Predatory journals and conference proceedings are flooding the scientific record.
In my November 2017 editorial, “Fraud alert,” I described how the predatory journal explosion over the past few years had infiltrated the conference arena. Well colleagues, it’s worse now. Thinking of publishing an article or presenting at a conference, be aware of the dangers of fraudulent conferences and “paper mills” that are flooding the scientific record, proliferating faster than current systems can get rid of them.
There’s a lot of confusion around assessing journal and conference quality. Characteristics of predatory journals are well known, including deceptive journal operations, little transparency about fees, lack of adherence to publishing and editorial standards, and absent peer review. Predatory conferences share similar features. In this month’s article, “Predatory conferences: How to avoid them and what to do if you’re trapped,” the authors warn us about the spectrum of predatory conference behaviors, which range from fake (criminal) conferences to conferences of questionable quality. The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) published the scope of conferences.
We all want to stay up to date with the latest clinical practices, and predatory conferences know that; they target unsuspecting nurses wanting to expand their expertise. Nurses pay registration fees and incur travel expenses only to find themselves sitting in lectures with little connection to program descriptions, or even worse, they find cancelled sessions, absent conference organizers, or no conference at all. I know colleagues who have fallen into the predatory conference trap by accepting a speaking engagement and paying their own way, only to arrive at the conference location and finding an empty room. And you can’t get your money back!
In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the headline “Fake papers flood scientific journals” got my attention. “The growing tide of fake papers is flooding the scientific record and proliferating faster than current checks can rid them from the system.” The source of the problem is “paper mills,” businesses or individuals that charge fees to publish fake studies in legitimate journals under the names of desperate scientists whose careers depend on their publishing record. The proceedings’ authors created a database of suspected paper mill papers—over 32,700! They confirmed that these shoddy papers muddy the waters of science and evidence-based practice.
So whether it’s a predatory conference or a predatory journal, stay vigilant! If a journal or a conference planner makes unrealistic promises to you, and you think it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
At American Nurse Journal, we strive every day to ensure journalistic excellence. From credible peer review processes to ethical business practices, you can rely on what we publish to advance nursing care and the nursing profession. The journal is listed in the Directory of Nursing Journals, a comprehensive international list of reputable nursing journals maintained by the International Academy of Nursing Editors and Nurse Author & Editor (nursingeditors.com/journals-directory).
Artificial intelligence makes the predatory trend even more concerning because large language models consume scientific literature without discriminating between fraudulent and legitimate papers. Protect the profession and your own professional growth. Treat the publications you read and the presentations you create as assets that require the same rigor and oversight used to protect your bank account. Don’t be fooled!
American Nurse Journal. 2025; 20(9). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ092504
Lillee Gelinas, DNP, RN, CPPS, FAAN
Editor-in-Chief
References
Gelinas LS. Fraud alert. Am Nurse Today. 2017;12(11):4.
InterAcademy Partnership. Combatting predatory academic journals and conferences. interacademies.org/project/predatorypublishing
Richardson RAK, Hong SS, Byrne JA, Stoeger T, Amaral LAN. The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly, Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2025;122(32):e2420092122. doi:10.1073/pnas.2420092122
