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  • COMMENT

Predatory journals: no definition, no defence

Leading scholars and publishers from ten countries have agreed a definition of predatory publishing that can protect scholarship. It took 12 hours of discussion, 18 questions and 3 rounds to reach.
By
  1. Agnes Grudniewicz

    1. Agnes Grudniewicz is an assistant professor at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Canada.

  2. David Moher

    1. David Moher is a senior scientist and director at the Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

  3. Kelly D. Cobey

    1. Kelly D. Cobey is an investigator at the Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

  4. Gregory L. Bryson

    1. Gregory L. Bryson is an associate professor and vice-chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

  5. Samantha Cukier

    1. Samantha Cukier is a senior clinical research associate at the Centre for Journalology, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

  6. Kristiann Allen

    1. Kristiann Allen is a senior lead for policy and international engagement at the Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

  7. Clare Ardern

    1. Clare Ardern is a senior researcher in the physiotherapy division, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

  8. Lesley Balcom

    1. Lesley Balcom is dean of libraries at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

  9. Tiago Barros

    1. Tiago Barros is a product lead at Publons, London, UK.

  10. Monica Berger

    1. Monica Berger is an associate professor at New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York (CUNY), USA.

  11. Jairo Buitrago Ciro

    1. Jairo Buitrago Ciro is a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

  12. Lucia Cugusi

    1. Lucia Cugusi is a researcher at the Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Italy.

  13. Michael R. Donaldson

    1. Michael R. Donaldson is an open-access specialist at Canadian Science Publishing (CSP), Ottawa, Canada.

  14. Matthias Egger

    1. Matthias Egger is president of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland.

  15. Ian D. Graham

    1. Ian D. Graham is a professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Canada.

  16. Matt Hodgkinson

    1. Matt Hodgkinson is head of research integrity at Hindawi, London, UK.

  17. Karim M. Khan

    1. Karim M. Khan is a professor at the Department of Family Practice and School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

  18. Mahlubi Mabizela

    1. Mahlubi Mabizela is chief director at University Education Policy and Development, Department (Ministry) of Higher Education and Training, South Africa.

  19. Andrea Manca

    1. Andrea Manca is a researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy.

  20. Katrin Milzow

    1. Katrin Milzow is head of strategy support division at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland.

  21. Johann Mouton

    1. Johann Mouton is director at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

  22. Marvelous Muchenje

    1. Marvelous Muchenje is manager of health promotion and community engagement, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre, Toronto, Canada.

  23. Tom Olijhoek

    1. Tom Olijhoek is editor-in-chief at the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Netherlands.

  24. Alexander Ommaya

    1. Alexander Ommaya is senior director of clinical and translational research and policy at the Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington DC, USA.

  25. Bhushan Patwardhan

    1. Bhushan Patwardhan is the vice-chairman at the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India.

  26. Deborah Poff

    1. Deborah Poff is editor-in-chief, Journal of Academic Ethics, Canada.

  27. Laurie Proulx

    1. Laurie Proulx is vice-president at the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA), Canada.

  28. Marc Rodger

    1. Marc Rodger is vice-president of research, Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

  29. Anna Severin

    1. Anna Severin is a doctoral researcher at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland.

  30. Michaela Strinzel

    1. Michaela Strinzel is a scientific collaborator at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland.

  31. Mauro Sylos-Labini

    1. Mauro Sylos-Labini is an associate professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Pisa, Italy.

  32. Robyn Tamblyn

    1. Robyn Tamblyn is a scientific director at the Clinical and Health Informatics Research Group, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

  33. Marthie van Niekerk

    1. Marthie van Niekerk is centre manager at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

  34. Jelte M. Wicherts

    1. Jelte M. Wicherts is a professor at the Department of Methodology and Statistics, Tilburg University.

  35. Manoj M. Lalu

    1. Manoj M. Lalu is an assistant professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada.

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When ‘Jane’ turned to alternative medicine, she had already exhausted radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other standard treatments for breast cancer. Her alternative-medicine practitioner shared an article about a therapy involving vitamin infusions. To her and her practitioner, it seemed to be authentic grounds for hope. But when Jane showed the article to her son-in-law (one of the authors of this Comment), he realized it came from a predatory journal — meaning its promise was doubtful and its validity unlikely to have been vetted.

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Nature 576, 210-212 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03759-y

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