Before you submit, check the journal’s publishing signals

Search by journal name or ISSN for an automated integrity-risk profile based on publication growth, geographic authorship concentration, authorship/output patterns, and warning-list checks.

Journal ISSN or Name

Try: 0346-251X (System) 1932-6203 (PLOS ONE) 2050-7526 (J Mater Chem C)

Querying OpenAlex...

Annual Publication Volume

Where recent authors are based (Top 8)

Red shading starts at 40%; below 40%, country rows remain neutral.

Authorship pattern details

Contextual patterns from up to 500 recent records: recurring authors, institutions, and collaboration.

Context ▾

Warning-list & pattern checks

Public warning-list match, retraction records, and an optional check against your own list.

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Optional: check against your own warning list

Disclaimer: This tool provides preliminary screening signals only. It does not replace careful assessment of the journal website, indexing status, editorial board, peer-review policy, and publisher transparency.

Multiple journals found for — select the correct one:

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Enter a journal to begin

Search by ISSN (preferred) or journal name. ISSN gives the most accurate results — you can find it on the journal's website or in any article header.

How to use this tool

Why this tool and how to read the signals

Use this tool as a first-pass due-diligence aid, not as a final judgement on journal quality.

💡 Why this tool?

This tool brings key screening signals into one place before submission: five-year publication growth, geographic concentration, authorship/output patterns, and warning-list checks. It does not make the final decision — it shows what needs closer checking.

🔍 Search by ISSN or name

Enter a journal ISSN for the most precise lookup, or type the journal name. Live suggestions help you select the intended journal early; if you type an exact journal title and click Analyse, the app will go directly to that journal rather than showing a best-match list.

📊 Read the risk-signal level

The profile reports a qualitative integrity-risk level using five levels: Low, Low-moderate, Moderate, Moderate-high, or High. It is based on four automated dimensions: five-year publication growth, geographic concentration, authorship/output patterns, and warning-list checks. The level is a screening signal, not a final verdict.

📈 Check the charts

The Annual Volume chart uses the latest five completed years for growth interpretation. The current year is shown only as year-to-date output and is not projected. The author-geography chart shows a light-red summary only when the top detected country reaches the concentration threshold. Interpret both alongside the journal’s scope and editorial profile.

🌍 Geography: signal, not verdict

High single-country concentration is weighted strongly and is shown as a summary-level signal, not as a red flag on a specific country row. This is not a judgement on the country or its researchers; it is a due-diligence signal about whether the journal’s authorship pattern matches its stated scope, editorial board, publisher location, and regional or society mission.

✅ When to proceed

A low level can be reassuring, but still verify current indexing, editorial board details, peer-review policy, publisher identity, and recent issue patterns before submitting.

⚠️

For reference only. This tool brings together bibliometric signals from OpenAlex and journal-title matches from Beall's List standalone journals. It supports initial due diligence, but it does not definitively classify journals as predatory or legitimate. Signals may reflect benign growth, regional publishing profiles, historical list entries, or data gaps. The screening logic is informed by the COPE / DOAJ / OASPA / WAME transparency principles and the Think. Check. Submit. journal checklist.