predatory journals

In this WebQuest you examined the concept of predatory publishing and developed a set of criteria to help you determine where you and your colleagues could publish your own work. Were you surprised by anything you learned? Do you think your criteria may change over time - either as the field of publishing changes and evolves and/or as you do more research and gain more publishing experience?

Some of the criteria commonly used to mark a journal as "predatory" are things like how many citations it has, how long it has existed, what universities it is affiliated with, how polished its website looks, and how many spelling or grammatical errors it contains. But there is a whole wealth of scholarship outside of the United States and the Global North, some of it coming from developing countries and from people who do not speak English as a first language, that may have some of these problems but still be producing legitimate and useful scholarly research. How can we continue to develop open access scholarly work and encourage research and development from underrepresented constituencies and geographic areas without falling prey to predatory practices?