This new joint article by our Dr Hassan Nejadghanbar and Prof. Guangwei Hu in Language Teaching, a top-tier journal published by Cambridge University Press, investigates language and linguistics authors' motivations for and experiences of publishing in potential predatory journals (PPJs). Predatory journals have grown to be a serious threat to scientific publishing. False or misleading material, a departure from academic editorial and publication processes, a lack of openness, and aggressive solicitation techniques are characteristics of these publications.
A questionnaire was administered to 2,793 academics with publications in 63 language and linguistics PPJs, and 213 of them returned their responses. A subsample of the respondents (n = 21) also contributed qualitative data. Analyses of the survey data found that the authors were mainly from Asia, mostly had a doctorate, chose the PPJs chiefly for fast publication and, or meeting degree or job requirements, were predominantly of the opinion that the PPJs were reputable, and commonly reported positive impacts of publishing in the PPJs on their studies or academic careers.
A thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed five main themes: unawareness, unrelenting publication pressures, low information literacy, social identity threat, and failure to publish in top-tier journals. The findings have very important implications for the language and linguistics community.
More information about the article can be found on the website HERE.
