[Puppy] Paper Mills Overtake Science

Large scale scientific fraud is real. Some publishers report that up to one in seven of their submissions likely originate from “paper mill provenance.” According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the rate of fake papers generated by these operators roughly doubled every 1.5 years between 2016 and 2020.

Artificial intelligence blurs lines in research

Large language models are consuming scientific literature indiscriminately, mixing legitimate and fraudulent papers, which complicates distinguishing genuine science from fakes. This big data approach validates trends that researchers of shoddy papers have suspected for years. 

How big is the problem?

In 2020, 2,905 articles were retracted, while more than 4,500 papers were flagged as suspicious. After retracting more than 11,300 compromised papers, Wiley, a U.S. publisher with 1,600 journals, announced last year that it would shutter 19 publications, some of which showed signs of being overtaken by paper mills.