This paper reports on a survey of 198 early career researchers from Spain, which aimed to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards predatory journals. The results revealed that the primary characteristic of predatory journals is their fast acceptance and publication times, while many other features are similar to legitimate journals. The study recommends several actions, including raising awareness and providing mentorship, promoting ethical publishing practices, and allocating resources to early career researchers by academic institutions. The findings highlight the need for better education and support for researchers in identifying and avoiding predatory journals. The study's conclusions have implications for policymakers, academic institutions, and individual researchers seeking to maintain the integrity of scholarly publishing.

This study explores the landscape of predatory journals in education sciences by examining their prevalence, publishers, countries of origin, launch years, malpractices, and internet search metrics, focusing on journals indexed in Cabell's Predatory Reports (n=443). Education science journals make up 2.75% of the total predatory journals listed in the database, primarily scattered across small-scale publishers. The USA, Nigeria, and India emerge as major hubs and results reveal a rapid growth in predatory journals between 2011-2015, followed by slower proliferation. Publication and peer review process violations are the most common malpractices. Internet search metrics indicate increased organic traffic to predatory journal websites from 2017 to 2021 raising concerns about their potential impact on the academic publishing panorama. The findings underscore the need for continued efforts to raise awareness, promote ethical publishing practices, and protect academic integrity in education sciences publications.

Este estudio explora el panorama de las revistas depredadoras en ciencias de la educación examinando su prevalencia, editoriales, países de origen, años de lanzamiento, malas prácticas y métricas de búsqueda en Internet, centrándose en las revistas indexadas en Cabell's Predatory Reports (n=443). Las revistas de ciencias de la educación representan el 2,75% del total de revistas depredadoras incluidas en la base de datos, principalmente distribuidas entre editoriales de pequeña escala. Estados Unidos, Nigeria e India emergen como centros importantes y los resultados revelan un rápido crecimiento de las revistas depredadoras entre 2011 y 2015, seguido de una proliferación más lenta. Las violaciones de los procesos de publicación y revisión por pares son las malas prácticas más comunes. Las métricas de búsqueda en Internet indican un aumento del tráfico orgánico en páginas web de revistas depredadoras entre 2017 y 2021, lo que genera preocupación sobre su impacto potencial en el panorama editorial académico. Los hallazgos subrayan la necesidad de esfuerzos continuos para crear conciencia, promover prácticas editoriales éticas y proteger la integridad académica en las publicaciones de ciencias de la educación.

Este estudo explora o panorama dos periódicos predatórios nas ciências da educação examinando sua prevalência, editores, países de origem, anos de lançamento, práticas ilícitas e métricas de pesquisa na Internet, com foco em periódicos indexados no Cabell's Predatory Reports (n=443). As revistas científicas da educação representam 2,75% do total de revistas predatórias listadas na base de dados, principalmente espalhadas por editoras de pequena escala. Os EUA, a Nigéria e a Índia surgem como grandes centros e os resultados revelam um rápido crescimento de revistas predatórias entre 2011-2015, seguido por uma proliferação mais lenta. As violações do processo de publicação e revisão por pares são as práticas ilícitas mais comuns. As métricas de pesquisa na Internet indicam um aumento do tráfego orgânico para websites de revistas predatórias entre 2017 e 2021, levantando preocupações sobre o seu potencial impacto no panorama da publicação académica. As conclusões sublinham a necessidade de esforços contínuos para aumentar a sensibilização, promover práticas éticas de publicação e proteger a integridade académica nas publicações de ciências da educação.

Text matching tools employed to detect plagiarism are widely used in universities, but their availability may have pushed students to find ways to evade detection. One such method is the use of automatic paraphrasing software, where assignments can be rewritten with little effort required by students. This paper uses the search engine analytics methodology with data from SEMrush and Google Trends to estimate the level of interest in online automatic paraphrasing tools, focusing on the period 2016 to 2020 and the four countries: the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. The results show a concerning trend, with the number of searches for such tools growing during the period, especially during COVID-19, and notable increases observed during the months where assessment periods take place in universities. The method employed in this study opens up a new avenue of analysis to enrich and supplement the existing knowledge in the field of academic integrity research. The data obtained demonstrates that faculty should be alert for student use of automatic paraphrasing tools and that academic integrity interventions need to be in place across the sector to address this problem.