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This is The Wikipedia CiteWatch, a bot-compiled listing of potentially cargo cult, conspiracist, denialist, fake, junk, not even wrong, obsolete, predatory, pseudoscientific, quack, or otherwise unreliable publications cited by Wikipedia through the |journal= and |doi= parameters of citation templates (see this Signpost article for details). It is based on several lists of unreliable or questionable publications (such as those compiled by Jeffrey Beall, the University Grants Commission, Quackwatch, or Wikipedia editors) and currently reflects the state of Wikipedia as of 1 December 2025. See Q9 in the FAQ for the update schedule.

This list is a starting point to detect unreliable sources which are cited by Wikipedia, but it does not answer whether it is appropriate to cite them. Due to the somewhat arbitrary nature of what exactly constitutes an unreliable source, as well as imperfect matching algorithms, the list may feature publications and publishers which...

  1. are flat-out promoting pseudo/junk scholarship or quackery
  2. are flat-out predatory/vanity venues, with sham peer-review processes
  3. were once-reliable, but have since been acquired by predatory publishers
  4. were once-unreliable, but no longer engage in problematic practices
  5. reflect the sources' good but imperfect judgment of what is unreliable
  6. are problematic in some areas (e.g. pseudoscience), but reliable in others (e.g. news)
  7. are problematic in some other way (e.g. circular references, or deprecated sources)
  8. are problematic but used in an acceptable manner (e.g. primary sources about frauds)
  9. are misclassified because of a spelling variation (red links especially)
  10. are misclassified because of false positives, miscategorization, or flawed bot logic
  11. are reliable, but share names with imposter publications and publishers
  12. are about pseudoscholarship as a topic, rather than being pseudoscholarly themselves

While many, if not most, publications and publishers on this list have some questionable aspects to their publishing practices, these can still be reliable (or be otherwise acceptable) in limited circumstances. The CiteWatch cannot determine the full context in which a source is used, therefore use common sense and judgement before removing a citation from an article (see Q8 in the FAQ). When in doubt, discuss things on the article's talk page or at the reliable sources noticeboard – especially before a mass purge of a source. The Unreliable/Predatory Source Detector user script may also interest you.

Additions and removals from the listing – including false positives – can be discussed at WT:CITEWATCH. False positives can also be directly handled at WP:JCW/EXCLUDE.
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Rank Target/Group Entries (Citations, Articles) Total Citations Distinct Articles ⁠Citations/article⁠


1 MDPI | {{doi|10.1989}} · {{doi|10.20944}} · {{doi|10.32545}} · {{doi|10.3390}} · {{doi|10.35995}}
[Beall's publisher list / update]
MDPI is very much hit-and-miss. MDPI on Beall's original list in 2014, but was removed in 2015. The updated list says "Some of their journals have a very poor peer-review; some are fine." Social Sciences could be multiple other journals. Evaluate on a case by case basis (see Q8 in the FAQ).
All 499 MDPI-related entries
26410 18698 1.412
2 Frontiers Media | {{doi|10.3389}} · {{doi|10.4175}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Very much hit-and-miss. See note on Beall's list. Will accept almost anything (80-90% of submissions), and has sacked editors for being too selective. Many journals have impact factors and are listed on DOAJ, and Frontiers Media remains part of COPE and OASPA. Evaluate on a case by case basis (see Q8 in the FAQ).
All 288 Frontiers Media-related entries
17478 12130 1.441
3 Hijacked journal
[Beall's hijacked list · Beall's hijacked list / update · Beall's journal list · Bohannon's list of hijacked journals]
Hijacked journals are legitimate academic journals with imposters pretending to be the legitimate publication. These citations are likely not problematic, but it is good to check that the real journal is being cited.
All 271 Hijacked journal-related entries
7125 5809 1.227
4 Hindawi (publisher) | {{doi|10.1100}} · {{doi|10.1155}} · {{doi|10.3814}} · {{doi|10.4061}} · {{doi|10.5402}} · {{doi|10.6064}} · {{doi|10.7167}} · {{doi|10.7217}}
[Beall's publisher list*]
Listed on Beall's list in 2010, but later removed as a 'borderline case'. In 2023, Hindawi retracted several thousands of articles from paper mills. Wiley estimates that 10-13% of all Hindawi papers are affected, though this may vary from journal to journal. Evaluate on a case by case basis (see Q8 in the FAQ).
All 599 Hindawi (publisher)-related entries
6573 5659 1.162
5 Medknow Publications | {{doi|10.4103}} · {{doi|10.6219}}
[Beall's publisher list* · Beall's journal list / update]
Listed on Beall's list in 2011, but removed in 2012. Several of its journal are listed on the updated list, however.
All 546 Medknow Publications-related entries
6134 4654 1.318
6 Bentham Science Publishers | {{doi|10.2174}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Bentham Open is listed, although Bentham Science Publishers is not.
All 319 Bentham Science Publishers-related entries
4039 3190 1.266
7 Dove Medical Press | {{doi|10.2147}}
[Beall's journal list / update]
Formerly on Beall's original list as 'Dove Press', but several journals are listed on the updated list.
All 163 Dove Medical Press-related entries
2586 2121 1.219
8 Alternative medicine
[Unreliable fields]
Some field are more unreliable than others
All 373 Alternative medicine-related entries
2510 1779 1.411
9 Case report
[Unreliable fields]
Case reports may be perfectly fine citations, however they will usually fail WP:MEDRS as individual cases are considered anecdotal evidence.
All 273 Case report-related entries
1982 1625 1.220
10 Parapsychology
[Unreliable fields]
Several skeptical publications setting out to debunk rather than promote nonsensical claims may be included here.
All 75 Parapsychology-related entries
1396 940 1.485
11 Baishideng Publishing Group | {{doi|10.11569}} · {{doi|10.12998}} · {{doi|10.13105}} · {{doi|10.35711}} · {{doi|10.35712}} · {{doi|10.35713}} · {{doi|10.37126}} · {{doi|10.3748}} · {{doi|10.4239}} · {{doi|10.4240}} · {{doi|10.4251}} · {{doi|10.4252}} · {{doi|10.4253}} · {{doi|10.4254}} · {{doi|10.4291}} · {{doi|10.4292}} · {{doi|10.4329}} · {{doi|10.4330}} · {{doi|10.4331}} · {{doi|10.5306}} · {{doi|10.5312}} · {{doi|10.5313}} · {{doi|10.5314}} · {{doi|10.5315}} · {{doi|10.5316}} · {{doi|10.5317}} · {{doi|10.5318}} · {{doi|10.5319}} · {{doi|10.5320}} · {{doi|10.5321}} · {{doi|10.5409}} · {{doi|10.5410}} · {{doi|10.5411}} · {{doi|10.5412}} · {{doi|10.5492}} · {{doi|10.5493}} · {{doi|10.5494}} · {{doi|10.5495}} · {{doi|10.5496}} · {{doi|10.5497}} · {{doi|10.5498}} · {{doi|10.5499}} · {{doi|10.5500}} · {{doi|10.5501}} · {{doi|10.5527}} · {{doi|10.5528}} · {{doi|10.5662}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 52 Baishideng Publishing Group-related entries
1372 1035 1.326
12 Current Science
[Beall's journal list / update] 		1135 956 1.187
13 Pseudo-scholarship
[Unreliable fields]
All 239 Pseudo-scholarship-related entries
1130 933 1.211
14 Tabloid journalism
[Unreliable fields]
All 31 Tabloid journalism-related entries
1065 569 1.872
15 Cureus | {{doi|10.7759}}
[—]
Uses crowd-sourced "post-publication peer-review". 		801 716 1.119
16 ResearchGate | {{doi|10.13140}}
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#ResearchGate.
All 214 ResearchGate-related entries
759 693 1.095
17 AME Publishing Company | {{doi|10.21037}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 72 AME Publishing Company-related entries
755 621 1.216
18 Impact Journals (New York State, USA) | {{doi|10.18632}}
[Beall's publisher list] 		662 541 1.224
19 Conspiracy theory
[Unreliable fields]
All 66 Conspiracy theory-related entries
654 559 1.170
20 Propaganda
[Unreliable fields]
All 178 Propaganda-related entries
651 536 1.215
21 F1000 (publisher) | {{doi|10.12688}} · {{doi|10.12703}} · {{doi|10.3410}} · {{doi|10.4089}} · {{doi|10.7490}}
[See [1]]
All 27 F1000 (publisher)-related entries
539 459 1.174
22 Forbes
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Forbes.com contributors, staff is reliable, contributors are not.
All 12 Forbes-related entries
538 469 1.147
23 Blog hosting services
[WP:SPSLIST]
See WP:BLOGS.
All 202 Blog hosting services-related entries
458 401 1.142
24 Oncotarget
[Beall's journal list] 		458 396 1.157
25 Race and intelligence controversy
[Unreliable fields] 		425 205 2.073
26 Rolling Stone
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Rolling Stone; good for culture news reporting; unreliable for politically/societally sensitive reporting; Culture Council articles unreliable. 		402 369 1.089
27 Frontiers in Bioscience | {{doi|10.2741}}
[Beall's publisher list] 		366 344 1.064
28 Medwell Journals | {{doi|10.3923}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Veterinary Research is most likely the one published by BioMed Central, rather than Medwell. Social Sciences could be multiple other journals.
All 25 Medwell Journals-related entries
324 277 1.170
29 Chiropractic
[Unreliable fields]
All 31 Chiropractic-related entries
314 162 1.938
30 Daily Star (United Kingdom)
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Daily Star. 		286 157 1.822
31 Unpublished
[—]
May simply be in need of being updated to the published version. Otherwise, these probably fail WP:V.
All 155 Unpublished-related entries
264 239 1.105
32 Quadrant (magazine)
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Quadrant. 		251 161 1.559
33 e-Century Publishing Corporation
[Beall's publisher list]
All 20 e-Century Publishing Corporation-related entries
234 221 1.059
34 Canadian Center of Science and Education | {{doi|10.5539}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 32 Canadian Center of Science and Education-related entries
228 215 1.060
35 Superseded theories in science
[Unreliable fields]
All 44 Superseded theories in science-related entries
225 203 1.108
36 Journal of Management
[Lying about DOAJ]
Not the Southern Management Association journal 		220 174 1.264
37 HuffPost
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#HuffPost contributors, staff is debatable, contributors/editorial partners are not reliable.
All 12 HuffPost-related entries
216 205 1.054
38 Science Publishing Group | {{doi|10.11648}}
[Beall's publisher list · Beall's publisher list / update]
Social Sciences could be multiple other journals. Several of SPG journals are named either identically or are very similar to other publications, e.g. International Journal of Data Science and Analysis vs International Journal of Data Science and Analytics and may thus have similar ISO 4 abbreviations. It was founded in 2012, so references prior to 2012 are unlikely to be of this publisher.
All 27 Science Publishing Group-related entries
209 192 1.089
39 Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks
[WP:CIRCULAR / WP:MIRROR]
Many entries are listed for mirroring small excerpts only.
All 26 Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks-related entries
205 193 1.062
40 Medical Hypotheses
[See [2]]
Purposefully not peer-reviewed. 		191 155 1.232
41 Aging (journal)
[Beall's journal list] 		190 150 1.267
42 Psychology Today
[Quackwatch's list] 		159 134 1.187
43 Symbiosis (publisher) | {{doi|10.15226}}
[Beall's publisher list] 		140 127 1.102
44 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
[Quackwatch's list] 		136 112 1.214
45 Marquis Who's Who
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Marquis Who's Who.
All 17 Marquis Who's Who-related entries
127 111 1.144
46 Diva Enterprises | {{doi|10.5958}}
[UGC]
Several of their journal fail UGC criteria. Those that pass are listed here. Those from listed as UGC Group 1 are probably fine. UGC Group II could be fine, depending on the database. Those without UGC recognition are very likely not fine. Those unmentioned are definitely not fine.
All 50 Diva Enterprises-related entries
119 113 1.053
47 Genetics and Molecular Research | {{doi|10.4238}}
[Beall's journal list] 		118 107 1.103
48 International Journal of Nanomedicine
[Beall's journal list / update] 		112 80 1.400
49 Munis Entomology & Zoology
[Beall's journal list] 		109 96 1.135
50 OMICS Publishing Group | {{doi|10.11131}} · {{doi|10.12715}} · {{doi|10.14303}} · {{doi|10.15412}} · {{doi|10.21767}} · {{doi|10.24105}} · {{doi|10.3371}} · {{doi|10.36648}} · {{doi|10.37532}} · {{doi|10.4066}} · {{doi|10.4172}} · {{doi|10.47128}} · {{doi|10.54931}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Vegetos is published by Springer Nature since 2019.
All 31 OMICS Publishing Group-related entries
102 94 1.085
51 American Scientific Publishers | {{doi|10.1166}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 22 American Scientific Publishers-related entries
101 89 1.135
52 Spectrum (magazine)
[Quackwatch's list] 		98 84 1.167
53 Project Innovation
[Beall's publisher list]
These journals were acquired by Project Innovations at some point, but were well-established before that. Project Innovations also switched owners at several points, the most recent being 2004. Unclear when problems with publisher started. 		96 90 1.067
54 Creationism
[Unreliable fields]
All 22 Creationism-related entries
91 62 1.468
55 Daily Express
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Daily Express. 		81 74 1.095
56 Pharmacognosy Reviews
[Beall's journal list / update] 		66 61 1.082
57 Pulsus Group | {{doi|10.19144}} · {{doi|10.21282}} · {{doi|10.4066}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Purchased by OMICS Publishing Group in 2016. The Journal of Agriculture is likely an older, non-Pulsus journal.
All 19 Pulsus Group-related entries
64 63 1.016
58 Anti-vaccine movement
[Unreliable fields]
See also WP:JCW/PATTERNS#CAM.
All 12 Anti-vaccine movement-related entries
63 52 1.212
59 IGI Global | {{doi|10.4018}}
[[3] · [4]]
IGI Global is mostly criticized for it's book-publishing practices. Criticism is mostly silent on its journals, several of which have impact factors.
All 43 IGI Global-related entries
59 58 1.017
60 Alchemy
[Unreliable fields]
All 21 Alchemy-related entries
57 54 1.056
61 Alternative Medicine Review
[Quackwatch's list] 		57 52 1.096
62 African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines
[Beall's journal list] 		56 54 1.037
63 Astrology
[Unreliable fields]
All 21 Astrology-related entries
56 38 1.474
64 Nucleus
[Lying about DOAJ]
Make sure it's ISSN 1982-2278, there are many other publications with the same/similar name. 		55 49 1.122
65 Scientific Research Publishing | {{doi|10.4236}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Chinese Medicine likely refers to the BioMed Central journal. Comput. Chem. likely refers to Computer & Chemistry.
All 11 Scientific Research Publishing-related entries
53 49 1.082
66 International Journal of Computer Applications
[Lying about DOAJ · Beall's publisher list] 		52 50 1.040
67 Amphibian & Reptile Conservation
[Beall's journal list / update] 		51 49 1.041
68 Homeopathy
[Unreliable fields]
All 8 Homeopathy-related entries
49 27 1.815
69 National Association of Scholars | {{doi|10.51845}}
[Beall's publisher list] 		48 45 1.067
70 Research Square | {{doi|10.21203}}
[—]
Preprint service 		43 43 1.000
71 Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine
[Quackwatch's list] 		42 28 1.500
72 Genes & Cancer
[Beall's journal list] 		41 35 1.171
73 Science Publications | {{doi|10.3844}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 12 Science Publications-related entries
39 39 1.000
74 HIV/AIDS denialism
[Unreliable fields]
All 8 HIV/AIDS denialism-related entries
39 28 1.393
75 International Institute for Science, Technology and Education | {{doi|10.7176}}
[Beall's publisher list]
Search for iiste.org 		38 31 1.226
76 Journal of Physical Therapy Science
[Beall's journal list] 		38 29 1.310
77 Genocide denial
[Unreliable fields]
All 10 Genocide denial-related entries
38 17 2.235
78 African Research Review
[Beall's publisher list] 		37 34 1.088
79 Jaypee Journals | {{doi|10.5005}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 13 Jaypee Journals-related entries
36 34 1.059
80 Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies
[Beall's journal list] 		36 33 1.091
81 CESNUR
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#CESNUR. 		36 26 1.385
82 Bioinformation | {{doi|10.6026}}
[Beall's journal list] 		35 33 1.061
83 Vegetarian Times
[Quackwatch's list] 		35 32 1.094
84 Bridges (magazine)
[Quackwatch's list] 		35 28 1.250
85 Journal of Psychology and Theology
[Beall's journal list] 		34 29 1.172
86 Journal of Environmental Biology
[Beall's journal list] 		33 32 1.031
87 Authorea | {{doi|10.15200}} · {{doi|10.22541}}
[—]
Preprints 		32 27 1.185
88 Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons
[Beall's journal list · Quackwatch's list] 		32 23 1.391
89 Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences
[Beall's journal list] 		31 31 1.000
90 Medium (website)
[WP:RSP § Generally unreliable]
See WP:RSP#Medium. 		29 28 1.036
91 International Journal of Mathematics
[Lying about DOAJ]
Refers to the IAEME journal, not the World Scientific one 		29 25 1.160
92 Allied Academies | {{doi|10.35841}}
[Beall's publisher list]
All 16 Allied Academies-related entries
28 28 1.000
93 IJPUB - International Peer Reviewed, Open Access Journal
[Beall's journal list / update · Lying about DOAJ] 		28 28 1.000
94 Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science
[Beall's journal list] 		28 28 1.000
95 North American Journal of Medical Sciences | {{doi|10.4297}}
[Beall's journal list / update] 		28 26 1.077
96 Serials Publications
[Beall's publisher list]
Man in India dates from well before Serials Publications came about. Date of acquisition unclear. 		28 26 1.077
97 Alternative & Complementary Therapies
[Quackwatch's list] 		27 27 1.000
98 International Journal of Science and Research | {{doi|10.21275}}
[Beall's journal list] 		27 26 1.038
99 Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry
[Beall's journal list] 		27 26 1.038
100 Wikipedia:Deprecated sources
[WP:DEPS § Currently deprecated sources]
All 10 Wikipedia:Deprecated sources-related entries
27 26 1.038
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