Predatory Journals and Scientific Dissemination: What to Do?

The dissemination of scientific research is important in reaching a broad audience in many applied disciplines such as social work. Funders are also able to get part of their investment back when the projects that they have supported are published to the public. However, over the past few years, a number of predatory journals have sprung up, seeking to get a share in the publication world. Spurred by the reach of technology, these journals are able to reach broad audiences all over the world by the click of just one email. Many email in-boxes get a number of solicitations from predatory journals on a near daily basis. In addition, researchers are also being requested to review articles for these journals on perhaps a weekly basis. It is not always possible to distinguish predatory from established journals. Thus, it is important for researchers, institutions, and social work professionals to know about the existence of these journals and also to be prepared to handle them appropriately, particularly for junior faculty. This workshop includes a panel comprised of the Editor-In-Chief of Research on Social Work Practice and three editorial board members that have extensive experience as reviewers. The panelists will discuss the basics of peer review and provide guidance on the essential elements for providing a helpful, high-quality review. Throughout the workshop, panelists will reference their own experiences as reviewers and as active participants in the peer review process. The following issues will be addressed: Panelists will address a number of topics questions, including: 1. What are predatory journals? We will discuss their origin and how to identify them; panelists will also discuss the issue of predatory journals with high impact scores and also discuss the impacts of predatory journals in the scientific dissemination process. We will elaborate on why these journals are a problem in social work research. 2. Who typically publishes in predatory journals? Panelists will discuss on how predatory journals are affecting the progress of research in the Global South and propose ways of building the capacity of social work researchers in the US and the Global South to increase their capability of publishing in scientific journals. 3. Ethics and responsibility: We will discuss the cash-for-easy-publication phenomena that is a characteristic of most predatory journals. Panelists will discuss the ethics of publications and the shared responsibility that we all have in order to ensure that researchers publish in the appropriate journals. 4. Justifying journal choice. We will share available lists and resources that can help us know predatory journals and how researchers can vet journals. We will also discuss the benefits of publishing in the social work community as well as other non-social work high impact journals. We will also highlight how to take due diligence in selecting journals. During this workshop, the panelists will address each of the aforementioned points with a brief presentation that includes relevant examples. After concluding the formal presentation, the panelists will open the workshop for questions and a discussion between the panelists and attendees.