Predatory Journals and Conferences: Impacts and Strategies to Protect Scholarly Integrity

Predatory journals and fraudulent conferences use deceptive practices to pressure early-career scholars and graduate students to publish and disseminate their work. Aggressive marketing and promises of quick review and rapid publication persuade emerging academic scholars to fall into for-profit schemes that damage individual reputations, waste money, and compromise research integrity. Scholars and mentors in a healthy academic community can strengthen academic integrity by using evidence-based resources and recommendations to recognize and avoid entanglement with predatory publishers and conferences. Professional development is key to navigating a continuously evolving landscape in academic publishing. Academic institutions and mentors can support emerging scholars by prioritizing quality over quantity in academic dissemination and promoting policies and guidelines that help scholars choose legitimate journals and conferences.