Summary of results of qualitative survey responses
| Item | Themes (subthemes) |
| What factors or criteria influenced your decision to submit your manuscript to this journal instead of another journal (eg, hiring, promotion, tenure, requirements to complete degree)? | Academic and professional factors (General; General publishing pressure; As part of current job requirements; For tenure or promotion; Seeking employment/to get hired; Part of degree requirements (trainees); To support trainees/build CV of trainees; Pressure to publish from trainee) Factors related to the journal (Paper fit with journal; Perception or appearance of quality; Journal is fast to publish; Publication cost; Ease of publishing; Free editing; Experience with journal) Recommendation (From colleagues; From Omni group conference) Factors related to the paper published (Difficult to publish elsewhere; Limited options for the topic of the paper; Previous rejection(s); The work is good) Desire to disseminate (Wide readership; Open access; International scope) Invitation from journal (Promotional emails) Personal factors (Lack of mentorship in choosing journal; Lack of knowledge (before predatory journals were common knowledge); Personal pressure/interest to publish) |
| How did you first become aware that the journal you published in was potentially predatory in nature or may not be scientifically rigorous (eg, I received no peer review although the editor said the article will be published within 24 hours)? | This survey Disagree that journal is predatory Concerns raised by others Fees (Payment) Publication process (Peer review; Atypical correspondence; Continued promotion emails) List of predatory journals Lack of indexing |
| Were there other motivations for publishing in the journal that we have not asked about (eg, salary increase)? | No Personal factors (Personal satisfaction) Academic and professional factors (Publication pressure; Self-citation; Part of being a researcher; Salary increase; Promotion in developing countries; To increase programme rankings) Factors related to the paper published (Topic fit with journal; Low quality of manuscript; Publishing unpublished work; Student paper) Factors related to the journal (Compared with ‘traditional journals’) Desire to disseminate research (Publishing before retirement; Dissemination of work is easy because of the internet) Supporting new or small journals |
| Did you see any career risks associated with publishing in this journal (eg, getting caught by a colleague)? | No Yes (risks not specified) Reprimanded by supervisor Few citations Damage to reputation Retraction (Published even after retraction; Requested retraction) Continued emails from journal Missed opportunity for peer review |
| Has anyone else discussed the potentially predatory nature of this journal with you (eg, the paper’s co-authors, your dean, supervisor, tenure & promotions committee)? | No Yes (Individual not specified) Yes (Colleagues and co-authors; Supervisors; University staff or committees) Another researcher conducting work on predatory journals |
| Has the experience of publishing in a potentially predatory journal affected how you evaluate future journals prior to submission? If yes, how? | No Yes (not specified how) Will check details about the journal (Will be more careful; Check impact factor: Check if it has a DOI or ISSN; Check journal indexing; Check journal background/editor; Check peer review process; Check citations; Check Beall’s list; Check open source journals Consult with others (Colleagues; University management; Scientific committee; Supervisor) Will only publish in known/prestigious/authentic journals Not publish in open access journals Fees Suggestions |
DOI, digital object identifier; ISSN, International Standard Serial Number.