Economists behaving badly: Publications in predatory journals

Wallace, Frederick and Perri, Timothy (2016): Economists behaving badly: Publications in predatory journals.

Abstract

The extent of publishing in predatory journals in economics is examined in this paper. A simple model of researcher behavior is presented to explore those factors motivating an economist or other academic to publish in predatory journals as defined by Beall (2015). Beall’s lists are then employed to identify predatory journals and publishers included in the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) archives. Once identified, the affiliations of authors publishing in these outlets are determined in order to identify the characteristics of those publishing in such outlets. The geographic dispersion of authorship is widespread. A very small subset of authors is registered on RePEc. Slightly more than forty percent of registered authors who publish in predatory journals in the data set have six or fewer publications, and hence might be considered inexperienced. A surprising number of authors who are in the RePEc top 5% also published in predatory journals in 2015.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Predatory Publications, RePEc
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A10 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I20 - General

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