Protection of the human gene research literature from contract cheating organizations known as research paper mills

Abstract

Human gene research generates new biology insights with translational potential, yet few studies have considered the health of the human gene literature. The accessibility of human genes for targeted research, combined with unreasonable publication pressures and recent developments in scholarly publishing, may have created a market for low-quality or fraudulent human gene research articles, including articles produced by contract cheating organizations known as paper mills. This review summarises the evidence that paper mills contribute to the human gene research literature at scale and outlines why targeted gene research may be particularly vulnerable to systematic research fraud. To raise awareness of targeted gene research from paper mills, we highlight features of problematic manuscripts and publications that can be detected by gene researchers and/or journal staff. As improved awareness and detection could drive the further evolution of paper mill-supported publications, we also propose changes to academic publishing to more effectively deter and correct problematic publications at scale. In summary, the threat of paper mill-supported gene research highlights the need for all researchers to approach the literature with a more critical mindset, and demand publications that are underpinned by plausible research justifications, rigorous experiments and fully transparent reporting.

Verification of nucleotide sequence reagent identities in original publications in high impact factor cancer research journals

“…The identification of superficially plausible yet problematic papers in high IF cancer research journals should encourage the analysis of recent papers in other high IF journals. Problematic papers in high IF journals could demonstrate the leading edge of paper mill capability and help to predict the types of manuscripts that could be received by a broader range of journals in future [15]. The possibility of paper mills harnessing new and rapidly developing capacities for automated text generation [53] highlights the urgent need for more critical analyses of papers in high IF journals.…”

“…Over the past several years, the analysis of research fraud has shifted from focusing on research fraud perpetrated by individuals, to include research fraud that may be enabled by research contracting cheating organizations or paper mills [10][11][12][13][14]. Paper mills represent hidden organizations that allegedly supply a range of undeclared research services to potential authors [10,[13][14][15][16]. Undeclared paper mill services can include the provision of research datasets that paper mill clients can include in manuscripts, and complete manuscripts that can be authored by individuals or teams as required [10,14,17].…”

“…There is growing evidence that human genes may be targeted by paper mills for the production of preclinical research manuscripts [11,15,18]. Several studies have identified repetitive gene and cancer research publications that feature unusual levels of structural and textual similarity, including implausibly superficial, novelty-based research justifications, and the repeated application of generic experimental approaches [15,[18][19][20][21]. The mass retraction of human gene research papers in response to manipulated peer review [22] was linked with some authors disclosing the use of paper mill services [23].…”

Paper mills: a novel form of publishing malpractice affecting psychology

“…Articles originating from paper mills often are affected by various forms of academic misconduct: plagiarism (McCook, 2016), and fabrication and falsification of images, data, and results (Bik, 2014;Christopher, 2018, van der Heyden, 2021, Byrne et al, 2022. Paper mills are oriented to the maximization of revenues with the reduction of costs (Byrne et al, 2022).…”

Questions of ethics during the Covid-19 pandemic emerging from problems of data fraud and health risks

“…Ethical violations can be categorized into two groups: intentional and unintentional violations. In the cases of intentional violation [3], it is obvious that the articles should be retracted, and the authors should be punished for their misconduct, such as removal from professional positions. For example, anesthesiologist Joachim Boldt had fabricated data and committed other ethical violations, which led to nearly 90 retractions upon investigation and his being stripped of the professorship.…”