The Science of Science Corner

Here I 'save' some details of a discussion I started in ResearchGate   https://www.researchgate.net/post/Hard_evidence_for_how_RG_is_abused_by_fake_profiles_Artificial_citation_boosting During the investigation of a profile (in the meantime removed)  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Clementine-Williams  I stumbled on the following advertisement: https://it.fiverr.com/elena__georgiou/increase-google-scholar-citations-by-using-researchgate-and-other-journals See also the following screenshot (in case the website disappears...): and: In other words, RG is used (abused...) to artificially boost citations. So, based selling 'papers' (known as paper mill operations ) some made it into a business model to sell citations (let's call this: citation boosting 'services') see also: all with an overview of the costs of this 'service': She takes some pride in her 'works', if you click (while being on the website) here: then you end up here: see for ano...

Hijacked journal: a sad example of scientific misconduct   Although the first examples of hijacked journals are found round 2012 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_hijacking  ) the phenomenon of hijacked journals is relatively new. It basically boils down to a type of fraud where imposters ‘clone’ a journal(s) (website) and pretends to be the ( open access ) version of a legit and genuine journal.   One of the first websites that listed identified examples of hijacked journals  https://beallslist.net/hijacked-journals/  described the phenomenon as “Sometimes someone will create a counterfeit website that pretends to be the website of a legitimate scholarly journal. The website creators then solicit manuscript submissions for the hijacked version of the journal, pocketing the money. In some cases, the legitimate versions of the journals are only published in print form, and they may not have websites.”   Nowadays there is an excellent source with (yet)...

The website Retraction Watch : a great source! Want to read what happens in the world of scientific publishing ? More specific what goes wrong?   Have a look at the great site Retraction Watch   https://retractionwatch.com   See how researchers and publishers: -Make up plagiarised papers -Buy their way into publications by using paper mill scams - Fabricate data -Make use of identity theft -Etc. I asked ChatGPT about its 'thoughts' about the website "Retraction Watch", this is what I received back: Retraction Watch is a valuable resource for tracking retractions of scientific papers and highlighting issues in academic publishing . It plays an important role in promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in research by documenting instances of misconduct, errors, and problematic peer review processes. The website is run by  Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus , and it's widely respected in the scientific community, though it sometimes sparks controversy when it...