Predatory authors

A preliminary proposal of qualitative indicators for the management of good practices in scientific journals

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/atoz.v15.99036

Keywords:

Predatory authorship, ; Qualitative indicators, Scientific productivism, Management of scientific journals, Ethics, Integrity in Science

Abstract

Introduction: In recent decades, integrity in academic publishing has been questioned by unethical practices, such as plagiarism and data manipulation, often motivated by scientific productivism. This has led to the need to analyze the presence of ethical elements and rules of good scientific practice in the editorial policy of scientific journals, especially with regard to so-called predatory journals. However, another phenomenon emerges, equally worrying and related to predatory journals, although more difficult to detect predatory authors. Consequently, this work aims to outline the characteristic practices of predatory authors in scientific publication and to elaborate a preliminary proposal of qualitative indicators for their identification. Method: The study uses a critical review of the literature,, based on Web of Science and Google Scholar, and combining the following expressions: “predatory authorship”, “predatory journals”, “predatory publishing”, “ethics” and “research integrity”, between 2013 and 2024, resulting in a corpus of 36 articles, which were analyzed thematically. Results: As a result, a table of qualitative indicators of predatory authorship was prepared from elements related to Academic Productivism, Inappropriate Authorships for Strategic Purposes, Citation Manipulation, Manipulation of Academic Reputation, Misuse of AI, and Motivations for Authorship Practices predatory, as well as the specifying elements and examples of situations that characterize it.  Conclusions: It is concluded that this model contributes to the quality management of scientific journals and the maintenance of trust in science and in the academic community.

Author Biographies

Maria Cristina Piumbato Innocentini Hayashi, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar)

Universidade Federal de São Carlos. 

José Augusto Chaves Guimarães, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho - Marilia

Bacharel em Biblioteconomia pela Unesp. Bacharel em Direito pela Univem. Mestre em Ciência da Comunicação pela USP. Doutor em Ciência da Informação pela USP. Estágio Pós-Doutoral na Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Professor Titular Aposentado do Departamento de Ciência da Informação da Unesp. Professor Permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Infomração da Unesp. Professor Colaborador do Program de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Informação da UFF. Bolsista de Produtividade em Pesquisa do CNPq

Laura Maria Rego-Piva, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho - Marilia

Doutora e Mestra em Ciência da Informação pelo PPGCI - UNESP/Marília - SP
Bacharela em Biblioteconomia e Arquivologia pela UNESP/Marília - SP Bolsista de Apoio Técnico - A1 (CNPq) Pesquisadora e vice Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa FAPOI (CNPq)

Amanda Maria dos Santos Silva, Universidade Federal de São Carlos - UFSCar

Doutoranda em Educação pela Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Mestra em Educação Brasileira pela Universidade Federal do Ceará (2014). Especialista em Docência do Ensino Superior pela Faculdade Única (2020). Graduada em Licenciatura Plena em História pela Universidade Estadual do Piauí (2012). Graduada em Bacharelado em Turismo pela Universidade Federal do Piauí (2012).

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Published

2026-07-16

How to Cite

Piumbato Innocentini Hayashi, M. C., Chaves Guimarães, J. A., Rego-Piva, L. M., & Silva, A. M. dos S. (2026). Predatory authors: A preliminary proposal of qualitative indicators for the management of good practices in scientific journals . AtoZ: Novas práticas Em informação E Conhecimento, 15, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5380/atoz.v15.99036

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Papers