One of the largest challenges to research integrity continues to be paper mills, the fraudulent organizations you may have heard of that sell authorship and attempt to manipulate the publication process for profit. However, even this definition of a paper mill can be misleading – paper mills can be one person, or two, or an entire organization’s worth of people. They change their modes of operation whenever they realize authors, journals or publishers have worked out their previous approach. For these reasons, it can be increasingly difficult to tell when a potential collaborator is linked to a paper mill. Many believe that paper mills target early career researchers and those under pressure to publish to make a name for themselves. Before we delve into whether this is true, and the reasons that people might think so, consider the following question:
In a recent investigation, 77 papers originating from one paper mill were compared to a control group of 77 papers that did not originate from a paper mill (but had been published in the same journal). Which group do you think had a higher number of senior researchers listed as co-authors?
A: The paper mill paper group
B: The control group
C: They were equal
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This investigation was conducted by research integrity officer Svetlana Kleiner, who works in the Springer Nature Research Integrity Group, after working with research-integrity sleuth Anna Abalkina to uncover one of Europe’s largest paper mills. Abalkina and Kleiner traced over 1500 papers to a paper mill they dubbed ‘Tanu.pro’. As part of her investigation, when comparing 77 papers published in Springer Nature journals that originated from Tanu.pro to 77 papers published in the same journals that did not originate from paper mills, Kleiner found that 44% of the authors on the Tanu.pro papers had senior university roles compared to 30% in the control group. This fascinating article highlights that authors at any stage of their research career must be alert to the workings of paper mills, especially as these become increasingly insidious.
Avoiding Paper Mills as an Author
Springer Nature offers a course for researchers, especially designed for those at the start of their career, but also of value to more established authors who are interested in learning more about avoiding paper mills during their publication process. The course, Avoiding Paper Mills as an Author, covers the following:
- What paper mills are and how they operate
- How they can harm your reputation and the scholarly record
- How to identify potential paper mill offers or activity
- Alternatives to using paper mills
Take the course today to protect your hard work from these fraudsters and share it with your network. Please also let us know your thoughts, including any questions or comments!
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