I was delighted to learn that Elisabeth Bik (@elisabethbik.bsky.social) finds inspiration in my work. Thank you, Elisabeth, for the nomination. I truly appreciate your support!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@sjmelchor.bsky.social writes for @nature.com about how to spot dubious papers, interviewing @elisabethbik.bsky.social, @abalkina.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, myself and and my fellow @cosig.net maintainers @solalpirelli.bsky.social and Yagmur Ozturk!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Awareness of this issue in Germany remains limited (though not among Ombudspersons). This year, I will also be co-organising several workshops in Germany on this topic. More details soon.
Photo by @image-integrity.bsky.social
While we often discuss the scale of the problem, there is still too little conversation about who should investigate and correct the many fraudulent papers already published. We see the increasing share of problematic papers, but there are no effective remedies yet. 2/3
I was delighted to speak at the Symposium der Ombudspersonen für Gute Wissenschaftliche Praxis in Deutschland about the challenges posed by #papermills.
Commercialization of fraud threatens research integrity, undermines the reliability of data,& leads to significant losses of time & resources 1/3
This is a confirmation that citations coming from retracted papers should not count
There is a database of retracted paper (Retraction Watch Database). Databases like Scopus or Web of Science also have a record of retracted papers.
I believe this is a question to pose to databases and publishers.
Hi, I'll have a look. My spreadsheets cover mainly paper mill papers. The one with fake authors is quite small now.
Hi, drop me a PM on Bsk.
This is a new phenomenon and business model exploiting gaps in publishing. The cartel uses fake names to produce AI-written or plagiarised papers. Reference lists contain 100s of paid entries.If papers are retracted, no real authors are punished, and citations still count, even from retracted papers
Flyer: Research Integrity Week, with photos of the speakers and organizers, with a QR code to register (but it leads to a message saying the registration is full).
Schedule (in Pakistan times): Date and TIme Speaker Topic 28 JAN, 10:00AM- th Prof. Dr. Najma 10:35AM Memon th 28 JAN, 10:45AM- 11:25AM th 28 JAN, 12:00PM- 12:35PM th 29 JAN, 9:00AM- 9:35AM Abbas Aziz Dr. Anna Abalkina Dr. Elisabeth Bik Fundamentals of Research Integrity Scientific Misconduct in Material Science Hijacked Journals: Definition and Key Challenges Errors and Misconduct in Biomedical Research Images th 29 JAN, 9:45AM- 10:25AM Dr. Reese Richardson Exploitation of intellectual property systems for the manipulation of academic reputations th 29 JAN, 10:30AM- 11:10AM Dr. Sholto David Identifying Errors and Manipulations in scientific paper with the focus on Images
Excited to be participating in the virtual Research Integrity Week events, by the Researchers Society/Pakistan Economics Frontier, organized by Abbas Aziz, hosted by Dr. Saba Saeed, with @sholtodavid.bsky.social , @abalkina.bsky.social, Najma Memon, and @reeserichardson.bsky.social
Starting in 2h
@Abalkina.bsky.social on eerie new papermill strategy #APE2026: invented papers with fake authors & paid for references for H-index padding. Even on retraction, citations persist. Remedy: 1) prepublication integrity screening; 2) remove H-index from Research assemment @Dorassessment.bsky.social
Thank you!
Happy Advent!🎄
Day 24
Ready for a new puzzle? A case from a paper that was published some days ago
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent24
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
This is the last case of 2025. I hope you enjoyed the calendar as much as I enjoyed preparing it, and I wish you warm seasonal greetings!
Theatre performances in Berlin are very particular - many of them have political vibes, even when it’s classical repertoire. I was at the opera Don Giovanni, and halfway through there was a notice: Don Ottavio’s aria “Il mio tesoro” would be skipped due to cuts in Berlin’s cultural funding.
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 23.
Ready for a new puzzle? Today's puzzle is related to journal's inconsistencies.
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent23
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Interesting! Nevertheless, the paper Is from a paper mill. And I believe, the data are made up. Look at the last numbers of demographic data.
it's not about a puzzle. but thank you for spotting inconsistencies.
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 19.
Ready for a new puzzle? Do you see inconsistencies between two tables?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent19
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 17.
Ready for a new puzzle? Another paper-mill paper. Do you see inconsistencies?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent17
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
The last session of the year. We had a funny Mentimeter: what if Santa had a development agency (the course is related to development and development aid).
It was fun!
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 16.
Ready for a new puzzle? Inconsistency case in a paper-mill paper.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Great! I'm very glad to hear that! Common sense normally helps!
Preparing for the last teaching sessions of the year. I do a funny quiz for my students: If Santa ran a development agency, how would he decide who gets support?
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 15.
Ready for a new puzzle? This is one of my favorite cases of 2025.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 11.
Ready for a new puzzle?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 9.
Ready for a new puzzle?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 8.
Today's puzzle is about figure inconsistencies! Do you spot the problem?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Thanks for alerting me. fixed
