In the second episode of this four-part series, our guests from scholarly analytics service Cabells dig into predatory journal tactics and the characteristics of the journal market that make it vulnerable to predatory practices. First, Ruth Bailey, Journal Auditor, and Ashley Carroll, Project Manager, explain how the online journal environment, prevalence of open access publication charges, and lack of central authority against problematic publishing allow predatory journals to proliferate. Next, Ashley and Yasmeen Zubair, Journals Manager, walk through the subject areas at risk (hint—it’s all of them!) and the strategies predatory journals use to appear as legitimate and enticing as possible to researchers. Finally, our guests reflect on the pain points of the scholarly communication workflow that predatory journals exploit, such as removing barriers to publication and offering quick turnaround and publication times.

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