A Solution to Academic Radiology's Experience With Solicitation E-mails From Predatory Journals.

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Medical Imaging
• Scholarly Publishing
• Information Science

Background:

• Predatory publishers pose a threat to academic researchers, particularly in specialized fields like radiology and medical imaging.
• Aggressive email solicitations are a common tactic used by these publishers to attract submissions.
• Understanding the characteristics of these journals and publishers is crucial for developing effective countermeasures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the problem of predatory publishing in radiology and medical imaging.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of email filters as an intervention against aggressive email solicitations from predatory publishers.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 996 faculty from academic radiology departments on their experiences with soliciting journals.
• Retrospectively analyzed 51 days of emails to identify predatory journals and publishers.
• Compared bibliometric parameters and publication fees of soliciting journals with established medical imaging journals.
• Tested customized email filters for spam detection.

Main Results:

• 98% of surveyed faculty received emails from soliciting publishers; only 7% published with them.
• Predatory publishers sent 257 emails in 51 days, targeting 76 imaging journals, few indexed in PubMed or with impact factors.
• PubMed-indexed predatory journals had lower fees and shorter durations of existence compared to established journals.
• Email filters captured 71% of solicitations initially, improving to 85% a year later.

Conclusions:

• Soliciting publishers have a minimal impact on the scientific literature.
• Academic researchers can effectively avoid predatory email solicitations using customized email filters.
• Interventions like email filtering can mitigate the risks associated with predatory publishing.