The Presence of Predatory and Open Access Journal Publications Among Canadian Plastic Surgery Residency Applicants

Introduction: As scientific publishing has transitioned online, open access and predatory publishers have surged. This study describes the frequency of publications in potentially predatory and open access journals among applicants to a Canadian plastic surgery residency program, and explores applicant characteristics associated with open access and predatory publishing. Methods: A retrospective review of plastic surgery resident applicants' curriculum vitae (CVs) from 2015 to 2018 was performed. Published articles listed in CVs were reviewed by 2 authors to identify publication availability, publication year, and publisher. Open access publications were identified using the Directory of Open Access Journals. Predatory publications were identified using Beall's list of potentially predatory publishers. Published applicants' characteristics were summarized. Applicant characteristics associated with open access and predatory publishing were explored using logistic regression. Results: Of the 186 applicants, 117 published 388 articles and were included in the final analysis. 156 (40.2%) articles were published in open access journals by 76 (40.8%) applicants. 14 (3.6%) articles were published in predatory journals by 14 (7.5%) applicants. Applicant characteristics associated with open access publishing included total number of publications (OR: 1.56, 1.18-1.93, P < .001) and presence of at least one post-baccalaureate degree (OR: 0.36, 0.13-0.95, P = .038). Only an applicant's total number of publications (OR: 1.25, 1.06-1.48, P = .010) was significantly associated with publishing in a predatory journal. Conclusion: These findings stress the importance of raising awareness within the plastic surgery community, including medical students, about the deceptive nature of predatory journals.