With the rise in open access publishing, there has also been a rise in what is called "predatory publishing." Predatory publishing is motivated by profit rather than scholarship. These journals and publishers solicit articles and abstracts from researchers through actions that exploit the pressure on researchers to publish and present their work. Features of these practices include, but are not limited to, rapid pay-to-publish models without rigorous (or even any) peer review, fake editorial boards falsely listing respected scientists, fraudulent impact factors or metrics, journal titles that are deceptively similar to those of legitimate ones, paid review articles that promote fake science, and aggressive spam invitations to solicit articles and abstracts, including outside of a researcher's own expertise. Recent evidence puts the number of predatory journals at over 15,500.
It is incredibly important that researchers practice due diligence to minimize their risk of using predatory outlets. The Think, Check, Submit checklist is a tool that will help you discover what you need to know when assessing whether a publisher is suitable for your research.