Hi all,

I found one journal that requires authors to pay a pulication fee for an accepted paper? why is that? Are journals of this type not good as compared with other journals in which the fee is excluded? thx thx

I don't think there's much distinction between those that ask for fees and those that don't. Maybe those with fees pay their staff and the others rely more on volunteers?

Hi Dotdottung

Is the journal operating under an Open Access model? These are free to readers, but can cover publication costs by charging academic authors or their institutions.

There isn't any difference in quality between an Open Access and non Open Access journal; both types should be fully peer reviewed.

It's also possible that the journal simply charges a fee to help cover its running costs. I've never come across this in my experience publishing in (and working for) academic journals, but it's not impossible for a small publication.

If you are unsure about any journal, it's worth checking the lists of predatory journals/publishers here

http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/01/02/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2015/

Personally I would only ever pay money for open access publishing, for a reputable journal, where my funder required it as a condition of the grant. Otherwise you're paying a vanity publisher, and it will do your career no good whatsoever!

I find it disturbing to think how much rubbish is being published in those poor quality journals these days (and only increasing). It wasn't too long ago that the only real avenue for sub-par work was through conference papers. That link that Chickpea provided is superb.

Thanks for your replies!!! the link from Chickpea is very useful! : ) Thanks again!

I've never heard of this! It's so wrong! It's bad enough that we don't even get paid for publishing!
Can your university reimburse for the fees? It shouldn't really come out of your own pocket

Generally your supervisor pays, and publication fees are often written into grants.