Ha! I've posted a few times about these journals...I think someone here quoted from one of the articles and I pointed out that it was the same journal family that wanted to publish the "Take Me Off Your F***g Mailing List" article mentioned. (Which story I told here as well...the person who submitted it is a friend of one of my work colleagues.)
We know which journals are the online scams and which are legit, but it may be difficult for someone outside the field to know. One way to find out is to get the impact factor, but that's something that could potentially be manipulated. The best way, really, is to go to the journal's website and look up the "Instructions for Authors". Any journal that charges a substantial fee for publication or submission is instantly suspect. Some legitimate journals, like the Journal of Neuroscience, have imposed a $100 fee to cut down on dumb articles, and they may also charge for color figures or open access. Fees of several hundred dollars simply for publication are a red flag.
I'm a bit disturbed by the implication that these online scam journals cast a pall over the entire publication/peer review process. Rest assured that this isn't the case. The review process at the real journals hasn't changed in the slightest.
Back to the article I'm peer reviewing (for free...no one is EVER paid to do this). It's a royal PITA but it's part of the deal.
The Peer Review Problem
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