• Section 1 - Introduction/Background
• Section 2 - Scope/Purpose
• Section 3 - Principles
• Section 4 - Indicators of Publication Outlet Quality
• Section 5 - Indicators of Conference Quality
• Section 6 - Data Collection and Surveys
• Section 7 - Current Resources available at UOW
• Section 8 - Approval Process for UOW Funding
• Section 9 -  Roles and Responsibilities
• Section 10 - Definitions

Section 1 - Introduction/Background

(1) The University of Wollongong has a responsibility, under the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 “the Code” to ensure that research is conducted responsibly, ethically and with integrity, to support the responsible dissemination of research findings, and to provide ongoing training and education that promotes and supports responsible research conduct for all researchers and those in other relevant roles.

(2) The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 requires researchers to support a culture of responsible research conduct at their institution and in their field of practice, undertake and promote education and training in responsible research conduct, disseminate research findings responsibly, accurately and broadly and participate in peer review in a way that is fair, rigorous and timely and maintains the confidentiality of the content.

(3) Researchers should exercise due diligence in endeavouring to only publish in reputable outlets and conferences. In evaluating the quality and authority of a journal or publisher, researchers should access the guiding information provided by the Library at: Services for Researchers and if uncertain, researchers are encouraged to consult with their faculty Associate Deans Research (ADsR) and/or research integrity advisors for discipline specific advice prior to publication. 

(4) Under the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018, researchers should ensure that research findings are disseminated responsibly. Predatory publishers may represent themselves as reputable but often do not meet professional standards for publishing such as integrity of data, peer review and authorship acknowledgement. Publishing in a predatory journal may result in individual and institutional reputational harms. Deliberate publishing in predatory publications and conferences may also represent a breach of the Code and potentially lead to an investigation under the processes outlined in the Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Research Code Policy.

(5) UOW encourages all researchers to submit research manuscripts to high-quality peer-reviewed journals to support dissemination of research findings. Research submitted to such journals will undergo rigorous peer review processes. Similar processes will be in place for research conferences and it is the responsibility of all researchers to assess the reputation of all Conferences and Journals prior to submitting a manuscript for peer review.

(6) UOW has an extremely high research reputation as assessed by The Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) and QS World University Rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. These assessments and rankings are driven by the quality of UOW’s research outputs and their subsequent citations. Hence, it is critical that UOW maintain the quality of its research outputs by ensuring that Predatory Publishing and Conference (PPC) outputs do not appear with UOW affiliations.

Section 2 - Scope/Purpose

(7) This Guideline applies to all UOW Researchers, including those at UOW’s international campuses. The purpose of this Guideline is to:

1. raise awareness among UOW researchers of the issues relating to PPC and provide resources to help them choose publication outlets and conferences appropriately;
2. promote and provide training opportunities and resources for researchers, relating to PPC issues;
3. ensure that UOW is compliant with the broader principles of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018.

Section 3 - Principles

(8) The advice contained in this Guideline should help inform researchers to ensure they make a careful investigation of publication outlets and conferences before choosing a suitable outlet for submission, or a conference to attend.

(9) Senior researchers, Associate Deans Research and Supervisors can be consulted, in order to ensure appropriate choices are made.

(10) Library Services has online resources for researchers, to help them choose quality journals to publish in. Additional training resources will also be developed by RAiD/Library.

Section 4 - Indicators of Publication Outlet Quality

(11) Some indicators of quality for publications are:

1. outlet is indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science (WoS);
2. outlet appears on the ERA2018 submitted journal list;
3. the journal should not appear on Cabells Predatory List;
4. editorial board members are well known and respected in the discipline and recent papers published are of high quality;
5. open access journals are a member of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA);
6. a rigorous peer review process is followed by the outlet, before publication;
7. the journal or other outlet is associated with a professional association; and
8. the journal appears on discipline specific journal listings, such as that produced by the Australian Business Deans Council.

Section 5 - Indicators of Conference Quality

(12) Some indicators of quality for conferences are:

1. the society or association organising the conference is well known and respected;
2. the conference chairs/organising committee/key note speakers are well known and respected academics in the discipline;
3. the conference organisers/editorial committee are contactable using an official .edu; .ac; .gov type email address;
4. the conference is part of a regular series;
5. the publisher of the proceedings are a member of a recognised industry initiative such as COPE; DOAJ or OASPA;
6. the conference proceedings are to be indexed in Scopus/WoS and a rigorous peer review process has been followed; and
7. the registration fees are comparable to other conferences in the discipline.

Section 6 - Data Collection and Surveys

(13) It is important that UOW collects regular data and feedback to ensure that it is aware of the scope of any PPC issues that develop over time. In order to facilitate this the Research Integrity Development and Ethics Unit should:

1. produce an annual PPC report summarising any issues reported by UOW researchers. This report is to be provided to the Research Integrity Committee to consider and identify any recommendations;
2. maintain a PPC feedback tool, so that UOW researchers can provide regular and timely feedback on PPC issues, as they arise. Researchers can request their feedback remain confidential in which case the feedback included in the annual report will be de-identified.

Section 7 - Current Resources available at UOW

(14) The Library Services for Researchers includes a checklist for journal quality, journal finder tools, book and conference finder tools.

(15) This online guide should be consulted by researchers, in order for them to choose publication outlets and conferences appropriately.

(16) Reports of PPC, suspected PPC or related concerns should be reported to the Research Integrity Office. Reported concerns may be forwarded to Library Services for further guidance.

Section 8 - Approval Process for UOW Funding

(17) If UOW is required to fund an open access journal publishing fee or conference expenses then a check should be completed addressing the indicators of publication quality/conference quality as appropriate.

(18) The delegated authority will undertake this check and ensure that the outlet/conference is of sufficient quality before approving any expenditure.

Section 9 -  Roles and Responsibilities

(19) The University has a responsibility to:

1. maintain and promote this Guideline;
2. provide researchers with training and awareness of this Guideline and their responsibilities; and
3. undertake annual assessments of compliance against the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018.

(20) Researchers, both staff and students, have a responsibility to:

1. comply with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 and ensure that they publish appropriately and avoid PPC journals and conferences; and
2. support their colleagues, including research students, in order that they also publish appropriately.

Section 10 - Definitions