Nicholas Wise is a fluid mechanics researcher who is reportedly known as a scientific fraud. science magazine. Then, last June, he was “scouring suspicious Facebook groups when he found something he had never seen before.”
Wise was familiar with offers to buy and sell authorships and reviews on scientific papers, a sign that a paper mill was busy. Taking advantage of the increasing pressure on scientists around the world to collect publications even when they lack the resources to conduct high-quality research, these clandestine intermediaries Some say it publishes tens or even hundreds of thousands of papers every year. Many contain fabricated data. Others are plagiarized or of low quality. In any case, the author pays to have his name included, and the factory can make a handsome profit.
But what Wise saw this time was something new. Rather than targeting potential authors or reviewers, the man, who identified himself as Jack Benn, whose company's Chinese name translates to “Olive Academic,” was targeting journal editors. They offered these gatekeepers large sums of cash in exchange for their papers being published. In a document linked from a Facebook post, Benn told his would-be collaborators, “I'm sure you can make money from us,” along with screenshots showing transfers of up to $20,000 or more. promised. In some cases, the names of the recipients could be revealed through sloppy blurring, as well as the titles of the two papers. More than 50 journal editors had already signed, he wrote. There was also an online his form that interested editors could fill out…
Recognizing this threat, publishers and journals have strengthened research integrity teams and retracted papers, sometimes by the hundreds. They are investing in ways to better detect third-party involvement, including screening tools aimed at flagging fake papers. So deep-pocketed paper mills apparently adopted a new tactic: bribing editors and placing their representatives on editorial boards to secure publication of manuscripts. An investigation conducted by Science and Retraction Watch in collaboration with his Wise and other industry experts found multiple paper mills and more than 30 reputable magazine editors believed to be involved in this type of activity. has been identified. Many were guest editors of special issues, which have been reported in the past to be particularly susceptible to abuse because they are edited separately from the regular magazine. However, there were also regular editors and members of the magazine's editorial committee. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
A spokesperson for a magazine publisher said: science The editor says he receives offers of bribes every week.
Thanks to longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article..