Will someone be considered dishonest if they do not list papers published in predatory journals? I'd like to know in the following scenarios, when
Does it conflict with the idea that honesty is the most important factor for researchers?
Will someone be treated to be dishonest, when not listing papers published in predatory journals?
I'd prefer not to see predatory journals in someone's publication list, because those aren't scientific journals. Also, the fewer mentions predatory journals get, the better (except, of course, in predatory journal lists).
You mention that "honesty is the best policy", so just keep the honest journals.
"Selected Publications" lists are typically much more selective that weeding out predatory journals, so I don't think it'll help your case, as you seem to aim for an exhaustive publication list. But obviously if you aim to do a shortlist with your best papers, then your shouldn't mention the predatory journals.
For 2 ... I often see personal web pages with "Selected Publications". If that is the label, then it is not dishonest to omit some publications (for whatever reason).
You pose an interesting ethical dilemma.
However, in general, honesty does not imply to provide all information. It would be dishonest to withhold information that puts the other information given in a bad light, along the lines of: "I was never convicted of murder" ("but I was convicted of voluntary manslaughter"). This would be dishonest because most people would assume that manslaughter is murder. But this is not the case here.
If you published in a predatory journal and you made a mistake, there is no reason to advertise this mistake. If you published because a co-author desperately needed a publication, even a bad one, then you do not need to advertise your good deed.
In my (Christian-Catholic) faith tradition, there is a distinction being made between information to which the receiver has a right ("Did you just cut me off in the parking lot?") and to which the receiver has no right ("No, Herr SS-Officer and Herr Gestapo, there are no jews in the attic" is the proverbial example). This avoids choosing the minor infraction of God's law, which is what we do not do. But you do not have to be in the same tradition in order to use this reasoning. The secular world is full of examples where you do not have to reveal something that is going to do harm to you. Scientific integrity is mostly about what you publish in your papers and present at talks.
From a utilitarian perspective, having published in a predatory journal is not relevant to an employer or grant giver, just as having made a mistake on a calculus exam in your first year undergraduate is irrelevant. But including the journal in your list would indicate that you believe it to be a valid publication, which would be contrary to the truth, or it would force you to discuss this in a document that is inappropriate.
So, in good conscience, leave it out.
Whatever the quality of the journal is, do you consider what you published there as good enough that I should read it, with good conscience?
The difference between this publication and one (by you) in a better journal would be: You might have put in more effort to get accepted in the better journal. It will have had a better review process, with you making improvements as a result. Or it might not have been accepted by the better journal at all.
But it is your decision, is the publication good enough for the audience, even if the journal in general isn't? Even if it isn't your best work, because it wasn't of that much importance to you, does it benefit me? That's the question to decide.
I'm sorry but I don't understand the question, as well as some of the answers here. It is dishonest to publish on predatory journals in the first place. Research is supported by funding from the state (tax payers) or private research foundations (donations). Research funds are meant to support rigorous and ethical research, in order to advance human knowledge. Predatory journals are not scientific journals and do not publish research articles. They would publish any piece of garbage you submit to them without any peer review process. I understand that some inexperienced researcher may have accidentally published on a predatory journal without even knowing that the journal was predatory. Honest people learn from their mistakes. However, if someone intentionally and repeatedly publishes on predatory journals using grant funding, the university or the institute they work for will certainly take actions against them. To conclude, if you have published several papers on predatory journals, listing these papers on the CV or university web page does not make you look more honest.
