‘ Pay to publish’ rampant, science journals use fictive scholar in boards

Dozens of scientific journals appointed a fictive scholar to their editorial boards on the strength of a bogus resume, researchers determined to expose “pay to publish” schemes reported Wednesday.

One journal snared in the sting operation offered the imaginary applicant a 60/ 40 split – 60 percent for the journal – of fees collected from scientists seeking to publish their research.

Universities have famously become “publish or perish” ecosystems, making many academics desperate to get their work into print. Several publications assigned the phantom editor to an unpaid, top- level position.

“It is our pleasure to add your name as our editor- in- chief for this journal, with no responsibilities,” responded one within days.

“Many predatory journals hoping to cash in seem to aggressively and indiscriminately recruit academics to build legitimate- looking editorial boards,” Katarzyna Pisanski, a social scientist at the University of Wroclaw, Poland, wrote in Nature.

In this case, the publishers padding their mastheads failed to notice that their new recruit’s name – Anna O. Szust – translates as “Anna, a fraud” in Polish.

Despite this inside joke, the probe of academic integrity at hundreds of science journals – some reputed, others already on a blacklist – was dead serious.

“Although pranksters have successfully placed fictional characters on editorial boards, no one has examined the issue systematically,” Pisanski noted.

Pisanski and three colleagues concocted the fake application and sent it to 360 peer- reviewed social science publications.

In the peer- review process, journals ask outside experts to assess the methodology and importance of submissions before accepting then.

The journals were drawn equally from three directories: one listing reputable titles available through subscriptions, with a second devoted to “open access” publications.

The third was a blacklist – compiled by University of Colorado librarian Jeffrey Beall – of known or suspected “predatory journals” that make money by extracting fees from authors.