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Practical steps to take if you have
Mistakenly Submitted to a Predatory Journal

Predatory journals use tactics that sway unsuspecting researchers, who are often under pressure to publish papers in high numbers. Publishing an article in a predatory journal affects your reputation as a researcher, and is a waste of your time and effort. Many resources exist on identifying and avoiding predatory publishers. (View our set of resources here.) Occasionally, despite this knowledge, researchers inadvertently submit to dubious journals. Here, we consider some scenarios that you might find yourself in, and suggest some steps that you can take in each case.

Note: You cannot publish the same article in a credible journal unless it is first taken down by the predatory journal. Don’t worry; here, we also discuss ways to salvage your submission.

Scenario 1: You have not signed a copyright agreement or paid the journal to publish the article. 

Here are some next steps:

  1. Do not make any payments or sign any agreements.
  2. Request the predatory journal to withdraw your paper immediately from their publication pipeline. If they do not reply, email them stating that if you do not receive a response by a certain deadline, you will consider your paper unsubmitted from the journal.
  3. Inform your supervisor and senior researchers at your institute. They will advise and support you in corresponding with the predatory publisher. 
  4. If the journal threatens legal action, confidently ‘counter-threaten’ them. Usually, these journals do not have the standing or resources to actually choose the litigation route. 

Outcome 1: The predatory journal allows you to withdraw your submission.

Now, you can submit the same paper to a credible journal. It is a good practice to inform the newly chosen journal about the publication history of the paper.

Outcome 2: The predatory journal is not responding to withdrawal requests (but has not yet published the paper).

You may contact the editor of a reputed journal that you want to submit to and explain the situation. Some journal editors might agree to publish your paper, as long as it is accompanied by a statement that this is to be considered the only valid version of the paper.

Outcome 3: The predatory journal publishes your paper.

Urge (or ‘threaten’, as may be advised by your seniors/supervisors) the journal to take down the paper, failing which you will take legal recourse for violation of your copyright. After all, you are the copyright holder.

Scenario 2: You have transferred copyright to the predatory journal.

Follow steps 2–4 discussed in Scenario 1. 

Outcome 1: The predatory journal allows you to withdraw your submission.

Great. You can now submit the same paper to a credible journal. Again, inform the newly chosen journal about the relevant publication history.

Outcome 2: The predatory journal is not responding to withdrawal requests (but has not yet published the paper).

Persistently pursue the journal with your emails. You could approach the editor of a credible journal (as in Scenario 1, Outcome 2 above) and try to arrive at some solution. The industry body Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) offers guidance for tricky situations of this nature.

Outcome 3: The predatory journal publishes your paper.

You could try to initiate a retraction process, but it is unlikely that the predatory journal will fulfil this request without continuing extortion attempts. Do not give into their monetary demands.

As an alternative, carefully examine the copyright document and check if you can at least submit a preprint version to a preprint repository.

If not, unfortunately, you may have to consider this paper lost. Cut your losses, take this as a learning experience and move on. 

End note

If you mistakenly submit your manuscript to a dubious journal, there are ways around the situation. Remember at all stages not to give in to the threats and demands of predatory publishers as this will only perpetuate this devious enterprise and fuel their business, apart from making you vulnerable in the future. Be a vigilant researcher and ensure that your peers are aware of these aspects as well. 

 

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