There is no single, straightforward method of identifying a predatory conference. The information on this guide is meant to serve as a helpful reference for researchers or librarians attempting to identify a suspicious conference. It is not meant to serve as legal advice. The final decision on whether to attend or submit papers to a conference is the responsibility of the researcher.

A predatory conference, also known as a fraudulent conference, generally refers to a conference that is low in quality, is hosted solely for the sake of profit, and has nonexistent or insufficient peer review of conference materials. Predatory conferences typically lie about their editorial boards, committee members, and presenters in order to trick people into attending.

Image by Linda Saayman from Pixabay

Though every predatory conference is different, many predatory conferences tend to share at least a few of the following characteristics. Note that there is no single, straightforward way to identify a predatory conference. Because of this, it's important to consider multiple characteristics when evaluating a conference.

Email: Emails sent by predatory conferences tend to:

• Have spelling and grammatical errors
• Use language that targets authors (i.e. flattery)
• Use imprecise greetings (e.g. "Dear Dr. or Professor")
• Oversell the conference location (e.g. providing tourist information)
• Boast a global or international outreach
• Solicit speakers/chairs while still charging them for attendance

Website Integrity: Websites of predatory conferences may have

• Grammatical and spelling errors
• Content that is unclear or poorly organized

Editorial Committee: Editorial committee members may

• Be fake, unknown, or information about them may be missing on the conference's website
• Have backgrounds that do not align with the scope of the conference

Helpful Tip:When verifying information about editors, do not use the links provided by the conference website. Instead, look up the editors on their institutions' websites (e.g. you can Google "John Doe UW Madison" and see if they appear in the institution's directory).

Policies: The conference may have missing or unclear policies relating to:

• Editorial control of content
• Peer review

Conference Content: The conference may have

• A name that mimics the name of a reputed conference
• An exceedingly wide and/or nonsensical scope
• No theme
• Fake or nonexistent speakers

History: Predatory conferences may have

• No record of past conferences
• Past conference proceedings/publications that are inaccessible

Transparency: Predatory conferences may have unclear or be missing information on:

• Venue
• Fees
• Timeline
• Agenda
• How proceedings will be published after the conference

Organizer Information: Organizers of predatory conferences may

• Be from societies or associations unknown to the scholarly community
• Have patrons from business companies
• Have missing sponsor information

The following checklists can help you to identify a suspicious journal or conference. The unabridged checklist will be more extensive, while the abridged will just go over the general characteristics to out look for when evaluating a journal.

Click the links below to access/download the checklists.

• Unabridged Checklist
• Abridged Checklist