A surge in fraudulent research papers is shutting down scientific journals.
www.theverge.com
- In the past two years, Wiley (217 years old firm !) has retracted more than 11,300 papers and closed four journals.
- millions of dollars in lost revenue.
- some were 'infected' by large-scale research fraud.
- At least two other publishers have retracted hundreds of suspect papers each.
- Several others have pulled smaller clusters of bad papers.
"Although this large-scale fraud represents a small percentage of submissions to journals, it threatens the legitimacy of the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry and the credibility of science as a whole. The discovery of nearly 900 fraudulent papers in 2022 at IOP Publishing, a physical sciences publisher, was a turning point for the nonprofit. "That really crystallized for us, everybody internally, everybody involved with the business," said Kim Eggleton, head of peer review and research integrity at the publisher. "This is a real threat." The sources of the fake science are "paper mills" -- businesses or individuals that, for a price, will list a scientist as an author of a wholly or partially fabricated paper. The mill then submits the work, generally avoiding the most prestigious journals in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published."
A surge in fraudulent research papers is shutting down scientific journals.
Wiley, a publishing company that’s more than 200 years old, is shuttering 19 journals today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Wiley has reportedly had to retract more than 11,300 papers recently “that appeared compromised” as generative AI makes it easier for paper mills to peddle fake research.
www.theverge.com
- In the past two years, Wiley (217 years old firm !) has retracted more than 11,300 papers and closed four journals.
- millions of dollars in lost revenue.
- some were 'infected' by large-scale research fraud.
- At least two other publishers have retracted hundreds of suspect papers each.
- Several others have pulled smaller clusters of bad papers.
"Although this large-scale fraud represents a small percentage of submissions to journals, it threatens the legitimacy of the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry and the credibility of science as a whole. The discovery of nearly 900 fraudulent papers in 2022 at IOP Publishing, a physical sciences publisher, was a turning point for the nonprofit. "That really crystallized for us, everybody internally, everybody involved with the business," said Kim Eggleton, head of peer review and research integrity at the publisher. "This is a real threat." The sources of the fake science are "paper mills" -- businesses or individuals that, for a price, will list a scientist as an author of a wholly or partially fabricated paper. The mill then submits the work, generally avoiding the most prestigious journals in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published."