Free tool · Journals
Predatory journal risk checker
Twelve yes-or-no questions that show a journal’s risk signs, with what to check next.
This checker asks you twelve yes-or-no questions about a journal and then shows which signs of a predatory or hijacked journal it has. You also get a risk level and the next things to check. We took the questions from our guide on how to spot a predatory journal and from the Think. Check. Submit. checklist. To confirm that a journal is genuine, you still have to go to the official registers only.
Use it when some invitation comes into your inbox, or when a colleague or an agent suggests journal you have never heard of. Also run it before you pay any publication fee. With the journal’s website and emails open in front of you, it takes about two minutes.
Method
How this tool works
Every “yes” adds points to the score. But the signs don’t all carry the same weight, because some point to a problem much more strongly.
- 3 points: the website address is different from the one in Scopus, the Master Journal List or the ISSN Portal. Hijacked journals work like this, so this one answer alone puts the journal at high risk.
- 2 points each: a promise of acceptance within a fixed number of days, a demand for payment before or along with acceptance, and an “impact factor” that is not from Clarivate.
- 1 point each: the other eight signs, like a flattering email you never asked for, a scope that mixes unrelated fields or a Gmail contact address.
When the score comes to 4 or above, you will see high risk. A score of 2 or 3 gives check further. Three or more “not sure” answers also give the same level, since with so many unknowns there is still checking to do. Anything lower shows few risk indicators, and even then the result points you to the registers to confirm the journal.
Whatever the score, the result sends you to the registers. Our journal checker tests the ISSN and opens the journal’s record in the ISSN Portal, the Web of Science Master Journal List, Scopus Sources and DOAJ. Whether the journal is genuine, those records only decides it, not this tool. Any person can make a professional website for a journal. Putting it in Scopus is in Scopus’s hands only. Start from the register and follow the register’s link to the journal, not the other way round.
Limits
What this tool can’t do
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is there a list of predatory journals?
There is no list you can really trust. Beall’s list was the most famous one, and it was taken down in 2017. The copies still online are out of date. In India, UGC discontinued the UGC-CARE list in 2025 and kept its final version for reference only. What changed is covered in our UGC-CARE guide. A safer way is to check the positive lists like Scopus Sources, the Master Journal List and DOAJ. For impersonators, look in the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker.
I already paid. What now?
Act quickly and tell the journal everything by email. If the paper is not published yet, email the journal to withdraw it and say clearly that you don’t consent to publication. Don’t sign any copyright form, and don’t pay any “withdrawal fee”. Paper already online? Then email them to take it down. Don’t delete their emails, and save invoice and payment receipt. Talk to your bank soon about raising a dispute, and report the impersonation on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Inform your supervisor before you send the work to any other journal. Each step is explained in our predatory journal guide.
Is a journal with fees predatory?
Not necessarily. Many good open access journals charge an article processing charge. Look at how the fee is handled. With a genuine journal you will see the fee amount on their website itself, and they bill you after acceptance only. Our guide to open access and APCs shows what fee is normal.
What is a hijacked journal?
It is a website which copies the title and ISSN of a real journal, many times a journal indexed in Scopus. The editors of the real journal don’t know about this copy site. Your paper “published” on the copy will be missing from the real journal, and from its index also. Since the ISSN is genuine, the fake site passes an ISSN check. The website address of the fake site is what exposes it, and that is the reason question 1 carries the most weight.
Is my answer stored?
The score is calculated inside your browser itself. Your selections, and the journal you were checking, stay with you. Same as every other tool on this site, we only count that the tool was used.
The result says “few risk indicators”. Can I submit?
This result is a first step only. Check the ISSN and then find the journal in Scopus Sources or the Master Journal List. Compare the website address in the register with the website address you have. After that, discuss about it with your supervisor or research cell and confirm whether your university accepts this journal for your PhD.
Keep reading
Related guides and services
How to spot a predatory journal
A checklist to run before you submit anywhere — and what to do if you’ve already submitted.
Journal checker
Test a journal’s ISSN and jump straight to the official records that show whether it is really indexed.
Scopus indexing, explained
How to verify a journal in Scopus Sources step by step — and why coverage dates matter more than logos.
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