Evolution of Scientific Productivity on Predatory Journals: A Scientometric Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study performs a scientometric review of the literature published on predatory publishers and outlines the core elements of published documents and obtains the range of areas researched within the field of the predatory journal using Bibliometrix. A total of 1117 documents from the Scopus database was analyzed. The analysis revealed the dominance of the medical field in this topic. The dataset of 609 journals conforms to the Bradford distribution of 1: n: n2 and the journals listed in most influential sources are from various fields with broad scope of publishing. The analysis shows that 50% of the list of most influential authors belong to affiliations that are in the list of most influential affiliations. Also, the majority of authors in the list of most influential authors belong to developed countries. This suggests that academic institutions in developed countries are more actively engaged in research on predatory publishing and are producing more impactful work. The study’s findings align with earlier research that indicated developing countries have a lower rate of publication on predatory publishing and are less aware of its practices compared to developed countries.