Techniques predatory journals use to solicit manuscripts: a contrast between Africa (lower- income countries) and Canada (high income country)

Abstract

Background Predatory journals charge authors for publication without quality peer review or editorial services. They target researchers not only in high-(HIC) but also in lower income countries (LIC). The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of predatory journals and their recruitment techniques aimed at researchers in LIC and HIC. Methods Four clinician researchers, two in lower income countries (Kenya and Uganda) and two in a high-income country (Canada), identified and collected unsolicited emails from suspected predatory journals over a six-month period in 2019; 50 randomly selected emails from researchers in Canada and 50 from African researchers. These were assessed for similarities and differences using a set of criteria derived from the literature on predatory publishing. Findings: Features common to both the LIC and HIC groups included requesting email not website manuscript submission and claiming a very rapid processing timeline. In comparison to the HIC group, emails from the LIC group were significantly more likely to have impersonal greetings, poor integrity, request an urgent reply, and request an email back to unsubscribe from further emails. The websites of journals targeting LIC researchers were significantly more likely to use language that overly flattered authors and lacked a description of the peer review process. HIC target emails were more likely to be from journals out of scope of the authors’ work. Interpretation: We identified similarities and differences between LIC and HIC predatory journal submission request emails and their websites. Being aware of these different approaches may help authors better avoid predatory publishing in future.