Predatory Publishing Questionnaire: A Practical Tool for Political Science Researchers

IPSA officially launched The Predatory Publishing Questionnaire, a new online tool to help political science researchers identify potentially predatory journals, during the special session Publishing and Ethics in Research: What’s Up? at the 2025 IPSA World Congress of Political Science, which took place in Seoul in July. This free resource is available on the IPSA website to all users and aims to support scholars at all career stages in publishing their research responsibly and ethically.

Predatory journals have become an increasing concern in academic publishing, often preying on early-career researchers with promises of a quick publication process and deceptive claims of legitimacy. These journals typically lack rigorous peer review processes and ethical publishing standards, posing serious threats to academic integrity. While much of the focus on predatory publishing has centered on the natural sciences, the issue remains underexplored in the social sciences, including political science.

To address this gap, IPSR editors Annika Hinze, Daniel Stockemer, together with former IPSR editor Theresa Reidy, developed a Predation Index, a 10-question self-assessment tool. Their article The Predation Index: A Tool to Discover Predatory Journals, was published on 26 August 2025 in PS: Political Science & Politics (Cambridge University Press) and provides detailed insights into the index.

The Predatory Publishing Questionnaire tool on the IPSA website enables researchers to evaluate journals based on transparent and measurable indicators grouped into three core categories: information regarding editors, staff and their qualifications; business practices; and overall publishing standards. The assessment takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and generates a score from 0 (high quality) to 10 (strong indications of predatory practices).