Predatory Publishers: a quick guide

Predatory publishers are a problem in the world of scientific publishing, preying on researchers who are keen to get their work published. How can you avoid accidentally submitting your work to a publisher which lacks ethical checks, has no quality control, and may charge you steep fees for doing so? This course aims to give you the tools to assess publishers and make an informed decision about to whom to entrust your work.

We have designed this course with early career researchers in mind, and across all scholarly fields and disciplines. Whatever your sphere of work, publishing your work in the best possible location is key to forwarding your career and reputation.

You will also have the opportunity to check your understanding with quiz questions as we go.


 english+C

pace

time

English

Self-paced

20 minutes

Who should take this course

We have created this course for any researcher who has written, or is likely to write, a manuscript for publication in a scholarly journal. This is not limited to Springer Nature authors, nor do you need familiarity with the submission and publication process.

About this course

Ethical researchers and scholars put time, effort and investment into their work, and look forward to sharing their results with colleagues. Predatory publishers can undermine this process and trust in scientific findings. This course aims to enable researchers to protect themselves from being exploited.

What you will learn in this course

This short course provides an overview of the phenomenon of predatory publishers, covering what they are and why they are a problem, how they operate and how authors can protect themselves against exploitation. It includes an explanation of publication process, and how to evaluate publications for legitimacy.