The term predatory publishing refers to untrustworthy business practices in which authors are asked to pay fees for the publication of articles or books through aggressive advertising and under the false claim of an open access concept with the promise of a swift publication process. Behind a perhaps even relatively professional appearance lies an inadequate or even total lack of quality control to meet academic standards.

If you have doubts about the reliability of a journal or publisher, you can use the following verification measures:

• you can first check whether the journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ only lists journals that have undergone a mandatory quality check.
• It is also recommended to use the Zeitschriftendatenbank(en. journal database) to check whether information such as the ISSN of the journal are correct.
• The publisher's membership of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) or the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is also another important sign of its seriousness.
• Checking whether the journal is ranked in journal indexes such as Journal Citation Reports or Scimago Journal Rank can also provide useful information.
• Finally, you can also use the Think!Check!Submit! tool, which was developed precisely for the purpose of checking the reliability of publishers.