Systematic research fraud has outpaced corrective measures, according to a study on problematic publishing practices and the networks that fuel them. Researchers analyzed metadata from journals and conferences, as well as publicly available data, to identify patterns of paper mills, brokers, and predatory publishers.
The study found that paper mills produce low-quality or fabricated research, sell authorship, and publish without adequate quality control and peer review. The researchers estimated that only 28.7% of suspected paper mill products have been retracted, with some predicting even lower rates in the future.
To combat this systemic fraud, the researchers call for a global change in research incentives. They propose implementing decisions and advocating strongly for those decisions to be adopted by journals, funding agencies, employers, universities, and national labs.
Individuals can play a role in advocating for change, such as pressuring policymakers to end hyper-competition in science and supporting efforts to maintain the ideals of what science should be. The researchers also suggest developing high-throughput approaches to identify problematic articles and using publicly available indicators to understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
Despite publishers’ current efforts, the problem persists. Researchers believe that combating research fraud requires the biggest and most important stakeholders to come together to talk about what needs to be done and implement standards.
Source: https://retractionwatch.com/2025/08/04/fighting-coordinated-publication-fraud-is-like-emptying-an-overflowing-bathtub-with-a-spoon-study-coauthor-says