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How to spot a predatory or hijacked journal

Warning signs of predatory and hijacked journals, and the free databases you can use to check a journal before paying any fee.

Updated · 6 min read

Predatory journals charge publication fees without providing real peer review, editing or long-term archiving. Hijacked journals go further: they copy the name and ISSN of a legitimate journal and run a fake website to collect fees. Publishing in either can damage your record, and the paper is often impossible to withdraw.

Warning signs

  • Unsolicited emails inviting you to submit, often flattering and sent to a personal address, with a promise of fast publication.
  • Guaranteed or very fast acceptance, such as “peer review in 72 hours” or “publication within one week”.
  • Invented metrics such as “Global Impact Factor” or “Universal Impact Factor”. The Journal Impact Factor is issued only by Clarivate.
  • An extremely broad scope, for example engineering, medicine and social science in a single journal with a small editorial board.
  • Fees that are hidden until after acceptance, or requested before review.
  • Editorial board problems: members who do not list the role on their own pages, or who say they never agreed to it.
  • Contact details that are only a web form or a free email address.

Free ways to check a journal

  1. Scopus and Web of Science. Search the source list or master journal list directly. Do not trust a logo on the journal’s website. Scopus also publishes a list of titles it has discontinued.
  2. DOAJ. The Directory of Open Access Journals screens open-access journals for basic standards. Absence from DOAJ is not proof of a problem, but presence is a good sign.
  3. ISSN Portal. Check that the ISSN exists and belongs to the title you think it does.
  4. Hijacked journal lists. Retraction Watch maintains a hijacked journal checker. Compare the website address with the one listed by Scopus or the publisher.
  5. Think. Check. Submit. A short checklist supported by publishers and libraries.

How SubmitPilot helps

The journal finder flags journals that are missing from both the core-source list in OpenAlex and DOAJ, journals with high fees relative to their citation impact, sudden jumps in output, and journals with no recent papers. These are prompts to check, not verdicts. Always confirm on the index’s own website before paying a fee.

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