The rise of predatory journals: The case of Dr. Anna Fraud

Authors

  • Emanuel Kulczycki prof. UAM, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Keywords:

predatory journals, Dr. Fraud, publish or perish, Journal Citation Reports, Directory of Open Access Journals, Beall’s list

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges and problems caused by predatory journals in scholarly communication. By focusing on the editorial practices, I describe the case of Dr. Anna Fraud (Anna O. Szust in Polish): a bogus scientist created by four Polish scholars. Dr. Fraud became a member of editorial boards in over 40 scientific journals although she is a fake person and, obviously has no experience in journal editing. The present paper aims to show that scientist always have to care about a quality control and a peer review system. The article concludes with a presentation of the ‘Think. Check. Submit’ Initiative which provides useful and helpful tools for analysing journals by potential contributors.

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