‘Sophisticated global networks’ are gaming journals. A new study warns the fraud is outpacing real science — and Thailand is already feeling the effects
A major new analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that “sophisticated global networks” are systematically undermining academic publishing by pushing fraudulent papers into journals at industrial scale — and doing so faster than science can contain them. The researchers find that suspected “paper mill” submissions are doubling every 18 months, far outpacing the overall growth of legitimate research, which doubles roughly every 15 years. The authors warn that without urgent reforms, parts of the scientific literature risk becoming “completely poisoned,” a scenario with direct implications for Thai universities and national research priorities. The study’s key findings and expert warnings were first reported by Times Higher Education, which underscores that existing systems to combat misconduct are struggling to keep up with an increasingly organized underground industry of fake science built on collusion, image manipulation and “journal hopping” to evade detection (Times Higher Education).