The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA), and the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) recognise the challenges to scientific publishing being posed by predatory journals and their publishers, which employ practices underm - ining the quality, integrity, and reliability of published scientific research. This joint position statement complements several other sets of guidelines that have helped define the charac - teristics of a predatory journal.1-5