Hidden Dangers: COVID-19-Based Research in Predatory Journals

Abstract

There has been a widespread increase in research on the topic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in both predatory and non-predatory journals. It is important to understand the origin, content, funding, and reach of predatory articles to gauge the detrimental effects of such articles. In this study, the authors, therefore, investigated 210 randomly selected predatory articles with COVID-19-based research published online between February 2020 and February 2021 in journals included in Cabells’ Predatory Reports. Their research shows that although India is still among the major contributors of articles published in predatory journals, predatory publishing should no longer be regarded as only a problem in the developing world. The authors also found funded research and articles reporting dangerous treatments with no clinical trials and small sample sizes with unconvincing or misleading scientific evidence.