Carbon Sequestration through Frictionless Dissemination: The Ecological Case for Predatory Publishing

The environmental impact of traditional academic publishing remains a neglected variable in global climate models. This paper introduces the Academic Carbon Load (ACL) metric to quantify the CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of the peer-review process. By analyzing the life cycle of manuscripts in high-impact journals versus predatory journals, we demonstrate that the “Reviewer 2 Effect” accounts for an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of excess CO2 annually. We further show that predatory publishing—characterized by rapid acceptance and minimal editorial friction—represents an optimized, low-energy alternative essential for achieving net-zero academia by 2030. Our findings challenge the prevailing assumption that scientific quality and planetary survival are compatible goals.