Predatory Publishing - Herausforderung für Wissenschaftler/innen und Bibliotheken

Abstract

In the summer of 2018 predatory publishing has come to the public fore in many countries through widespread media coverage. Newspapers, radio stations and TV stations in various countries, among them German speaking countries, reported over the course of several weeks extensively about these fraudulent business practices. The problem, which is steadily increasing, has been well known in the scientific community for years. Since 2017, the publishing services at University of Graz, a cross-departmental unit at the University Library, has provided information and guidance regarding predatory publishing for both scholars and students. The first section of this article provides seminal information on predatory publishing as well as the related topics of fake science and fake news, which both have also been discussed in this context in the media. The final two sections deal with practical implications. They present reasons why universities should address the problem of predatory publishing and explain the efforts of librarians at the University of Graz to raise awareness for predatory publishing and to provide services to aid in that matter.