The Predator Effect concerns predatory publishing -- it is the first to chart both the rise and impact of deceptive publishing. The author -- a scientific communications expert with 20 years' experience -- looks at how predatory journals had become an accepted part of scholarly publishing, reviewing in turn the history, development and impact of predatory journals. The book also puts their rise in context of wider issues such as Open Access and publication ethics. Other issues it addresses include: defining predatory journals, the history of predatory publishing practices, Beall's List, authors' motivations and the future of predatory publishing practices.