Do Not Feed the Predators

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence and certain characteristics of publishing in predatory journals by South African business science academics to raise awareness and to deepen understanding of the predatory publishing phenomenon. We identified 728 recent (2013-2016) articles published by South African author/s in five popular business science journals classified as ‘predatory’, according to Beall’s list. We first report the frequency of predatory publications by South African business science academics for the study period. The data is presented in a format that also enables the analysis of the proportion of published articles in these journals by South African authors. Thereafter, we allocate the articles to the different South African universities on a fractional basis. Finally, we use the characteristics of the publications in our dataset to demonstrate that Beall was correct in classifying these five journals as low quality (predatory). Our results show that publishing in predatory journals is widespread amongst South African business science academics.If a critical mass of South African academics persists in publishing in predatory journals then the journals are legitimised, leading to other South African academics also publishing in the journals creating a downward spiral in research quality. Our sample of publications is limited to five popular predatory journals over a recent period. More research is needed to explore the generalisability of our findings to other business science journals and other fields of study (e.g., science, humanities, etc.). Our study is one of the first empirical investigations into the extent and nature of predatory publishing in a developing country and business science context. As such, we raise awareness of the dangers of incentivising research quantity above research quality that might lead to predatory publishing. We conclude our study by providing a heuristic framework to assist authors to make better decisions about journal outlets for their research.