Avoiding 'predatory publishers'

Researchers are responsible for ensuring that their research results are published in bodies that meet the standards of good research practice (DFG Code of Conduct, Guideline 15). Although the scientific quality of a contribution does not depend on the publication medium in which it is made available, contributions published by so-called predatory publishers lack scientific quality assurance in peer review. A closely related practice is the invitation of researchers to so-called predatory conferences.

Researchers can find guidance on how to avoid predatory publishers here. It should be noted that there are also predatory journals that "pass" this test based on guiding questions, so that further testing steps or counselling may be recommended.

• Think. Check. Submit.



Advice on OA publishing and on the publication fund for the promotion of OA publications is offered by the Publishing & Open Access by the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB). You are welcome to report suspected cases to the Open Access team of the SUB Göttingen: oa@sub.uni-goettingen.de. Please note that since February 2024 all journals published by MDPI are excluded from funding by the central publication fund at the University of Göttingen (see here for more information).

The SUB also offers a journal recommendation service for Open Access publishing. If you would like to publish Open Access, but are unsure which journal is suitable, the B!SON version for the University of Göttingen provides information on financing Open Access publication costs, especially for corresponding authors at our institution. You can also enter the title, abstracts and/or references of your article and receive open access journals that might be suitable for your article on this basis.