Ethics Clinic: Paper Mills and Predatory Publishers

MODERATORS: Alexandra Kahler KGL Editorial Jennifer Mahar Origin Editorial Danny Lambert Scholarly Publishing Professional, Washington, DC SPEAKERS: Renee Hoch PLOS Patrick Franzen SPIE Council Member for the Committee on Publication Ethics Chirag “Jay” Patel Cactus Communications REPORTER: Danny Lambert Sponsored by the CSE Editorial Policy Committee, the Ethics Clinic kicked off the second day of the 2024 CSE Annual Meeting. As in years past, real-life cases were shared by speakers for group discussion at each table, followed by sharing and further discussion with the panel. The primary lessons from the Ethics Clinic include the following: Rigid approaches may struggle to keep pace with the changing tactics of fraudsters. If you encounter serious fraud in published material, be proactive in addressing the issues. Editors sometimes have well-founded suspicions of fraud that may fall short of conclusive evidence. In these situations, Editors should carefully consider the burden of evidence (including circumstantial) and the potential negative consequences of being right about their suspicions and not acting. Editors need the authority to act decisively. Journals should research potential authorship and peer review concerns as part of a paper mill investigation. When questioning authors about suspected issues, avoid revealing details about the concerns and/or your detection methods that may compromise the larger investigation or may be used to evade journal processes. Stringent guidelines and policies may help to address integrity issues and discourage the submission of fraudulent content. If your investigation reveals a connected web of problematic articles, address them at the series level rather […]