The challenge of predatory publishing in India and steps taken to prevent it

Abstract

India continues to account for a large share not only in publishing predatory journals but also in publishing papers in such journals. The sheer number of academics in India, the continued pressure on them to publish, and the country’s capabilities in information technology are the driving forces. Despite sporadic attempts to find acceptable alternatives to using publication metrics for evaluating scientists and academics, the number of papers published by them in journals, a metric usually refined by introducing some measures of the quality of the journals in which the papers are published, continues to be the most widely used criterion for evaluating research performance. This emphasis favours predatory or deceptive journals because they offer rapid publication and usually have more modest article-processing charges. To prospective authors, such journals often appear indistinguishable from legitimate scholarly journals. This article (1) seeks to bridge that gap in knowledge by suggesting some ways of choosing the right journals and pointing out a number of features of predatory or deceptive journals to help authors to identify and avoid those journals; (2) offers a brief overview of measures taken by the authorities in India to curb predatory journals and the practice of publishing papers in such journals; and (3) suggests some novel ways other than publication metrics of assessing researchers.