Introduction Welcome to the academic jungle. For years now, a particular species of profiteer has been multiplying rapidly, masquerading as legitimate scholarly communication: the predatory journals. These entities, driven by profit rather than scholarship, exploit the open access publishing model and the academic pressure to “publish or perish.” They promise rapid publication, often for a … Read more
Introduction The academic world rests on a foundation of trust. When a new research paper is published in a journal, the scholarly community and the public assume a certain level of rigor, honesty, and integrity has been applied. We assume the research was conducted ethically, that the data are real, and that the peer review … Read more
Introduction Back in 2021, we asked a fairly straightforward question: How many academic journals are there in the world? At the time, the answer hovered around 30,000, with most estimates predicting steady growth year after year. Fast-forward to 2025, and the landscape of scholarly publishing has dramatically evolved, and more studies show heightened interest in … Read more