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 Most established, indexed journals can still be trusted, but predatory journals, paper mills and a flood of submissions mean no reader can take a journal’s name on faith any more. This article explains what makes a journal trustworthy, how the system is being gamed, and the checks anyone can use to judge a journal. … 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