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Caution: Don’t Be Fooled by Predatory Publishers

Editors of Annals of Family Medicine recently became aware of a publisher using a journal name very similar to that of Annals of Family Medicine, which may cause confusion to our community of authors, editors, reviewers, and readers. Please be alert that some publishers (“predatory” or “pseudo” publishers) may misrepresent themselves as scholarly journals, despite not meeting scholarly publishing standards, and may charge authors’ fees to publish.

The real Annals of Family Medicine is a cooperative effort of six family medicine organizations and has been publishing since 2003. Annals of Family Medicine, with its board and staff, supports a learning community of those who generate and use information about health and generalist health care. It has a Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 4.4 (ranked #2 journal in primary health care by JIF) and a Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) of 2.28 (ranked #1 journal in primary health care by JCI). Annals of Family Medicine NEVER charges authors a fee to publish.

Be aware of these common characteristics of “predatory publishers” who may:

  • Approximate the name of a reputable journal by slightly altering it.
  • Publish journals that are not indexed in databases used by reputable publishers (Annals of Family Medicine is indexed in the MEDLINE, Science Citation Index Expanded, Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Embase, and CINAHL databases).
  • Not clearly state publication fees upfront. Annals of Family Medicine does NOT charge fees to publish, so if you are solicited by a publisher charging fees, it may be a red flag.
  • Claim journal metrics that cannot be verified.
  • Promise rapid publication that is far faster than the norms for established journals.
  • Promise to publish all articles submitted.
  • Give questionable, little, or no information about the editorial board and staff and no line of communication with the publisher.
  • Not publish peer review and other editorial policies on the journal website.

Learn more about predatory publishing here:

  • Beall's List of Potential Predatory Journals and Publishers
  • Elmore SA, Weston EH. Predatory journals: what they are and how to avoid them. Toxicol Pathol. 2020 Jun;48(4):607-610. doi: 10.1177/0192623320920209. Epub 2020 Apr 22. PMID: 32319351; PMCID: PMC7237319.
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