Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40173335›Full record

ArticlePLoS medicine2025

Predatory journals: What can we do to protect their prey?

Christine Laine, Dianne Babski, Vivienne C Bachelet, Till W Bärnighausen, Christopher Baethge, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Frank Frizelle, Laragh Gollogly, Sabine Kleinert, Elizabeth Loder and 6 more

Abstract readEditorial
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Maximizing the Impact of Your Academic Scholarship: Strategies for Early Career Professionals.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Christine LaineAnnals of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Dianne BabskiUser Services and Collection Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
Vivienne C BacheletMedwave, Santiago, Chile.
Till W BärnighausenPLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, San Francisco, California, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4182-4212
Christopher BaethgeDeutsches Ärzteblatt (German Medical Journal) and Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Cologne, Germany.
Kirsten Bibbins-DomingoJAMA and the JAMA Network, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Frank FrizelleNew Zealand Medical Journal, Auckland, New Zealand.
Laragh GolloglyBulletin of the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Sabine KleinertThe Lancet, London, United Kingdom.
Elizabeth LoderThe BMJ, London, United Kingdom.
João MonteiroNature Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America.
Eric J RubinNew England Journal of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Peush SahniThe National Medical Journal of India, New Delhi, India.
Christina C WeeAnnals of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0439-5746
Jin-Hong YooJournal of Korean Medical Science, Seoul, Korea.
Lilia ZakhamaLa Tunisie Médicale, Tunis, Tunisia.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this Editorial, representatives of the International Committee of Medical Editors discuss the need for multi-stakeholder involvement to recognize and counter the actions of predatory journals.

Indexed as

Editorial PoliciesPeriodicals as TopicPublishingHumans

Identifiers

PMID40173335
PMCPMC11964404

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.