Predatory publishing and cybercrime targeting academics

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to inform and warn academics about practices used by cybercriminals who seek to profit from unwary scholars and undermine the industry of science. This report describes the signs, symptoms, characteristics, and consequences of predatory publishing and related forms of consumer fraud. Methods to curb these cybercrimes include educating scholars and students about tactics used by predatory publishers; institutional changes in how faculty are evaluated using publications; soliciting cooperation from the industries that support academic publishing and indexing to curb incorporation of illegitimate journals; and taking an offensive position by reporting these consumer fraud crimes to the authorities. Over and above the problem of publishing good science in fraudulent journals, disseminating and citing poor-quality research threaten the credibility of science and of nursing.