Are you getting emails inviting you to submit a manuscript to a journal or an abstract to a conference? Beware. Often, these emails are from predatory publishers. These journals are not reputable: they have poor, if any, peer review; they are not indexed in MEDLINE or the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), preventing others from finding your article in a search; and they have other questionable practices. These emails may indicate that the journal will publish your paper in a few days or a week, and they may, but articles in these journals are of poor quality. What should you look for in an email to identify a predatory publisher? Check the salutation: is it correct and appropriate? For example, if the email starts with "Greetings to the most eminent nurse educator," delete it. Look for spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors, and unusual phrases. Check whether the journal is in the Directory of Nursing Journals at https://nursingeditors.com/journals-directory/ (journals are reviewed before included in this Directory). If the journal is indexed in MEDLINE or CINAHL, it is not a predatory journal so you can look there. Before you submit an abstract to a conference, review the conference information and sponsor. Ask others about it. If unsure, do not submit.

By Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Editor, Nurse Educator, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina (mailto:[email protected]).