Adapting to Predators in the Publishing Biome: Predatory publishers produce low-quality publications at great cost to both authors and the public, acquiring content largely through deception

Abstract

As the recipient of the email above, you might be reasonably confused about what you just read, particularly if you skipped over the footnotes. Did ASM just invite you to publish in its Journal of Bacteriology? If not, is ASM sponsoring some sort of new open access journal to build off of its Journal of Bacteriology? Is there some other connection? Unfortunately, misleading solicitations like this one are becoming increasingly common as a new breed of publisher—affectionately dubbed “predatory publishers”—continues to emerge.