Kako se izogniti potvorjeni znanosti?

Purpose: The falsification of research data and ideas is not a new phenomenon in scientific communication, nor is it specifically related to open science, rather to the issue of web resources in general. Access to scientific publications has become even faster, cheaper and more accessible for the user. Unfortunately, misleading publishers, and sometimes the researchers themselves, are becoming increasingly inventive. Cooperation with such entities affects (non)evaluation of publications and creates a broader social problem. Not only are publications questionable but the use or misuse of such untrusted sources is also objectionable. Such practices adversely affect the development of society as a whole. Non-experts portray themselves as experts and refer to unverified, misleading scientific publications to justify their attitudes towards current social issues. In communication, including academic writing, we are witnessing a growing lack of knowledge and inability to think critically and an increasingly aggressive justification of the personal aspect as the only acceptable approach. One consequence is also the growing general mistrust in science and, in extreme cases, even deaths due to incorrect decisions by individuals, based on unverified claims and sources that appear to be scientific. Methodology: We have identified tools, platforms, and procedures that help identify and evaluate these practices, and are helpful to researchers and authors in selecting sources and publications in which to publish their findings. Results: The University of Maribor informs students and employees about this issue at lectures, and we have also prepared some research guides in which we try to raise awareness of the user, encourage them to think critically, and at the same time introduce them to the ways and tools that help them detect misleading practices