Check indexing at the source, not the website
The single most reliable test. A journal claiming Scopus or Web of Science coverage can be verified directly: search the Scopus source list at elsevier.com, or the Master Journal List at mjl.clarivate.com. If the journal is not there, the claim is false regardless of what logos appear on its homepage.
Be specific about what is claimed. "Indexed in Google Scholar" means almost nothing — Google Scholar crawls broadly and indexes essentially anything that looks like a paper. The same is true of most "directory" listings.
Watch for invented metrics. Names resembling Clarivate's Journal Impact Factor — Universal Impact Factor, Global Impact Factor, Cosmos Impact Factor, and similar — are fabrications with no standing at any recognised index. A journal advertising one is telling you something important about itself.
Verify indexing on the index’s own site. A logo on a journal homepage is a claim, not evidence.
Look at the review process and the timeline
Genuine peer review takes time. A journal promising acceptance within days, or guaranteeing publication, is describing something that is not peer review. Real review means specialists reading a manuscript carefully and often asking for changes.
Check whether the process is described at all. Reputable journals state what kind of review they run, roughly how long it takes, and what the decision categories are. Vagueness here is a signal.
If you have already submitted somewhere and received an acceptance within 48 hours with no substantive comments, treat that as a warning rather than good news.
Examine the editorial board and the contact details
Pick three or four board members and check them. Do they exist, do they work where the journal says, and does their own institutional page mention the editorial role? Predatory journals frequently list academics who never agreed to serve, and some have publicly asked to be removed.
Check the journal's contact details. A generic webmail address rather than an institutional or publisher domain, no physical address, or an address that does not match the claimed country are all signals worth weighing.
Then look at what it publishes. Read two or three recent papers. If they are outside the stated scope, poorly edited, or of a standard you would not want your own work sitting beside, that is your answer — this is the test that most often settles it.
Fees are not the signal people think
Charging an article processing charge does not make a journal predatory. Many entirely legitimate open-access journals charge substantial APCs, and it is a normal part of that publishing model.
What matters is transparency and timing. A reputable journal states its fee clearly before submission. A predatory one often reveals a charge only after acceptance, when the author feels committed — or invoices for services never mentioned upfront.
The other signal is solicitation. Unsolicited flattering emails inviting you to submit to a journal outside your field, or to join an editorial board you have never heard of, are the most reliable single indicator in day-to-day practice.