"If junk science is not confronted and eliminated, it will continue to tarnish and undermine ethical, open-access scholarly publishing."

R I Med J (2013). 2017 Jul 5;100(7):27-29.

Junk science for sale Sham journals proliferating online.

Klyce W1, Feller E2.

Author information

1

Third-year medical student at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

2

clinical professor of medical sciences at Brown University.

Abstract

A new danger threatens the integrity of scholarly publishing: predatory journals. Internet-only, "open-access" publishing is a valid way for researchers to reach the public without a paywall separating them. But, of thousands of open-access scientific journals today, as many as twenty-five percent are believed to be fake, existing only to make money by charging authors high processing fees. In sham journals, peer review is cursory or absent: as many as eighty to ninety percent of submitted manuscripts are accepted, many within days, without any editorial comment. Predatory journalism can be remarkably good at mimicking reputable publishers. Sham journals use names and logos that closely resemble those of legitimate journals, intentionally confusing site visitors. Untrustworthy publications have not received the widespread, damning publicity they deserve. If junk science is not confronted and eliminated, it will continue to tarnish and undermine ethical, open-access scholarly publishing.

 [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-07.asp].