The Dark Corner Of Scholarly Publishing:A Study On The Phenomenon Of Chinese-language Predatory Journals

Is scholarly publishing sacred? Perhaps it is.When we see those black letters on paperback printed in lead and ink,we may feel a sudden sense of reverence.However,there has always been a dark corner of scholarly publishing-predatory journals.In April 2021,a paper on the return of the cooked egg to live published in an obscure academic journal sparked public discussion.Chinese-language predatory journals began to come into the public view.Such academic journals,which lack academic quality and profit by plundering authors’ funds,not only lurk in the corners of academic publishing but also jeopardize academic communication by flowing into public databases.Around this phenomenon,this study reviews the existing related literature and finds that the existing studies mainly focus on English-language predatory journals,lack attention to Chinese-language predatory journals,and suffer from vague concepts and lack of empirical tests.Secondly,this study uses the concept definition method of logic to define a series of concepts such as Chineselanguage predatory journals,low-quality journals,hijacked journals,fraudulent journals,and ‘Shui Kan’ and analyzes the relationships among these concepts,thus establishing a concept system.Then this study examined the differences between Chinese-language predatory journals and non-predatory journals in terms of characteristics using statistical analysis and network survey methods.Furthermore,this study found that Chinese-language predatory journals are different from non-predatory journals in terms of characteristics such as the number of chief editors’ achievements,review time,number of editorial board members,impact factor,journal influence index,number of page charges,degree of disciplined concentration,number of articles published per year,etc.There is no statistically significant difference in journal editors and annual additions.This lays the foundation for a clearer understanding of Chinese-language predatory journals.Finally,this study summarizes the formation mechanism of Chinese-language predatory journals by logical deduction and by combining semi-structured interviews and grounded theory.It was found that external regulation such as external pressure,research rewards,and status discrimination;identified regulation such as plans,academic ambitions,and lack of knowledge;intrinsic regulation such as social expectations and self-efficacy stimulate the transactional behavior of researchers,which leads to the creation of Chinese-language predatory journals.On this basis,this study also proposes solutions to address the issue of Chinese-language predatory journals,including scientific evaluation departments should adjust the reward system of scientific societies.Academic journals should strictly implement a triple-blind or open peer-review.Universities or research institutions should encourage the creation of internal academic journals and include them in the research evaluation system,to weaken the motivation of researchers to publish in Chinese-language predatory journals and reduce the production of Chineselanguage predatory journals.