Predatory publishers share several characteristics:
*Charging authors/funding bodies to publish articles open access is a model used by many reputable journal publishers and is not the single factor used to determine if a journal should be considered "predatory."
For further information, please review Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing by Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association.
It is sometimes hard to distinguish between a genuine journal or publisher and a 'predatory' one. Some predatory journals and publishers are known to send out bulk emails to potential authors soliciting material for publication, often targeting early career researchers and research students by offering to publish dissertations or theses for free. Others seek to generate income by charging authors and institutions for open access publication and appear to be genuine by choosing very similar titles to established journals and populating them with freely available open access articles in their titles.
You should follow the Think! Check! Submit! guidance - see in particular the Checklist - which will help you assess whether a journal operates according to proper scholarly practice. There are steps you should take to verify the credentials of a prospective journal and publisher before submitting your manuscript.
