Delphi items to reach consensus as very important or strongly supported
| Delphi items | Round when consensus was reached | n (%) |
| 1. How important is it to develop a consensus definition for predatory journals? | 1 | 31 (94) |
| 2. Characteristics that differentiate predatory and legitimate journals | ||
| 2a. The journal’s operations are deceptive (ie, misleading; not truthful). | 1 | 33 (94) |
| 2b. The journal’s operations are not in keeping with best publication practices (eg, no membership in COPE*). | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 2c. Journal has low transparency regarding its operations. | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 2d. Fake impact factors are promoted by the journal. | 1 | 33 (94) |
| 3. Markers that best differentiate predatory and legitimate journals | ||
| 3a. The journal has no retraction policy. | 3 | 36 (95) |
| 3b. The journal solicits manuscripts through aggressive or persuasive emails. | 1 | 32 (91) |
| 3c. The contact details of the publisher are not easily verifiable. | 1 | 34 (97) |
| 4. Empirically derived data that best differentiate predatory and legitimate journals | ||
| 4a. The journal does not mention a Creative Commons licence. | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 4b. The journal’s home page has a ‘look and feel’ of being unprofessional. | 1 | 30 (86) |
| 4c. Editors and editorial board affiliations with the journal are not verifiable. | 1 | 35 (100) |
| 4d. The journal is not a member of COPE. | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 5. Should public funders fund research about predatory publishing? | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 6. Several groups have developed checklists to help authors identify and avoid predatory publishers. Should a single, coherent checklist be developed to replace existing checklists? | 2 | 25 (83) |
| 7. Is there merit in developing resources or educational materials regarding predatory journals/publishers in languages other than English? | 3 | 26 (87) |
| 8. Should efforts be made to differentiate predatory journals from very low-quality journals? | 1 | 30 (86) |
| 9. Is there merit in developing a ‘one stop shop’ website to consolidate information, training and educational materials about predatory journals? | 1 | 28 (80) |
| 10. Is there merit in establishing a predatory journal research observatory? | 2 | 24 (80) |
*Committee on Publication Ethics