Index Copernicus

Due to the spread of the Predatory Journals practices, as well as an urge for describing and arranging this phenomenon, Index Copernicus Experts decided to publish the results of verification to the scientists using the ICI World of Journals database. Additionally, it is crucial to warn the scientific community against collaboration with the journals suspected of using Predatory Journals practices.
The Passports of the journals which did not succeed in the verification process in terms of the above mentioned practices - will be marked with the proper alert (more about the verification process).

Transparency Warning

The journal is given this alert once it does not follow the transparency rule, as a result it is not possible to confirm the reliability of its editorial services. In practice it means that the Editorial Office despite being asked to upload the full information about the content of the published issues in the evaluated year, did not do it. Moreover, the Editorial Office did not deposit the required list of reviewers along with the reviews of the articles. Another reason for giving this alert is spread of information about the indexation in the referential bases which credibility has become a field of study for the scientists (these are the bases offering indicators deceptively similar to those calculated by the trusted bibliometric bases - Journal Impact Factor – Clarivate Analytics, SCImago Journal Rank – SCOPUS). Introduction of Transparency Warning alert aims to warn the scientists against collaboration with the journals which reliable editorial process was not confirmed.

Predatory Alert

The journal is marked with this alert once the Editorial Office is accused of using Predatory Journals practices. Precisely, it means that they did not conduct a reliable review of the manuscripts or they used misleading communicative actions. Moreover, they led aggressive politics which spread false information about engagement of the well-known scientists in the review processes or spread false information about indexation of reliable bibliographic bases.

The methods of counteracting Predatory Journals practices

One of the aims that Index Copernicus has set in the context of counteracting Predatory Journals practices is to develop the solutions which will help the Editorial Offices to keep the standards proper to the scientific journals and will prevent the spread of predatory practices in publishing. Simultaneously, if the journal gets rejected in indexation for a certain year, it can be verified in the next year. Each Editorial Office which decides to implement the proper solutions, at the same time fulfill the already defined criteria and apply for the next verification in the ICI Journals Master List database, has a chance to has its alert deleted from the Journal Passport.

The cessation of the use of Predatory Journals practices by the Editorial Office is demonstrated by the implementation of the standards of publication reliability proposed by Index Copernicus, which is manifested primarily in the publication of complete information about the conditions of accepting the article for publication, the proper selection of reviewers and the use of appropriate components of scientific reviews (more about accountable scientific editorial services). In addition to providing reliable publishing services, the Editorial Office should also stop disseminating false information about the journal, if such activities have been practiced so far.

The list of journals suspected of using Predatory Journals practices, as well as these which do not follow the rules of transparency of actions is available in the ICI World of Journals database at https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/search/form. The advanced tools provide the readers with a possibility to search for the journals with Transparency Warning and Predatory Alert statuses.