Predatory Scholarly Publishing: A Question of Trust or Fraud

Around the world, Institutions of Higher Learning receive funding based on decisions made through government Research Assessment Exercises. Experts assess the quality of universities by assessing each department in every Institution of Higher Learning. Each article published or book written is reviewed by a group of experts, and will receive quality rating from the highest standard of excellence to a national standard of excellence. The highest worldclass standard is given to research published in high-end journals. The quality of articles is decided through the journals in which they are published. This is considered fair practice if the articles have undergone blind reviews. The ISI Web of Science database uses ‘impact factors’ to judge the standard of journals. This paper attempts to share with young academicians the real situation in the world of academic publishing concerning the standard of journals and the articles they contain.