The following are positive indicators that a journal or publisher is not predatory:
- Scope of the journal is well-defined and clearly stated
- Journal’s primary audience is researchers/practitioners
- Editor, editorial board are recognized experts in the field
- Journal is affiliated with or sponsored by an established scholarly society or academic institution
- Articles are within the scope of the journal and meet the standards of the discipline
- Any fees or charges for publishing in the journal are easily found on the journal web site and clearly explained
- Articles have DOIs
- Journal clearly indicates rights for use and re-use of content at article level (e.g., Creative Commons CC BY license)
- Journal has an ISSN (check the validity of the ISSN using ISSN Portal)
- Publisher is a member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
- Journal is registered in UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory
- Journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal is included in legitimate abstracting or indexing services or databases (such as MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science)