Video: How do I distinguish between a predatory and an authentic journal?

Predatory journals exploit researchers by soliciting papers for profit, often with minimal or no peer review. They pose a serious threat to a researcher's career as publishing in such outlets can damage credibility. Engaging with predatory journals may lead to a lack of recognition from the academic community, hinder career advancement, and undermine the quality and integrity of a researcher's work. 

If you've ever wondered how to identify trustworthy publications, watch this video. Miguel shares valuable insights on distinguishing between predatory and authentic journals and provides key indicators including a few red flags. This information will help you navigate and safeguard your research journey! 

The speaker of this video is Miguel Diaz, a mechanical engineer professor, writer, editor, and researcher, striving to enable professors and researchers worldwide to reach their highest academic potential. As a subject matter expert in Robotics and Mechanism and Machine Theory, he has contributed to education as an Engineering Professor. His experience in writing more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and reviewing more than 300 scientific papers, with his strong abilities to convey ideas in a compelling way, has helped him transition from teaching to writing, editing, and reviewing scientific articles. He strives to help professors and researchers worldwide promote their academic careers. He has also created a blog site where he shares tutorials on Arduino, Numerical Methods, and Robotics-related topics.  

Subject Matter Expertise: Robotics, Mechanical Engineer, Mechatronics, Applied Math. 

[Transcript] 

Hi, I'm Miguel, a researcher from the engineering field. In this video, I share my thoughts on distinguishing between predatory and authentic journals. Have you ever received an email from an unknown editorial office asking you to submit a paper to them? Well, authentic journals usually don't ask authors to submit a paper. Authentic journals typically don't charge fees for the peer review process. Predatory journals instead may request payment upfront even before the manuscript is reviewed. Pay attention to the organization sponsoring the journal. For example, relevant associations and respective federations. Check whether the journal is indexed in a database with a genuine impact factor. Predatory journals may not be indexed in databases measuring impact factor Authentic journal follows a peer review process that takes time. So, be aware of journals promising that the peer review process will be completed in a few days or weeks. And finally, ask senior researchers for their insights and experiences. Thank you very much.