Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash The first half of 2026 has offered no shortage of reminders that scholarly publishing is changing rapidly - and not always comfortably for those of us in scholarly communications. Reviewing the Cabells blog so far this year, one theme has come through again and again: researchers, librarians, publishers and institutions rrequire improved evidence, habits and tools if they are to navigate a … Continue reading School’s out for Summer*
Blurred lines
Science through time has always represented truth. Logical truth, verifiable truth, empirical truth – whatever the scientific method employed the single goal has been to find out whether something was true or false. Most of the time this might not be anything very exciting or innovative, but from the high school lab to cutting edge R&D, the pursuit of science seemed pretty clear cut. The reporting … Continue reading Blurred lines
Reviewing the literature on predatory publishing
The simplest way to learn about predatory journals and their tricks of the trade is to look at the burgeoning number of articles on the topic. Since 2020, there have been over 2,000 research articles published that mention ‘predatory publishing,' with the rate increasing over time. Indeed, as you can see from the graph below, aside from the spike in … Continue reading Reviewing the literature on predatory publishing
Accusations frozen in time: How Beall’s List still hurts publishers in 2026
A little-examined consequence of the predatory publishing phenomenon is the damage done to legitimate publishers that got swept up in it – not because they were truly predatory, but because they were listed alongside journals that were. Beall’s List, the well-intentioned and perhaps the most famous predatory publisher and journal list, has long been shuttered. … Continue reading Accusations frozen in time: How Beall’s List still hurts publishers in 2026
Hijack!
A question Cabells is often asked about the coverage of journals in its database products is, ‘How do you find out about them?’ This is not an easy question to answer, as there are so many reasons for a journal to come to our attention, for good or bad – editor recommendation, new launch, author … Continue reading Hijack!
Look before you leap
Einstein defined madness as doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different result. Current world events may lend support to this particular theory, but it is certainly not a new phenomenon. Indeed, one of the wisest lessons for authors is more than 2,500 years old. Aesop was believed to have been a … Continue reading Look before you leap
Predatory journals: The view from Brazil
Global academic publishing can often be reminiscent of the tale of the black swan. In England in the 17th century, a ‘black swan’ was a metaphor for a rare or impossible event, that was until 1697 when Dutch explorers found black swans happily swimming around in what is now called Western Australia. The shock of … Continue reading Predatory journals: The view from Brazil
What’s in a name?
In 2016, an online poll was set up in the UK to name a new, multi-million-pound research vessel. Many good suggestions were made, but once ‘Boaty McBoatface’ was suggested online, it started to garner huge support and eventually won a third of all the votes cast. Embarassed, the UK government decided to call it the … Continue reading What’s in a name?
WASET of time
This week’s blog is based on an email Cabells received recently from an academic in Tunisia expressing their concern regarding a conference they had submitted papers to, and guidance on how to withdraw their submissions. This is a common situation that researchers find themselves in, and with the kind permission of Professor Chokri Ben Salah, … Continue reading WASET of time
20,000 problems for researchers
As many readers will have noted last week, Cabells’ Predatory Reports database went over 20,000 journals listed for the first time. This is significant not just because that is a LOT of journals – with James Butcher asking if this might be as much as 20% of all published journals in his Journalology newsletter this week - but also because it represents fraud and deception … Continue reading 20,000 problems for researchers