Are Predatory Conferences the Dark Side of the Open Access Movement?

Abstract

By now, you’ve probably heard all about predatory publishing and journals—those aggressive entities that feign a US-based address, a high Impact Factor, and countless other accolades they’ve never actually achieved. They send emails, begging authors to join their editorial boards or write an article. The prevalence of predatory publishers has increased by more than 5000% since 2011 from 18 publishers to 923.1 The first clue that they’re disingenuous may be the use of awkward grammar and syntax, lots of exclamation points or colored fonts, and copious typos, which can quickly tip you off to a predator lying in wait. Caveat emptor! We’ve peeled back a new layer under the umbrella of predatory entities, and it’s called “predatory conferences.” These new aberrations of predators organize conferences that appear to be scholarly but are strictly exploitive money-making schemes that cost authors and funding sources time and money. Unfortunately, no medical or scientific specialty is safe—this phenomenon crosses multidisciplinary boundaries.

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