How To Identify Fake Journals?

There are a lot of fake journals that have a seemingly reliable website and claim themselves to have a high impact factor journals. Fake journals are difficult to identify in most of the case. In order to help researchers to find fake journals, this articles gives some common identifications and required verification before submitting your valuable research findings into a journal.

Some Common Indicators of Fake Journals

Using the following common indications a Fake journal can be easily identified.

No address: Some journals do not reveal their address or contact information in their website other than an email address listed.

No proper review information: These journals mostly hide their review process and editorial board details of their journal publications.

Publication: These journals promise for rapid publication.

Topics: These publications simply includes wide-ranging of unrelated fields of studies.

Age of the website: There are many tools available to find the age of the journal’s website. Most of the fake journals claim themselves more year impact factor than their actual age on the internet.

Peer review process: There is no mention of a peer review process in the website or basic submission requirements.

Fees: Some predatory journals ask extremely high processing fee for publication.

Ethics: Fake journals do not consider research ethics.

How To Identify Fake Journal?

Use this following steps to identify a fake journal.

1. Publisher

   
   The first step, check the publisher of the journals? A publishing company, a professional association, a scholarship association, or a university. Reputable publishers will never publish fake journals.

2. Verify Editor or Reviewer

   
   Verifying the editor-in-chief, senior editors, and the reviewers of the journals are the best way to identify the fake journal.
   
   Reputable journals always list their editorial board members. Each of the editorial members can be easily tracked to their home university.
   
   If you cannot track who are the editorial members, it is likely that the journal is fake.

3. Number of Volumes Published

   
   A good volume of publications with highly impactful research article issues ensures the journal is not fake.

4. Review Process

   
   Fake journals often guarantee someone’s work to be published soon with a quick review process.
   
   In most of the case, quick review processed journals are either fake or highly paid journals. They usually publish without any revision. It will lead to retraction of the whole journal from indexing in future.
   
   Good journals must have adequate review processes. The processes may take time at least 4 to 6 months. Premier journals may even take longer time.

5. Verify Indexing

   
   Finally, verify whether the journal is on Scopus indexed, Web of Science, or Scimago database. Most of the reputed and mainstream journals indexed in any of these databases.
   
   Following are the top abstract indexing agencies:
   
   Thomson Reuters indexing such as Zoological record
   
   Pubmed
   
   ISI Web of Knowledge or science
   
   Scopus
   
   Researchgate
   
   Academia.edu
   
   Google Scholar
   
   Directory of Science
   
   SIS ( Scientific indexing services )
   
   However, It does not mean that the journals that are not included in those databases. but, if the journal is not indexed as well as not satisfies any of the above 4 verification steps, that particular journal suspected to be a fake journal.

Hope, This fake journal identification steps may help you to find the genuine high-quality publication for your valuable research contribution.

Steps to Select a Right Journal to Publish your Research Paper

Selecting the right journal to submit the scholarly manuscript is a really difficult task. If you have chosen the wrong journals or predatory journals, you will lose your lovely time of the graduate study. Also, it will create more frustration.

Unsuitable Journals: Submitting a research paper into the unsuitable journals is a common mistake but the result will be regretful. If you submit your article in an unsuitable journal to your research areathe journal editors to reject the manuscript before peer review. So finding the right journal makes it more likely that your manuscript will be accepted.

Look before you leap

How to Select a Right Journal to Publish your Research Paper?

1. Use Journal Finder

Most of the leading publishers provide a free tool called ‘Journal Finder’, which helps to identify the right suitable journal for research area with relevant keyword to publish the manuscript. some of the journal finding tools are given below.

IEEE Publication Recommender

Wiley Jounal Finder

Elsvier Journal Finder

Springer Nature Journal Suggester

Edanz Journal Selector

Cofactor Journal Selector

2. What type of article accepted by the journal?

Before going to submit your manuscript verify the types of articles accepted by the journal(Review, Case study, or Theorem). Ensuring the journal’s publication policy will reduce more time by selecting the right journal.

3. Get expert recommendations

Getting a view about the journal from senior scholars or professors is a good idea to select the journal. If they already published their article in that journal then they would have enough knowledge about the journal procedures.

4. Analysis Journal Metrics

Analysis journal’s Impact Factor(IF) is one measure of its reputation, but not always the most important. You should consider the prestige of the authors that publish in the journal and whether your research is of a similar level.

Check -> How Impact Factor(IF) is calculated?

5. Check the frequency of the publication

The different journal has a different timeline of the review process, always verify the frequency of the publication (Monthly, Quarterly, or Twice a yearly) before submitting your manuscript.

6. Published Articles in the Literature

Analyse the published articles in your field that are similar in scope and impact on the field, and see where they were published. It is an easy way of selecting the journal by checking your literature review paper’s publication.

Always select two or three choices of a suitable journal from your research area. if your paper is rejected from your first-choice journal, you can quickly submit to your second-choice journal.

Important tips before choosing a journal

Read or download Guide for Authors.

Verify the journal topics match your area of research.

Check if the journal is invitation-only as some journals will only accept articles after inviting the author.

Submit your paper to only one journal at the time.

Read the aims and scope of the journal.

If you need to publish open access know that most Elsevier journals have open access options explained on the journal homepage.

Check the journal performance for the review and publication timelines.

Hope, this article helps you to select the right journal to publish your valuable scientific research article. Also, read how to find the fake journal. Finding the fake journals is very important nowadays. ->How To Identify Fake Journals?

Important Steps in Writing Research Paper

Writing a research paper is the most essential part of our research process. research publication will explain to the world about our research work, our contributions, and impact of the work. It also helps other researchers to understand the benefits and research gaps from the research area. In this article, we are going to find out the 8 important steps in writing a research paper.

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

1. Title

Selecting a perfect title to our work is the first important step which also defines what our paper is all about. The title should be more informative and included all our major keywords in it.

2. Abstract

Statistics say, more than 90% of researchers read the abstract next to the title. It is a very important step defines writing a research paper. abstract is a summary of our research work it usually was written 100-150 words, this should be very crisp and clear about the research, what the whole paper is going to talk about.

3. Introduction

The introduction sets the first stage of our analysis and also predicts the tone and direction of our research paper. It helps readers to understand the paper even they don’t have any prior domain knowledge.

4. Methodology

The methodology describes our research paper’s goals and the procedures that what we carried out in the research work. a proper research methodology helps journal reviewer and readers to understand the entire concept of our research.

5. Conclusion

The fifth most important step to writing a research paper is the conclusion. it is a final summary of the results that we managed to achieve through our research. this also should explain why and how we arrived to this particular conclusion.

6. Review of Related Studies

Review of Related Studies places our research to define existing data and information about the previous research papers. It is very important to clearly explain our existing research experiment carried out in the same area that we used as a reference or base.

7. Recommendations

In the recommendation, carefully explain what needs to be done next and enumerate the possible steps that are needed to be taken. a proper recommendation will help readers and other researchers to carry out their own research.

8. Bibliography

The last and eighth important step in writing a research paper is a bibliography. In this, we have to list the source materials we used or consulted in making our research paper.

Whenever you start to write a new research paper make sure these 8 important steps in order to help the readers to be more comfortable and easy understanding.

How to Identify ISI, Scopus, or Scimago Indexed journals?

When you wish to submit your research article in a journal. you have to select the target journal for your research area as well as the journal must be indexed in any of the major abstract indexing databases such as ISI, Scopus, SCI, SCI-E, or ESCI. But identifying a targeted journal with good journal citation report is not that easy. In this article, iLovePhD provides answers to frequently asked questions about journal selection. Also, this article discusses the difference between an SCI, SCIE and SCImago journals. 

How to check a journal indexed in an ISI indexing database?

To check the journal, whether it indexed in ISI Web of Science database or not, do the following steps. 

1. Type the URL in your address bar : http://mjl.clarivate.com/
   It will direct into Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List search page
2. Enter the targeted journal name in the search item field
   
3. Then in the next step, select the search Type
   Whether you have given a Title word, full Journal name, or ISSN number in the search terms.
4. In the next step, select the database you want a check for indexing
   You can give a particular database or else you can select the master journal list to find overall coverage of the targeted journal.
5. Finally, you will get the detail about the journal with all database coverage
   Here you can see that the given journal is indexed in the Science Citation Index.

How to Identify Scopus Indexed Journals?

Scopus is the number one abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed journals which contains more than 70 Million items like scientific articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, lecture notes, and books. It is very simple to check whether the target journal is indexed in the Scopus database or not.

In order to verify the targeted journal is indexed in the scops or not, we have to do the following steps.

1. Type the URL in your address bar:
   
   

   www.scopus.com/sources

   It will direct into Browse sources on Scopus.com – Journal List search page
2. Select the Title, Publisher, or ISSN number of the targeted journal to find Scoups indexing
   
3. Give the targeted journal name in the Title field.
   After given the title of the journal click find sources button.
4. Finally, you will get the detail about the journal with all database coverage
   Here you can see that the given journal “Nature Reviews Genetics” is indexed in the Scopus database. Also, you will get a Scopus impact factor and journal citation reports for the last five years.

How to Identify Scimago Ranked journals?

The SCImago Journal & Country Rank is a public site to identify scientific rankings of the journals and country. SCImango Rankings are used to analyse a good quality journal to publish. Also, This ranking system is powered by Scopus.

To check the journal, whether it indexed in the Scimago database or not, do the following steps.

1. To check if your target journal is indexed in Scimago please go to
   scimagojr
   It will direct into Scimago Journal & Country Rank search page
2. Enter the targeted journal name in the search item field Then click the search button
   You can give Title word, Full Journal name, or ISSN number in the search bar.
3. In the next step, select the name of the journal as a result from 
   Scimago ranking result.
   It will direct you into the ranking page.
4. Finally, you will get the detail about the journal with all the details of the Scimago database ranking result.
   Here you can see that the given journal “Nature Reviews Genetics” ranked in the Scimago Journals.

ABOUT LABTECH INNOVATIONS™

ABOUT LABTECH INNOVATIONS™

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Labtech Innovations™, Chennai is one of India’s foremost and a fast-growing professional association for research development and promotion in the field of Engineering, Technology and Science operating under Dexority Innovations Pvt. Ltd. Labtech Innovations is a paramount body which is on the track of bringing a rapid technical revolution and sustainable development in the field of Engineering, Technology & Science by facilitating knowledge flow from institution to institution & Industry to Industry and vice versa. The ace organisation is supported by its International Advisory Board(IAB) which is not limited to the subcontinent rather we have geniuses from the middle east and European to boost our organisation. Labtech Innovations is collaborated with leading technical institutes including Universities and research centres to promote the exchange of technical knowledge among the student’s paternity. Today Labtech Innovations is one of the foremost publishers of research papers in high-quality peer-reviewed, indexed journals proceeding and research magazine.