The effect of current academic performance assessment systems on the publication preferences of academics who have published in predatory journals

Scientific academic journals provide services within certain standards (such as comprehensive editorial review or peer-review) to deliver the outputs in the scholarly communication process to their readers. However, it is known that some journals, referred to as predatory, disregard these processes. At this point, it is important to understand the reasons that drive academics to publish in predatory journals. This study aims to reveal the influence of existing academic performance evaluation systems (such as incentive/tenure systems, associate professorship system, or promotions) on the publication preferences of Turkey-addressed academics with publications in predatory journals. Accordingly, the fundamental hypothesis is determined as "The academic performance evaluation systems in Turkey have an impact on predatory journal preferences". To test this hypothesis, 398 authors who published with a Turkish affiliation and were accessible in the YÖK Academic system were identified from the data used in Kulczycki et al.'s study (2021). The study revealed that publications in predatory journals have an impact on promotions to associate professorship and professorship positions. The fact that academics become associate professors within the first year after their publications in predatory journals suggests that these publications are made not for scientific advancement but to become an associate professor. This is evidenced by the fact that 96% of these publications are accessible through the Higher Education Council of Turkey (YÖK) Academic system, indicating that these publications are used in academic promotion or incentive files. Academics, policymakers, and administrators have important responsibilities to raise awareness among themselves regarding predatory publishing and academic performance evaluation systems, and to emphasize the importance of quality in scientific publications. When these responsibilities are fulfilled and everyone is aware of their roles, a permanent solution to the problem of predatory journals will be found, and it will be understood that quality is prioritized in academic performances.