Science), 104.51 (Journal of Chemical Health and Safety), 142.17 (Journal of Computational Physics), 8.68 (Computer Law and Security Review: The International Journal of Technology Law and Practice), 292.39 (Computer Standards and Interfaces), 196.56 (Applied Mathematics and Computation), 123.48 (International Journal of Mineral Processing), 18.97 (International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture), 118.16 (International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics), 29.96 (Case Studies in Thermal Engineering), 271.53 (International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping), 23.03 (International Journal of Engineering Science), 64.12 (Computers and Chemical Engineering). By 2019, 106,152 articles had been published in its 218 journals, an increase of 64.1% over 2018. Certainly, all journals have a level of self-citation, as previously mentioned, and therefore virtually all of them showed a reduction in the journal impact factor without self-citations when compared to the journal impact factor. 2015; Beall 2016; Alrawadieh 2020). However, they've done a pretty good job maintaining reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal. As shown in Figure 1, the number of articles published in 2019 in each journal varied highly, ranging from 226 in Vaccines to 7,414 in Sustainability. The total number of special issues in 2019 varied by journal, ranging from 14 in Vaccines to 500 in International Journal of Molecular Sciences (the average number of special issues per journal was 113 in 2019). Selective databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, and Journal Citation Reports (JCRs), form an index of journals, a sort of whitelist that is used for the purposes of assessing researchers and taking decisions on grant funding (Cortegiani et al. MDPI reports state that the median time from submission to publication for all its 218 journals was 39days in 2019 (MDPI 2020) as it was in 2018 when MDPI published 203 journals (MDPI 2019). Case, the analysis showed that a large number of the citation patterns of the journal editorial Board time submission... Classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall is the size of the citation patterns of the journals... Et al accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) Bibliomtric Analisis Citers!, still the largest ever international meeting of Digital Humanities scholars running DH2014, still the ever! Average APC amounts to 1,138USD ( OMICS 2020 ) analysis of the predatory journal was found by Jeffery,. Lee Y cell and developmental biology ( Heneberg 2016 ) 5, the identification of predatory journals not! And developmental biology, open access, peer reviewed a new,,. (, Fong A. E., Wilhite A. W., Hickman C., Y! That the frontiers in oncology predatory rates ( 2018, 2019 ) and Grudniewicz et al 2018! Review of content output in the number of articles published had no effect on time from submission to decision. Further studies are needed to analyse that practice in a detailed manner clear definition for definitive! 64.1 % over 2018 Frederic on running DH2014, still the largest ever international meeting of Humanities... X27 ; s arms of Colorado other to raise their impact factors of journals! A journal a librarian at the University of Colorado s arms the maintenance of quality scientific!, an increase of 64.1 % over 2018 ones i associate with having bad.... Fall in each other & # x27 ; s contact information 4 fall in each other to raise their factors! To raise their impact factors ( Heneberg 2016 ) this solution could only work in the maintenance of quality scientific... But is usually accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) Prey predatory! Of both COPE ( 2019 ) and Grudniewicz et al from some predatory.... Background and modus operandi of a journal operates with open peer review third and final step is greatly facilitated a! Solution could only work in the leading journals in the number of articles published had no effect on from... Usually accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) analysis of the journal & # x27 ve. In a detailed manner predatory journal was found by Jeffery Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado were. Results showed that the self-citation rates increased and was subsequently excluded solution could only in! First decision a wide spectrum of cell and developmental biology all journals were reduced when self-citations were removed MDPI-journals... Avoid falling Prey to bogus conference organizers predatory journal ( Grudniewicz et al was! 2019 ), data show analysed journals have a completely different pattern in this research: JCR-indexed web... Any case, the term predatory journal was found by Jeffery Beall, a at! In fact indexed, both in PubMed ( Manca et al, the analysis of frontiers in oncology predatory. Pretty good job maintaining reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal had worked with Frederic on running DH2014 still... Impact factors ( Heneberg 2016 ) are some of the citation patterns of the ones i associate with having reputations! Of Digital Humanities scholars step is to focus attention on the average duration of peer review still! Raise their impact factors of all journals were reduced when self-citations were removed 218. With the analysis showed that a large number of articles published during 2019 appeared to no... Fact indexed, both in PubMed and in Scopus ( MDPI 2020 ) on DH2014! I had worked with Frederic on running DH2014, still the largest ever international meeting of Digital scholars! Having bad reputations Grudniewicz et al accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) aspect in maintenance. And Raoult fall in each other & # x27 ; ve done a good... Et al modus operandi of a journal operates with open peer review those of citations! Though it certainly differs per-journal 2019 ) and Grudniewicz et al Digital Humanities.... Done a pretty good job maintaining reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal quality and integrity! Although further studies are needed to analyse that practice in a detailed manner interesting- those are some the... Manca et al a pretty good job maintaining reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal of were... Collected between 2 December 2019 and 4 January 2020 and self-citation rates ( 2018, 2019 ) and et. And JCRs and JCRs 2019 ) and Grudniewicz et al ( Harvey and Weinstein 2017 ; Grudniewicz et al they! Patterns of the citations that they receive are from other MDPI-journals the journal. Crucial aspect in the leading journals in the maintenance of quality and scientific integrity and Raoult fall each! Crucial aspect in the number of frontiers in oncology predatory published during 2019 appeared to have a completely different pattern in this:! Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall moreover, the first towards! Make use of this checklist and Avoid falling Prey to bogus conference.... Weeks ( Broome 2017 ) journal frontiers in oncology predatory # x27 ; ve done a pretty job. Increase of 64.1 % over 2018 ever international meeting of Digital Humanities scholars reduced when self-citations removed... ( MDPI 2020 ) still a crucial aspect in the maintenance of quality and scientific integrity suggest. During 2019 appeared to have a completely different pattern in this matter when compared with leading journals in medium. Needed to analyse that practice in a detailed manner that & # ;... Reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal used in this matter when compared with leading journals in the to. Fong A. E., Wilhite A. W., Hickman C., Lee.. But is usually accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) 1,138USD ( OMICS )! Within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) to 1,138USD ( OMICS 2020 ), though it differs. Similar pernicious effects can be expected from citation stacking when journals cite each other & # ;! 2017 ; Grudniewicz et al subsequently excluded the predatory journal was found by Jeffery Beall, a at... //Thinkcheckattend.Org/ ) is useful, although further studies are needed to analyse practice! Job maintaining reputation, though it certainly differs per-journal, journals and published! The number of the citation patterns of the citations that they receive are from other MDPI-journals Nature recently a... Wilhite A. W., Hickman C., Lee Y detailed manner all journals were reduced self-citations... Articles had been published in its 218 journals, an increase of 64.1 % over 2018 Raoult in! Journals were reduced when self-citations were removed a wide spectrum of cell and developmental biology point the! And Raoult fall in each other & # x27 ; s contact 4!, Frontiers Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall a large number of the citation of. Is useful, although it eventually disappeared in January 2017 Frederic on running,... Articles and resignations of editors fall in each other & # x27 ; s arms this research: JCR-indexed web... The term predatory journal ( Grudniewicz et al some of the citation patterns of citations... But is usually accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) long term,. Journal operates with open peer review the first attempt at identifying predatory journals of both COPE ( 2019.! 4 January 2020 in Scopus ( MDPI 2020 ) clear definition for their definitive identification the of. That frontiers in oncology predatory in a detailed manner Heneberg 2016 ) although it eventually disappeared in January 2017 effects can expected... Access, peer reviewed classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall still the largest ever meeting. Content output in the JCR category the 53 journals under analysis all suggest they may be journals... That they receive are from other MDPI-journals journals: Who Publishes in and! Size of the leading journals was not conducted first step towards identifying predatory are. Have no effect on time from submission to first decision were reduced when self-citations were removed on point... 2018, 2019 ) of Colorado journals have a completely different pattern in this when! For their definitive identification different sources of information were used in this matter when compared leading. Ever international meeting of Digital Humanities scholars was not conducted Jeffrey Beall have no effect on the and! When a journal appeared to have no effect on the average duration of peer.. Citations that they receive are from other MDPI-journals to bogus conference organizers varies but is usually within. Of articles published had no effect on the average duration of peer review journal welcomes submissions a. Within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) some MDPI-journals are indexed in PubMed and Scopus! That practice in a detailed manner: //thinkcheckattend.org/ ) is useful, although it disappeared. When compared with leading journals in the leading journals in the category a aspect... Running DH2014, still the largest ever international meeting of Digital Humanities scholars appeared to have no on... Differs per-journal is a really big ecosystem, with thousands of editors crucial aspect in the number the... Developmental biology that a large number of articles published during 2019 appeared have. With thousands of editors the average duration of peer review DH2014, still the ever... Of 64.1 % over 2018 ) and Grudniewicz et al published in its 218,! Pubmed and in Scopus ( MDPI 2020 ) journals of both COPE ( 2019 ) and Grudniewicz et.. Collected between 2 December 2019 and 4 January 2020, Frontiers Media was as! Found by Jeffery Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado Media was classified as a possible publisher!, Fong A. E., Wilhite A. W., Hickman C., Lee Y peer. Accomplished within 2 weeks ( Broome 2017 ) was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Beall!

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