Open access journals have been successfully producing and disseminating high quality research for more than two decades with high impact journals in a wide range of disciplines.
Predatory publishers charge fees for open access publishing without providing the editorial and administrative services associated with legitimate journals. They "prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices” (Nature consensus statement, 2019).
These unethical, deceptive or questionable practices include:
Not all open access journals are predatory. Predatory publishers are an aggressive exception. Authors should evaluate each venue they consider for publication before submitting a manuscript. Use the criteria above and the Think. Check. Submit website to help distinguish an ethical publisher from an unethical one. Follow their journal checklist to assess journals and make sure you choose trusted journals for your research (there is also a book/chapter checklist).
Still unsure? Consult a trusted mentor, colleague or librarian.
Preprints are research manuscripts that have not been formally published or refined/critiqued through the peer review process. Typically, a preprint is a research article, editorial, review, etc. that is ready to be submitted to a journal for peer review or is under review.
Preprints are typically deposited in preprint servers such as those shown below, although there are many platforms that archive preprints. Preprints can also be found in PubMed, Google Scholar and other literature databases.
All preprints that (1) acknowledge direct NIH support and/or have an NIH-affiliated author; and (2) are posted to an eligible preprint server on January 1, 2023 or later are being added to PubMed Central (PMC) on a weekly basis and are receiving a corresponding citation in PubMed to ensure broadest discovery and maximize the impact of NIH research.
NIH awardees can link preprints to their award in My Bibliography and claim them as products of an award on a progress report publication list. Preprints do not fall under the NIH Public Access Policy since they are not peer-reviewed. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the peer-reviewed manuscript will still need to be submitted through the NIH Manuscript System (NIHMS) by the publisher or author to receive a PubMed Central ID (PMCID).
