Abstract
IntroductionPredatory journals have been acknowledged as an increasing concern in the scholarly literature over the last decade, but research on the subject has been sparse. Research that has focused on predatory journals in the Canadian context has been even rarer, and limited to work focused on a single university. This study explores publishing trends in predatory journals by authors affiliated with Canadian universities.MethodsArticles published by authors at 30 Canadian universities, including all universities in the U15, were pulled from select predatory journals. Key data including author affiliation, article type, discipline, and grant information were extracted from the articles.ResultsAll universities in the study were found to have publications in predatory journals. The health sciences accounted for 72% of the publications, and the sciences for 20%. Research articles accounted for 50% of the articles. Opinion, editorial, or commentary pieces accounted for 24% and 19% were review articles. Grant funding was indicated in 34% of the articles, with NSERC and CIHR being top funders. The research-intensive U15 universities were found to publish more in predatory journals than their non-U15 compatriots, even when the universities were of similar size.DiscussionCanadian scholars were found to publish in predatory journals, particularly those scholars from the health sciences and research-intensive U15 universities. Grant funding was common, and often came from high profile funders like NSERC and CIHR. This study suggests that policy and education initiatives may be warranted in Canadian contexts, especially in the health sciences and at research-intensive universities.
Highlights
Predatory journals have been acknowledged as an increasing concern in the scholarly literature over the last decade, but research on the subject has been sparse
There has been a popular perception in discussions surrounding predatory journals that developed, ‘Western’ countries such as Canada need not concern themselves as those that publish in predatory journals generally come from developing nations [13, 15]
As has been pointed out by other authors, the presence of grantfunded studies in predatory journals is concerning, as it represents a waste of financial resources, often public resources, in addition to researcher time and effort to publish in journals that do not meet the standards of proper scholarly publishing [14, 15]
Summary
Predatory journals have been acknowledged as an increasing concern in the scholarly literature over the last decade, but research on the subject has been sparse. This study explores publishing trends in predatory journals by authors affiliated with Canadian universities. Methods: Articles published by authors at 30 Canadian universities, including all universities in the U15, were pulled from select predatory journals. Discussion: Canadian scholars were found to publish in predatory journals, those scholars from the health sciences and research-intensive U15 universities. This study suggests that policy and education initiatives may be warranted in Canadian contexts, especially in the health sciences and at research-intensive universities. Over the years since the introduction of the term, many editorials, articles, commentaries, and online posts have been published, often containing dire warnings or heated opinions about predatory journals or publishers [7,8,9]. Other commentators have noted that the language and tools used to discuss and assess predatory journals is racially biased, and discriminates against newer journals, journals from developing countries, and journals from
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