The Scope and Implication of Mirror Journals in Academic Research

The aim is to do a narrative review on the scope and implications of Mirror Journals in academic research. The following study has been done using searches based on databases, journals, and blogs such as Elsevier, PeerJ, Nature, Science, Hindawi, The Scholarly Kitchen, and also reports of OSI Global, a global network of high-level experts and stakeholders using a combination of the following keywords: Mirror journals, hybrid journals, Open access, double-dipping, transparency, feasibility. This review starts with a brief note on the open access movement, the advent of hybrid journals and Plan S, and the challenges associated with it. The review gives an analysis of mirror journals in alleviating major issues of ‘double dipping’, economic burden, and transparency by ensuring the prestige and reputation of the parent journal to which the mirror journal is affiliated.