A predatory publisher or predatory conference uses deceit to get money, content, or prestige from scholars. These schemes target scholars as authors of articles, books, or book chapters, as editorial board members, and as conference presenters or attendees.

Determining whether a particular offer is predatory can be difficult. Predatory publishers and conference organizers can be very effective at fooling scholars, and there are few behaviors that guarantee an opportunity is predatory. Checklists devoted to identifying opportunities as predatory often falsely identify new or less prestigious opportunities as predatory too.

To identify predatory offers reliably, without overlooking good opportunities:

1. Think critically about the types of opportunities you want to avoid.
2. Leverage your network of colleagues.
3. If your network is not helpful, consider checklists devoted to identifying these opportunities, but use them with a critical eye.

The Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright at the Penn State Libraries supports faculty, staff, and students in making informed and ethical decisions about copyright and the use of copyrighted materials in support of education and scholarly communications. The University Libraries supports teaching, learning, and research at Penn State as an active participant in the open access ecosystem, raising discoverability and visibility of Penn State scholarship and resources.

We are available to answer your questions. Submit a request to the Office of Scholarly Communications & Copyright.

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