A warning to be careful with predatory publishers

© David Parkins

© David Parkins

As member of the scientific community, you are often contacted by predatory publishers to publish your research or to present it at questionable conferences. It is very important that you do not respond to these solicitations. These publishers do not guarantee any quality or scientific integrity. Peer-review, proofreading and editing steps are usually scarce and the manuscript is often immediately published after submission. The publication of your research in these journals has very little scientific value and can damage your reputation and that of EPFL.

In case of doubt about the editorial quality of a journal or publisher, you can consult the ethical and professional recommendations of the scientific publication of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), or check if the journal is listed in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) and listed in bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, etc.). The website Think, Check, Submit also provides information about predatory publishers.

We invite you to check our dedicated page on Open Access and predatory publishers that gives advice and useful links on the matter. In case of doubt, please contact the Publish Support team at the Library.