Fraudulent scientific publications threaten the trust needed for science to function properly - Blog

Numerous recent scientific and journalistic investigations demonstrate that systematic scientific fraud is a growing threat to the scientific enterprise. In large measure this has been attributed to organizations known as research paper mills. We uncover footprints of activities connected to scientific fraud that extend beyond the production of fake papers to brokerage roles in a widespread network of editors and authors who cooperate to achieve the publication of scientific papers that escape traditional peer-review standards. Our analysis reveals insights into how such organizations are structured and how they operate.

SPECIALIZED COVERAGE

Nature: Exclusive: retraction-prone editors identified at mega-journal PLoS ONE

Science: Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds

Insider Higher Education: The Growing Problem of Scientific Research Fraud

Times Higher Education: ‘Sophisticated global networks’ undermining science, finds study

ChemistryWorld: Uncovering the fraudsters and their schemes responsible for polluting the scientific literature

Retraction Watch: Fighting coordinated publication fraud is like ‘emptying an overflowing bathtub with a spoon,’ study coauthor says

ZME Science: A Massive Fraud Ring Is Publishing Thousands of Fake Studies and the Problem is Exploding. ‘These Networks Are Essentially Criminal Organizations’

NEWSam.TECH: Astronomy under threat: Could organized scientific fraud affect space research?

MEDIA COVERAGE

The New York Times: Fraudulent Scientific Papers Are Rapidly Increasing, Study Finds

The Wall Street Journal: Scientific Journals Can’t Keep Up With Flood of Fake Papers