Established in 1978 by management professor David Cabell, it originally maintained only a directory of verified business academic journals.

[3] In June 2020, Cabells changed the name of its whitelist and blacklist to Journalytics and Predatory Reports, respectively.

[5] On June 15, 2017, Cabells launched its own database of academic journals it considers predatory.

[7][8] With regard to Journalytics, Manhattan College librarian William H. Walters noted that "Cabell’s maintains minimum standards for inclusion but is not comprehensive in its coverage of good journals.

Users should realize that while Cabell’s prohibits journals that their staff deems predatory, publications of low quality will not necessarily be excluded.