Avoiding Predatory Journals: A Publishing Guide for ASEAN Graduate Students

Why this matters for your career

A predatory journal takes your publication fee and prints your paper with little to no real peer review. Some invent an editorial board, fake an impact factor, or copy the name of a respected journal with one letter changed. Publishing in one does not just waste money. It can raise questions in a PhD interview, get flagged during a scholarship progress review, or sit permanently on your CV next to journals that did real review.

For ASEAN graduate students on funded pathways such as LPDP, MEXT, GKS, Chevening, Australia Awards, JPA, or MARA, publication counts often feed into progress reports and renewal decisions. A paper in a journal your funder or university does not recognize can cost you more time than it saved.

Run the Think.Check.Submit checklist first

Think.Check.Submit is a free checklist built by a group that includes the Committee on Publication Ethics, the Directory of Open Access Journals, and several major publishers. Before you submit, answer these questions. If you cannot answer yes to most of them, do not submit.

• Can you easily find and contact the publisher by phone, post, or email
• Does the journal clearly state its peer review process
• Do you recognize other papers or authors already published in the journal
• Is the journal indexed in the databases you expect, such as Scopus or Web of Science
• Is the publication fee stated clearly on the website before you submit
• Does the journal belong to a recognized industry body, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association

Check the Directory of Open Access Journals

If the journal claims to be open access, search its exact title on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) . DOAJ applies a published set of criteria before listing a journal, covering editorial board transparency, peer review policy, and licensing, and it removed around 5,000 journals from its list during a 2015-2017 reapplication drive that tightened these standards. A journal absent from DOAJ is not automatically predatory, since many legitimate subscription and society journals never apply, but a journal that claims DOAJ membership and is not listed is a clear red flag.

Check Committee on Publication Ethics membership

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) keeps a public, searchable list of member publishers and journals on its website. Predatory publishers sometimes display the COPE logo on their site without being members. Search the COPE member list directly rather than trusting a logo on the journal homepage.

Other warning signs to watch for

• The journal contacted you first, praising a paper you never sent it or flattering your general research area
• The email promises review and publication within days or a single week
• The website has spelling errors, a vague scope, or claims an impact factor from an unrecognized ranking service
• The editorial board lists well known professors, but a search shows they never agreed to serve or do not work where listed
• The journal title closely copies the name of a respected journal, with a small change like the country name added
• The fee is not mentioned until after your paper is accepted

What to do before you submit

1. Ask your supervisor or department where they have published and where your field's respected journals are
2. Check your university library's guide on predatory publishing, since most have one and can confirm a specific title for you
3. Search the journal name plus predatory in a search engine and see what comes up
4. Verify indexing claims directly on Scopus or Web of Science rather than trusting a badge on the journal site
5. Confirm your funding body's rules on where you may publish, since some scholarship programs name approved indexing databases in their contracts

A few checks before you submit take less time than one submission cycle. They protect a record you will use for the rest of your academic career.