At some point in your career you may be solicited in a flattering email from an open access predatory publisher to send them your work. They claim to be a prestigious journal and will promise quick turnaround time; they might even include false or inflated impact factor numbers. Many of these so-called publishers are shady Open Access (OA) operations that are only interested in obtaining your copyrighted material and then charging you an Author Processing Charge (APC) to publish your work. Publishing with these presses can damage your reputation and weaken your portfolio for tenure and promotion.
Not all OA journals and publications are bad; most are, in fact, legitimate and/or academic resources (even those that charge APCs). There are a few easy steps you can take before agreeing to publish in an open access journal, or to be on the editorial board, and by using the information and resources on this guide, you will be able to effectively evaluate possible publication targets, including all types of OA titles.
Information here from Think, Check, Submit and Wikipedia article on Predatory publishing
The world of Predatory Publishing and the related topic of Open Access (OA) literature can be a difficult road to travel. There are many types of good academic publishers in all three major categories (Green, Gold, and Hybrid) of OA journals and the USF Libraries has librarians and subject experts in all academic areas offered that are available to help authors and researchers select the best sources and the appropriate OA opportunities. For help and referrals, please feel free to contact any of the following faculty librarians:
Jason Boczar: Digital Scholarship and Publishing Librarian and Institutional Repository Expert
Susan Ariew: Education Librarian and Researcher in OA and Predatory Publishing
Matt Torrence: Science Librarian and Library Analytics Liaison