A Decade in Hijacked Journals: What Will be the Future Trend?

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics and scholarly communication research.
• Investigating predatory publishing and academic integrity.

Background:

• Hijacked journals pose a threat to scholarly communication by mimicking legitimate publications.
• This editorial analyzes a decade of research (2014-2024) on hijacked journals using bibliometric methods.

Discussion:

• The analysis covers publication trends, access types, dominant topics, and geographical contributions.
• Key publishers and the alignment of research with Sustainable Development Goals were also examined.

Key Insights:

• Bibliometric analysis of hijacked journals reveals patterns in their growth, topics, and global participation.
• Understanding these trends is crucial for safeguarding the integrity of scientific publishing.

Outlook:

• Current methods for detecting hijacked journals lack accessibility for many researchers.
• Developing user-friendly tools, potentially leveraging artificial intelligence, is essential for future detection and data analysis.