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Scientometrics

, Volume 116, Issue 1, pp 255–273 | Cite as

Is predatory publishing a real threat? Evidence from a large database study

  • Marcelo S. PerlinEmail author
  • Takeyoshi Imasato
  • Denis Borenstein
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Using a database of potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access journals, the objective of this research is to study the penetration of predatory publications in the Brazilian academic system and the profile of authors in a cross-section empirical study. Based on a massive amount of publications from Brazilian researchers of all disciplines during the 2000–2015 period, we were able to analyze the extent of predatory publications using an econometric modeling. Descriptive statistics indicate that predatory publications represent a small overall proportion, but grew exponentially in the last 5 years. Departing from prior studies, our analysis shows that experienced researchers with a high number of non-indexed publications and PhD obtained locally are more likely to publish in predatory journals. Further analysis shows that once a journal regarded as predatory is listed in the local ranking system, the Qualis, it starts to receive more publications than non-predatory ones.

Keywords

Predatory journals Scholarly publishing Open access Lattes platform 

Mathematics Subject Classification

00-01 99-00 
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Copyright information

© Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de AdministraçãoPorto AlegreBrazil

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