Falling prey to predatory journals: Experiences of nursing faculty

Background The term ‘predatory journals’ initially appeared in PubMed in 2012 and was coined by Professor Jeffrey Beall in a note published in the Nature Journal. It is used to denote fake journals with questionable peer review, fast track publishing processes against monetary payment and a predatory approach to target researchers through spam email. Purpose This study aimed to explore the experiences of nursing faculty concerning publication in predatory journals. Methods A simple qualitative design was used. The setting included a college of nursing in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. A purposive sampling technique, with eight faculty members, were included in the study. In-depth interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and analyzed using a simple content analysis approach. Results Three themes emerged with nine subthemes namely: i) research professional obligations; publishing pressure, research competitiveness, professional enhancement and promotion; ii) fast publications; escaping peer review, paying for quick service; iii) after-effects; emotional turmoil; characteristics of predatory journals. Conclusion This study showed that publishing in a predatory journal has serious consequences, both professional and personal. The findings also highlighted that anyone in the academic setting could fall prey to these journals. Lastly, despite the increasing knowledge of predatory publishing, there is still a lack of awareness about this dark side of publications. Hence, educational awareness of predatory journals is needed. It is also recommended that research, including other disciplines, be completed.