Q: How can I identify whether an international conference is legitimate?

Bogus conferences are becoming quite common these days. Unfortunately, there is no site that lists legitimate conferences. However, there are a few ways to identify whether a conference is reputable or not.

1. Find out which are the established conferences in your field. Your advisor, any professor in the department, or even a senior colleague should be able to help you create a short list of  reputable conferences since they have been in the field for years.

2. If a conference isn't on that list, it does not necessarily mean that it is not legitimate. There is a possibility that the conference is fairly new or slightly outside your research area.

3. If you happen to come across such conferences, look up the people who are on the organizing committee. If they are well-known and active researchers in the field, the conference is probably reputable. However, there are some scam conferences who use the names of popular researchers without their knowledge, so it's always a good idea to cross-check with your advisor.

4. Don't accept email invitations to submit papers to a conference. These are almost always scam. Reputable conferences don't send emails to individuals: conferences are generally advertised through call for papers.

5. Another good way to identify a reputable conference is to look up the list the speakers in the past years. If they are established researchers in your field, the conference is probably reputable. However, the level of the conference may not be great if just one two of the speakers are well-known. If at least half of the speakers are known names in your field, the conference might be good to attend.

Recommended reading:

• Considering presenting a paper at a scholarly conference? Choose carefully

• Networking through online and offline channels

• How to make the most of a conference session