Editorial actions taken to reduce publishing references from predatory sources: A case study

• Our policy and implementation successfully identified references from predatory publishers, which authors without hesitation agreed to remove before publication.
• Higher predatory reference patterns emerged among authors in low-income countries, those with non-English primary languages, and sole authorship.
• After a year of implementing our policy, the editors changed our policy and workflow to better handle references from predatory publishers cited in literature reviews and meta-analyses.
• Editorial responsibility is discussed, particularly concerning support for authors from lower- and middle-income countries.