  Countries and authors in the academic periphery occasionally have been
criticized for contributing to the expansion of questionable publishing because
they share a major fraction of papers in questionable journals. On the other
side, topics preferred by mainstream journals sometimes necessitate large-scale
investigation, which is impossible for developing countries. Thus, local
journals, commonly low-impacted, are essential to sustain the regional academia
for such countries. In this study, we perform an in-depth analysis of the
distribution of questionable publications and journals with their interplay
with countries quantifying the influence of questionable publications regarding
academia's inequality. We find that low-impact journals play a vital role in
the regional academic environment, whereas questionable journals with
equivalent impact publish papers from all over the world, both geographically
and academically. The business model of questionable journals differs from that
of regional journals, and may thus be detrimental to the broader academic
community.
