@mcintold.bsky.social's delightful and often alarming blog is found at fosci.substack.com where many more such examples are given.

Have wonderful weekend.

5. A Random Cat

Not to be confused with @arandomcat.bsky.social, this paper is visibly co-authored by the researcher's cat Chester. No our metadata aren't broken, those 7s are the feline walking over the keyboard during the paper's composition. Good kitty.

www.altmetric.com/details/1030...

4. Camille Noûs

With nearly 500 papers to her name, this is an author collective publishing under a pseudonym to protest the individualisation of research while championing collective work. Her paper with the highest attention is this one on microplastics in rivers www.altmetric.com/details/1064...

3. Yibin Lin is real but his co-authors aren't

Normally a purple colour on our attention donut is good news. This one is the various findings of research misconduct however. These papers cite Lin's work, but were written/plagiarised by him behind pseudonyms.

biorxiv.altmetric.com/details/8223...

2. Beatriz Ychussie

This researcher doesn't exist. A total of 7 papers, all retracted, can be found in Dimensions. When the only blogs sharing your work are @forbetterscience.bsky.social and @retractionwatch.com things aren't going well for you.

www.altmetric.com/details/7493...

1. Stronzo Bestiale

Italians know this is not a name given by a parent unless you've REALLY annoyed them. This legit paper's fake author was invented to give the work an international feel after years of the authors getting rejected. Lots of Italian coverage here

www.altmetric.com/details/1382...

THREAD

Impostors

In January 2025 @digital-science.com's own @mcintold.bsky.social published a fascinating run-down of fake authors and impostors over the years. We explore the attention these pretend individuals have received over time. Her Substack is linked at the end. Strong recommend.