While it’s no secret that predatory publishers have existed for years, there appears to be a recent trend of scam guest editors infiltrating legitimate scholarly journals and taking over special issues of journals published by large, trusted publishers. Publishers including Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, and Springer Nature have all fallen victim to this new tactic used by scammers. It appears that the scholarly publishing community now has to not only be wary of predatory journals, but predatory editors as well.
The Arabian Journal of Geosciences, published by Springer Nature, has published 412 suspicious articles in recent months. Most of these articles were complete nonsense and included topics unrelated to geosciences including swimming, basketball, “sea-level height and aerobics training”, and “sports-injury insurance along with rainfall” (Bartlett, 2021). The founder and editor-in-chief of Arabian Journal of Geosciences claimed that his email account had been hacked, and that he was “just as perplexed as everyone else about how so many ridiculous papers… made it into the journal” (Bartlett, 2021).
In April 2021, computer science researchers noticed journal articles using strange terms that they called “tortured phrases” (Else, 2021b). The phrases they noticed included terms like “counterfeit consciousness” instead of “artificial intelligence,” and “colossal information” instead of “big data” (Else, 2021b). One Elsevier journal in particular, Microprocessors and Microsystems, seemed to have published 31 of these phrases in a single article!
In both of these cases, the sham papers were discovered by outside entities - not by journal editors, the journal’s editorial boards, or even by the publisher. The Springer Nature articles were discovered by commenters on PubPeer, “a website that allows readers to dissect scientific papers after they’re published” (Bartlett, 2021). The Elsevier papers were discovered by Guillaume Cabanac and a group of computer scientists working on a study (Else, 2021a). Cabanac and his team suspected that the “tortured phrases” resulted from the use of automated translation software or other software that can be used to help disguise plagiarism (Bartlett, 2021). They identified around 500 questionable articles with “critical flaws” that included nonsensical text and plagiarized text and images (Bartlett, 2021).
Springer Nature and Elseiver both launched investigations. Elsevier identified 400 articles in which the “peer review process was compromised” (Marcus, 2021). Elsevier issued a statement explaining that “the integrity and rigor of the peer-review process” had fallen “beneath the high standards expected by Microprocessors and Microsystems” (Marcus, 2021). Elsevier also acknowledged that a “configuration error in the editorial system” resulting from a system migration temporarily prevented appropriate editors from handling papers for approval (Else, 2021b). This issue was resolved soon after being discovered. Elsevier began to re-assess all papers that were published in the special issues in question and has made the appropriate retractions and expressions of concern. In addition, the publisher began to take a deeper look into the “overall processes regarding Special Issues in all subject areas” and introduced “further checks to ensure that all accept decisions are confirmed by an Editor in Chief or editorial board member and to alert staff to irregularities as a Special Issue progresses” (Marcus, 2021).
The Springer Nature investigation exposed “deliberate attempts to subvert the trust-based editorial process and manipulate the publication record” according to a spokesperson for the publisher (Else, 2021a). It’s common for journals to publish special issues of articles focusing on a specific topic. It’s also common for these special issues to be “overseen by guest editors who are experts in the research topic, but are not usually involved in the day-to-day editorial work of the journal” (Else, 2021a). In recent years, it seems that the number of guest editors using these special issues to disseminate low quality research has become more noticable. Ivan Oransky of Retraction Watch stated that “it is not clear whether special-issue scamming is becoming more common or whether it is just becoming more visible. I do think that the journals are waking up to it, actually looking for it and having systems in place” (Else, 2021a).
While it’s alarming that scammers have been able to use special issues of legitimate journals published by well-respected publishers to disseminate low-quality or even pseudo-science articles, it’s encouraging that these publishers are starting to take steps to prevent this from happening in the future. Elsevier now “validates the identities and qualifications of guest editors” in addition to having added the additional measure of having an Editor-in-Chief or editorial board member confirm each paper’s acceptance in an effort to catch irregularities (Else, 2021a). Springer Nature is not only “putting extra checks in place,” but they are “developing artificial-intelligence tools that can identify and prevent attempts to deliberately manipulate the system” (Else, 2021a). Springer Nature also plans to share the evidence they are gathering regarding “how the deceptions are carried out” with other publishers (Else, 2021a).
References:
Bartlett, T. (2021) Why did a peer-reviewed journal publish hundreds of nonsense papers? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 68(4), https://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/why-did-a-peer-reviewed-journal-publish-hundreds-of-nonsense-papers
Else, H. (2021a). Scammers impersonate guest editors to get sham papers published. Nature, 599(7885), 361–361. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03035-y
Else, H. (2021b). “Tortured phrases” give away fabricated research papers. Nature, 596(7872), 328–329. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02134-0
Marcus, A. (2021). Elsevier says “integrity and rigor” of peer review for 400 papers fell “beneath the high standards expected.” Retraction Watch [BLOG]. https://retractionwatch.com/2021/07/12/elsevier-says-integrity-and-rigor-of-peer-review-for-400-papers-fell-beneath-the-high-standards-expected/
