Pointing out that scientific fraud has now moved beyond individual actions and turned into an organized structure, Üsküdar University Rector’s Advisor Prof. Tayfun Uzbay said: "This has now turned into a large industry involving money and is called ‘paper mills’. Certain publications are produced, and in this way, some people can own far more articles in a very short time than they would normally be able to produce."
Drawing attention to a recent article on this issue, Uzbay stated that the fact that fake publications are most frequently seen in the field of medicine and health sciences poses a major risk to public health. He said: "Unfortunately, such publications are seen more often in medical sciences and health sciences."
Üsküdar University Rector’s Advisor and Head of the Department of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine Prof. Tayfun Uzbay explained that unethical practices in the scientific world have reached alarming levels.
The scientific world has undergone ethical erosion on a global scale for the last 20 years
Stating that the scientific world has experienced serious ethical erosion over the last 20 years, Prof. Uzbay emphasized that this problem has been documented in articles published in internationally prestigious scientific journals. He drew attention to a striking study by meta-scientist Reese Richardson from Northwestern University, which was published in the journal PNAS and later featured by Science.
Regarding the findings of this research, Prof. Uzbay said: "Richardson’s evaluation unfortunately revealed some very striking data. It showed that scientific publishing has started to become a large industry with certain unethical deviations, and that many fake or low-quality publications can now be easily published even in reputable journals. One of the important points identified in their study was the discovery that in respected journals such as PLoS One, editors operated a biased peer review mechanism. What do I mean? Editors focused on the articles of certain authors and facilitated their publication without much scrutiny. The study clearly demonstrates this. As the research deepens, a rather interesting network of relationships emerges. This network includes troubling practices, such as fabricated data being easily turned into normal articles and published, or increasing the number of authors on a study from three or four to eight or nine, with author positions being sold. This is a very impactful study. It has not yet been widely recognized in Türkiye, perhaps because it is still very new."
Fake science is increasingly becoming an industry
Prof. Uzbay noted that science journalist Dr. Kathleen O’Grady from the University of Edinburgh has written another article on this issue: "She analyzes the subject and adds some supplementary data. O’Grady emphasizes that science, particularly fake science, is increasingly becoming an industry, and she underlines this repeatedly. Moreover, she published it in Science, one of the most important journals in the field. This shows us that the issue has attracted intense attention from scientists, prestigious journals, and the global scientific community. Furthermore, it has now started to become a serious problem."
Scientific fraud is now organized
Explaining how this system, known as “paper mills,” works, Prof. Uzbay said: "This has now turned into a large industry involving money and is called ‘paper mills’. Certain publications are produced. In this way, some people can own far more articles in a very short time than they would normally be able to produce. There are even citation networks. They cite each other’s work, and journal editors exchange favors by publishing each other’s articles. These papers are published without undergoing serious scrutiny, or if there are flaws in the papers, these are corrected not through genuine scientific work in laboratories but by fabrication before publication. So, what happens to those who engage in unethical practices? This is the real problem. They are exposed, but most of the time they do not face serious sanctions. In some serious institutions they may lose their positions, but more often they do not receive severe penalties. Even if they are pushed out of academia, this is no longer a deterrent as it once was. Today, we see that such unethical practices are increasingly becoming legitimized. This is one of the key points emphasized in both articles. Publishing through paid intermediaries is now becoming commonplace."
Fake publications pose a risk to public health
Highlighting that fake publications are most common in the fields of medicine and health sciences and pose a major risk to public health, Prof. Uzbay continued: "There is another unfortunate matter. Such publications are unfortunately more common in medical sciences and health sciences. Recently, a great deal of attention has been drawn to topics such as messenger RNA and microRNA. It has been reported that a large number of fake publications have been found in biology laboratories, especially in microRNA studies. In the field of health sciences, even in critical areas like cancer, misleading and fake articles have been published. About seven years ago, in 2017, Nature, one of the top journals in science, published an important article titled ‘Hyperprolific Authors.’ This article was written by the famous Stanford University professor Dr. Ioannidis. It pointed out that some scientists had reached an unbelievably high number of annual publications. For example, there were individuals who published 80 articles in a single year. This means, in simple terms, publishing an article roughly every five days, which is practically impossible. Such productivity could only occur within certain networks and relationships of mutual benefit."
Noting that the foundations of today’s situation were laid during that period, Prof. Uzbay said: "Back then, the issue was mostly about sympathetic channels, meaning scientists in good relations with each other mutually supporting their publications. Today, this has transformed into an industry involving fraud and money, which is the most dangerous aspect of the problem. So, what should be done? It appears that academia, universities, and scientific organizations need to review the systems of recognition and reward in science."
We must encourage and reward quality research
Addressing the situation in Türkiye, Prof. Uzbay concluded: "Here, in most cases, we focus primarily on the number of publications and citations in academic promotions and in the granting of scientific awards. However, when looking at these numbers, we do not conduct a deep evaluation. We do not pay enough attention to the content of the work, the scientific questions it asks, or the problems it focuses on. As a result, we have scientists who can publish in a wide range of unrelated fields, but whose main focus is unclear, yet they have high publication and citation counts. Every year, in lists ranking scientists worldwide according to their H-index, many of our scientists are among the top two percent. Yet, despite this, it should be questioned why Türkiye does not have a production capacity as strong as leading countries in terms of scientific and technological development."
We must review our academic reward and appointment systems
"For this reason, we must review our academic reward and appointment systems," said Uzbay. "Instead of relying on number and score based evaluations, we should prioritize works that the scientist has produced through their own efforts and in which they have been directly involved. We should encourage and reward such quality research. Otherwise, in the near future, trust in science, which was already seriously damaged during the COVID-19 period, will weaken even further. This would mean society will stop trusting science, superstitions will regain strength, and the public will fall under the influence of those who promote such ideas. This would negatively affect both public health and the development of the country."
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)