Avoiding Predatory Publishers

It is a general practice for journals to collect publication fees before publishing research articles. If the invitation you had received had no specific clauses about any monetary bindings, there was no such agreement between both the parties, and no communication regarding the same within these 5 years, then demanding a fee after 5 years of publication of the research article can be considered unethical. However, we would suggest that you revisit any clauses that were laid down in the contract or documentation that was sent at the time of article writing before deciding next steps.  

IntechOpen appears to be a publisher of open access books. In the open access model, payment of fees is expected as it allows readers immediate access to full-text versions of one’s research without subscriptions or pay-per-view fees. We cannot conclusively state the predatory nature of IntechOpen. While it appears in at least one online list of predatory publishers, it is listed in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). It is also claimed to be indexed in Web of Science’s Book Citation Index.In this case, we cannot be sure if (i) the publisher had promised to publish the chapter for free and have now gone back on their word (if so, this was unethical on their part) or (ii) if you were not aware of the fees although it had been indicated by them. On their webpage about open access publishing fee, it is clearly stated that they charge 1400 GBP per chapter upon acceptance following peer review of the manuscript. If this information was available on their website at the time you submitted your manuscript, the publisher cannot be blamed. However, it is unusual that they did not request payment after acceptance (rather than publication), as indicated. This is...

Hello,  We'd like to help you but we'd need more details to help you in the best way possible. Could you describe your problem more elaborately? Do let us know which journal you are talking about. Having more information and a complete picture of the situation would enable us to guide you. We await your response.  

Thanks for providing all these details. It looks like, over these years, the journal has thrown everything at you that predatory journals typically throw at early career researchers (ECRs): promise of easy acceptance/publishing, then a huge APC, then the “lure” of a discount, then a withdrawal amount, and now reminders. Many ECRs go through such experiences; only in your case, it has happened over four years.  Anyway, to answer your query, you don’t have to worry about legal troubles. Predatory journals don’t go that far – they only threaten to! At the most, they’ll next say that they’ll contact your supervisor/institute, but you could be proactive and let them (supervisor/institute) know of this “mishap” yourself. Don’t worry – your supr/insti know the mishaps and mistakes ECRs tend to make, and they should be mostly understanding. :) Coming back to the worry over any legal actions, again, predatory journals don’t go that far because they have very little legal ground to stand on themselves! So, you should you be okay, especially as you yourself have shared that you “don’t really care about the article.”  To further assuage your fears, you may go through these similar queries (and our responses to them) by other researchers: How should I deal with an unreasonable APC claim made...

From the information you have provided, this seems to be a predatory or bogus journal. These are the typical tactics of such journals. One way of knowing for sure (and you haven’t mentioned this) is whether you contacted them or they contacted you. If the latter, it’s in all probability such a journal. For more ways to identify and stay away from such journals/publishers, you may refer to this checklist: 10 Point checklist to identify predatory publishersSo, if this is indeed a predatory journal, they will attempt other underhanded tactics such as holding on to your manuscript and saying they will ‘release’ it only after you have paid a withdrawal fee. However, there’s no guarantee that, even after you pay the withdrawal fee (after having already paid the APC), they will release your paper. You should consider involving a senior or supervisor to help you deal with this situation. For more insights into similar situations, you may refer to these previous queries by other researchers:Should I pay a fee to withdraw my accepted manuscript from a predatory journal?How should I deal with an unreasonable APC claim made by a predatory journal?That said, don’t worry. These situations are common, especially given...

These are the typical tactics of a predatory or bogus journal. The journal would have probably mailed you initially, then promised to accept and publish your paper without peer review, and then charged you hefty APCs, which you were obviously not able to pay. Then, to compromise your paper and/or your academic credibility, they went ahead and published your paper. However, this is also to now charge a hefty fee for ‘withdrawing’ your paper. (Technically, it cannot be called a ‘withdrawal’ as you can only withdraw a manuscript, not a published paper. A published paper can be retracted if the data is misleading. In this case, the right term would probably be rescinding, but that’s a technicality.)From the sound of it though, the second journal may also be a predatory one as you haven’t mentioned whether it sent your manuscript for peer review or straightaway accepted and published it. If so, you may face a similar challenge with this journal too.What you should do first is to find out whether one or both are predatory. You may use this checklist for the purpose: 10 Point checklist to identify predatory publishersBased on whichever is predatory (definitely the first one, for now),...

This sounds like a predatory journal and the typical coercive tactics of such a journal. If the paper has been accepted, that too without a peer review, and even more so after you requested for a withdrawal, it’s probably a predatory journal. For typical attributes of such a journal and to check whether this journal seems like (or is actually) one, you may use this checklist: 10 Point checklist to identify predatory publishersIf this is indeed a predatory journal, they would probably have sent you mails for withdrawal fees. As they didn’t receive any reply from you, to put additional pressure, they would have decided to publish the paper. They typically even ask for fees to remove the published paper. As you can see, they have a long list of tactics they use to trap unwary researchers.You could check your spam/junk folder to see if you have received any mails from them since your withdrawal request. Also check whether you have actually received any mail from them that confirms the withdrawal. If it is indeed a predatory journal, most probably, they would not have agreed to a withdrawal.What you can do is to write to them about not proceeding with...

Hello, Rikako. It’s unfortunate that you have fallen victim to a predatory journal, but they are getting better and better at disguising themselves. Presently, they seem to be exercising their typical tactics with you: asking for a huge withdrawal fee and refusing to let you withdraw (or not making it easy for you to withdraw). In case they haven’t already, they will next try tactics such as threatening to inform your supervisor/institution, sending you nuisance calls/messages, and in a worst case and when you refuse to give in, going ahead and publishing your paper, because then, you can’t publish your paper elsewhere and the paper would have no/low academic value as it would have been published in a bogus journal.The tactics also depend on whether or not you have shared with them that you know they are a predatory journal. In case you haven’t told them, you should maintain that appearance. You should simply give some reason to withdraw such as your supervisor not being happy with the paper, you finding the need to make many changes to the paper, you wishing to collaborate with someone else, and so on. If you refuse to give in, they usually stop their...

Hello. Firstly, we have made some edits to your query for enhanced clarity. Even then, there seemed to be a gap in the connection between the header question and the detailed question. I guess what you mean is that you think non-researchers are working at questionable journals, and whether this is common.However, before this, we are curious as to why you would wish to submit to a journal that was earlier believed to be predatory but has now been removed from the predatory journals’ list. Yes, this does happen, as you can read in this recent blog post from one of our partners, Cabells (which does significant work in creating awareness about bogus publishing). However, even when these journals are removed from the list, some doubt remains. It would be better not to submit to these journals in the first place.Which should also answer your query. These journals obviously do not hire the necessary number or quality of editors for reviews, even if they do reviews in the first place. Of course, in present times, because journals have been facing some challenges with workflows due to the COVID-19 crisis, some journals have been reaching out to student researchers for help...

I looked up The International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR) and it does not seem to be a reputable journal. The Thomson Reuters ID mentioned on the journal website is a researcher ID under the name of a person, Morse Florse, not a journal ID. The publications are also listed under this researcher's profile as "My publications." A reputable journal would not do something like this. I would really not advise submitting to this journal, irrespective of where your research is based. However, you can also ask experts from your field, such as your supervisor or senior colleagues and seek their advice.   Recommended reading:Beware of bogus publishers!Think Check Submit- The checklist that helps you choose a reliable journal