How to spot a dodgy conference? Focus on three main aspects:

Organisers and sponsors

• Do you know the society or association that organises the conference?
• Is it easy to identify the conference venue?
• Is this the first iteration of the conference?
• Have you or your colleagues attended this conference in previous years?
• Is the conference fee clear and will the conference fee be waived if you attend the conference as a speaker?
• Is there a sponsor involved in the conference?
• Do you know the sponsors – especially those in fields like engineering and biomedical research?
• Have you checked the conference website? Is all the conference information in order? (amount of conference fees, deadline for submission of papers, conference date, programme committee, organising team, programme, venue, etc.)
• Have you seen and read the conference proceedings of this conference before?

Programme and programme committee

• Does the conference have a clear programme and timetable?
• Does the focus of the conference coincide with the basic interest of your field?
• Are you familiar with the keynote speakers?
• Are the members of the programme committee listed on the conference website?
• Are you familiar with the members of the programme committee?
• Are the rules for editorial control of presentations clear and is the type of review process known?

Conference papers

• Is it clear where the conference papers will be published?
• Do the organisers clearly indicate in which databases the conference proceedings will be indexed?
• Is the publisher of the conference proceedings a member of professional organisations such as COPE, DOAJ, OASPA?