Predatory publishing in the academic landscape: researchers’ awareness and vulnerabilities

Abstract Scientific publishing has become a fundamental component of the academic journey. The imperative to publish has been accompanied by the emergence and expansion of an industry that offers a potentially fateful shortcut, promising open access and extremely rapid responses, the so-called predatory journals. Despite warnings about predatory publishers, many researchers still consider them to meet publication requirements. Given the relevance and timeliness of discussions on predatory publishing practices, this study aimed to assess researchers’ perceptions of this phenomenon using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. To this end, a survey was disseminated to Brazilian graduate programs, obtaining 3,067 responses. The study employed a mixed-methods design, combining Pearson’s Chi-square tests for quantitative associations with textual analysis ( n -grams and BERTopic modeling) for the open-ended responses. Results indicate that publication pressure significantly associates with experience in predatory publishing ( p <0.01). Contrary to expectations, senior researchers showed greater concern regarding publication costs than early-career scholars. Furthermore, federal institutions appeared more vulnerable to predatory practices than state or private institutions. Geographic location did not influence awareness levels, suggesting a homogeneous lack of preparedness across the country. To the best of our knowledge, this is the broadest study ever conducted in this context, contributing to our understanding of this phenomenon. The conclusions provide a basis for developing more effective public policies and for guiding graduate and research programs to inform their participants about their publication choices.