Predators in the pack The number of articles published in predatory journals has exploded from 50,000 to 400,000 in four years. The steady increase of predatory publishing
Varying prevalence in research disciplines
Around 1,000 publishers manage some 8,000 predatory journals, in addition to some 4,000 inactive journals that have not published any article.
Compared to non-predatory publishing, engineering and economics appear overrepresented, with biomedicine and physics underrepresented.
Number of predatory journals Articles in predatory journals
Articles published in predatory journals per discipline Physics and astronomy 0.1% Mathematics 0.5% Arts and humanities 0.8% Chemistry 0.8% Business and economics 5.3% Earth sciences 5.3% Social science 7.4%
420,000
8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0
390,000 360,000 330,000 300,000 270,000
Physics & Astronomy Mathematics
240,000 210,000
37.2%
180,000 150,000
Biomedicine
120,000
Arts and Humanities
General
15.9%
Chemistry Business and Economics
90,000
26.5%
60,000
Earth Sciences
30,000 0 2010
2011
2012
2013
Social Science
Engineering
2014
Biomedicine
Source: C. Shen and B.-C. Björk, BMC Medicine (2015) 13:230
Engineeering General
Publishers based in Asia
Authors often from Asia and Africa
Asia is home to 38% of all predatory publishers. 42% of all single-journal publishers are based in India.
77% of authors come from Asia or Africa. The ratio of predatory/non-predatory articles is 6% for US-based authors, 277% for India and 1,580% for Nigeria.
Predatory publishers per region
Corresponding authors per region
South America 0.5% Middle East 0.5% Australia 1.7% Africa 5.5% Europe 8.8% Asia minus India 11.6%
Impossible to determine 1.5% Australia 1.5% South America 2.3% Europe 8.8% North America 9.2%
South America
Impossible to determine Australia
Middle east
26.8%
Impossible Australia to determine
34.7%
27.1%
Europe Asia without India
North America India
North America India
South America Europe
Africa
17.5%
India
Africa
16.4%
North America
25.6% Asia minus India
Africa Asia without India India
Impossible to determine
Swiss National Science Foundation – Swiss Academies: Horizons No. 111