BMC Med October 2015 PMID 26423063

'Predatory' open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics.

Cenyu Shen, Bo-Christer Björk

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Mentions

125
Peak: 10 in Mar 2024
across 6 sources since Jul 2018

Extended reach

882,093
potential audience

Total likes

18,650

Video views

734,241

Mentions per month

Jul 2018 – Jul 2025

Where it's discussed

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AI synopsis

What people are saying

Discussions express strong interest with phrases like 'most cited paper' and references to specific data points such as the rise from 53,000 to 420,000 articles, emphasizing ongoing concern. The tone combines informational analysis and calls for updated figures, showing moderate engagement and acknowledgment of the publication's relevance for understanding the impact of predatory journals on open access publishing.

AgreementModerate agreement

Most discussions acknowledge the findings about the rise of predatory open access journals, showing general support for the publication's conclusions.

InterestHigh interest

The social discussions reveal high interest, especially with references to regional data, citation histories, and calls for updated research, indicating engagement with ongoing debates.

EngagementModerate engagement

Posts often reference previous studies and analyze data, such as mentions of Shen and Björk's report and specific publication volumes, reflecting moderate to deep engagement.

ImpactModerate impact

Discussions highlight the importance of tracking predatory publishing's market growth, indicating recognition of its significant influence on scholarly communication and the need for continued vigilance.

Abstract in brief

  • The study investigates the rise of predatory open access publishers, which often lack proper peer review and engage in questionable marketing practices, causing negative perceptions of open access publishing.
  • It analyzes data from over 11,000 journals, focusing on publication volumes from 2010 to 2014, showing a rapid increase in articles published by predatory journals, especially since 2012, with a significant regional concentration in Asia and Africa.
  • Authors typically paid around $178 per article, with publication times of 2 to 3 months, and the study highlights how a small number of large publishers initially dominated the market but different-size publishers now hold the largest market share.]

Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://t.co/4r5HayXsYB See more papers here: https://t.co/FnBqXDSgjZ https://t.co/aHg4UZm4PM

Mar 25, 2024 · 18 likes · 8 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Tom Morrell
@temorrell · X

@choldgraf You can make a request directly at the DOI with the citation you want in the header (e.g. curl -LH "Accept:text/x-bibliography; style=apa" https://t.co/l0G39nrK0f) for CrossRef and DataCite DOIs. For Bibtex use "Accept:application/x-bibtex"

Nov 21, 2022 · 18 likes · 150 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

. Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vvQduELWQ? This (in our view, very important) paper was published almost ten years ago. Every time we cite it, we always want a more up to date reference for https://t.co/moMUM7Uowv

Feb 28, 2024 · 15 likes · 9 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

Is predtory publishing getting worse? As far as I am aware the "goto" checkpoint for how many predatory articles are published is Shen and Björk, 2015 (https://t.co/9uUp0egHWR…), which says "Predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in

Apr 11, 2025 · 13 likes · 2 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

Shen and Björk (https://t.co/3vvQduELWQ) said: "Predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in 2010 to an estimated 420,000 articles in 2014, published by around 8,000 active journals" Given that this article was published almost 10 years

Feb 29, 2024 · 4 likes · 18,603 followers View post →
R⓪ss Mounce @rmounce@mastodon.social
@rmounce · X

this is just _one_ publisher. At best, (and when it included all MDPI journals - which was incorrect and they were delisted soon after), the entirety of Beall's List of 'predatory journals' was estimated to have at best an income of $74M collectively https://t.co/vOShdPbEC7

Jan 29, 2021 · 2 likes · 6,192 followers View post →

All mentions

Jecon Dreisbach
@jecondraysbak · X

RT @fake_journals: Is predtory publishing getting worse? As far as I am aware the "goto" checkpoint for how many predatory articles are pu…

Apr 12, 2025 · 2 shares · 4,678 followers View post →
Teresa Hartman
@thartman2u · X

RT @fake_journals: Is predtory publishing getting worse? As far as I am aware the "goto" checkpoint for how many predatory articles are pu…

Apr 11, 2025 · 2 shares · 3,491 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

Is predtory publishing getting worse? As far as I am aware the "goto" checkpoint for how many predatory articles are published is Shen and Björk, 2015 (https://t.co/9uUp0egHWR…), which says "Predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in

Apr 11, 2025 · 13 likes · 2 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Alan G. Hernández-Melgar
@Alan_f9 · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 26, 2024 · 8 shares · 290 followers View post →
Apoyo mutuo en el sector científico
@CienciaxPueblo · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 26, 2024 · 8 shares · 5,514 followers View post →
La Doc du Crenau
@DocCrenau · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 26, 2024 · 8 shares · 446 followers View post →
Margaux Larre-Perez
@larre_perez · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 26, 2024 · 8 shares · 393 followers View post →
Mauricio Monsalve
@maurosaurio_x · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 26, 2024 · 8 shares · 50 followers View post →
Antonio-Campos et al ;)
@aac_phd · X

RT @fake_journals: We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://…

Mar 25, 2024 · 8 shares · 630 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

We recently captured all the papers that look at Beall's List. This is the most cited paper: Access paper here: https://t.co/4r5HayXsYB See more papers here: https://t.co/FnBqXDSgjZ https://t.co/aHg4UZm4PM

Mar 25, 2024 · 18 likes · 8 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Maribel Domínguez
@misabelda · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Mar 6, 2024 · 9 shares · 200 followers View post →
JC (is revising his thesis)
@jtothecurcas · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Mar 6, 2024 · 9 shares · 1,981 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Mar 6, 2024 · 9 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
The Hillingdon Hospitals Library Services
@THHLibrary · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Feb 29, 2024 · 9 shares · 191 followers View post →
Houcemeddine Turki
@Csisc1994 · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Feb 29, 2024 · 9 shares · 1,133 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

Shen and Björk (https://t.co/3vvQduELWQ) said: "Predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in 2010 to an estimated 420,000 articles in 2014, published by around 8,000 active journals" Given that this article was published almost 10 years

Feb 29, 2024 · 4 likes · 18,603 followers View post →
Sami Syrjämäki
@SamiSyrjamaki · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Feb 28, 2024 · 9 shares · 3,032 followers View post →
Brahim Hamadicharef
@BHamadicharef · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Feb 28, 2024 · 9 shares · 551 followers View post →
Sridhar Gutam, PhD, ARS
@SridharGutam · X

RT @fake_journals: . Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vv…

Feb 28, 2024 · 9 shares · 415 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

. Does anybody know of a recent peer reviewed paper that updates the figures given by Shen and Björk in https://t.co/3vvQduELWQ? This (in our view, very important) paper was published almost ten years ago. Every time we cite it, we always want a more up to date reference for https://t.co/moMUM7Uowv

Feb 28, 2024 · 15 likes · 9 shares · 18,603 followers View post →
Tom Morrell
@temorrell · X

@choldgraf You can make a request directly at the DOI with the citation you want in the header (e.g. curl -LH "Accept:text/x-bibliography; style=apa" https://t.co/l0G39nrK0f) for CrossRef and DataCite DOIs. For Bibtex use "Accept:application/x-bibtex"

Nov 21, 2022 · 18 likes · 150 followers View post →
IFIS Publishing
@IFIS_foodinfo · X

‘Predatory’ open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics: https://t.co/FhIepxTkWw Study by Cenyu Shen and Bo-Christer Björk, published in @biomedcentral https://t.co/1EXkztJ3bR

May 24, 2022 · 1 like · 3,347 followers View post →
R⓪ss Mounce @rmounce@mastodon.social
@rmounce · X

this is just _one_ publisher. At best, (and when it included all MDPI journals - which was incorrect and they were delisted soon after), the entirety of Beall's List of 'predatory journals' was estimated to have at best an income of $74M collectively https://t.co/vOShdPbEC7

Jan 29, 2021 · 2 likes · 6,192 followers View post →
Peter Guhl bones0@chaos.social chabis ch
@chabis_ch · X

RT @fake_journals: Between 2010 and 2014, the number of predatory articles that were published rose from 53,000 to 420,000. https://t.co/e1…

Sep 13, 2020 · 1 share · 459 followers View post →
Publishing with Integrity
@fake_journals · X

Between 2010 and 2014, the number of predatory articles that were published rose from 53,000 to 420,000. https://t.co/e1gXueAq0X #OpenAccess #PredatoryPublishing #PredatoryJournals https://t.co/Ckbmpq2ahM

Sep 12, 2020 · 1 share · 18,603 followers View post →
Yonten Dorji
@Yontendorji123 · X

A study about Predatory Journals https://t.co/qlhGTC7oPJ

Jan 10, 2020 · 1 like · 113 followers View post →
Sonia Santana
@Saizpardo · X

‘Predatory’ open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics https://t.co/gNxazj1sHv

Mar 15, 2019 · 1 like · 893 followers View post →
Salem Alghamdi د.سالم الغامدي
@DrSalemAlghamdi · X

RT @EricTopol: The rise of "predatory" open-access pseudo-scientific journals http://t.co/8in66OGMhh @BioMedCentral and @NatureNews http://…

Feb 21, 2019 · 72 shares · 1,649 followers View post →
Jakob-Moritz Eberl
@jamoeberl.bsky.social · Bluesky

Neuer Thread zur #PredatoryJournals #Raubverlag Story: Habe an mehreren Stellen wiss. Publikationen zu diesem Thema angegeben. 1. Da gibt es z.B. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-015-0469-2 zur Verteilung d Verlage & AutorInnen nach Region & Disziplin....

Jul 20, 2018 · 1 share View post →