Mark A. Hanson
@hansonmark.bsky.social
New PI interested in #immune #evolution, host #pathogen interactions, and #ScientificPublishing @ University of Exeter, UK. He/him. 🇨🇦
Want to support my scientific publishing work? Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/insectpathogenlab/tip
Want to support my scientific publishing work? Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/insectpathogenlab/tip
January 25, 2026 at 11:54 PM
I try to stay out of politics here, but... wtf are american elected officials doing?
Your president is threatening war with NATO. Impeach him.
"But we have a 4 point lead in the midterms." "He'll support a challenge to my seat."
Impeach him. Now. Wtf. I can't even.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Your president is threatening war with NATO. Impeach him.
"But we have a 4 point lead in the midterms." "He'll support a challenge to my seat."
Impeach him. Now. Wtf. I can't even.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
January 21, 2026 at 5:37 AM
I try to stay out of politics here, but... wtf are american elected officials doing?
Your president is threatening war with NATO. Impeach him.
"But we have a 4 point lead in the midterms." "He'll support a challenge to my seat."
Impeach him. Now. Wtf. I can't even.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Your president is threatening war with NATO. Impeach him.
"But we have a 4 point lead in the midterms." "He'll support a challenge to my seat."
Impeach him. Now. Wtf. I can't even.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Aurora borealis visible even down here in #Cornwall right now! 1st image closer to what's actually visible with naked eye. Second is overexposed and adjusted.
January 19, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Aurora borealis visible even down here in #Cornwall right now! 1st image closer to what's actually visible with naked eye. Second is overexposed and adjusted.
So there ya have it. We hope our data are useful to indexers, and to the public to help corral this widespread academic misconduct.
The cost of inaction is immense. Without it, we will continue to piss hundreds of millions of research funds down the drain.
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
17/17
The cost of inaction is immense. Without it, we will continue to piss hundreds of millions of research funds down the drain.
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
17/17
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
So there ya have it. We hope our data are useful to indexers, and to the public to help corral this widespread academic misconduct.
The cost of inaction is immense. Without it, we will continue to piss hundreds of millions of research funds down the drain.
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
17/17
The cost of inaction is immense. Without it, we will continue to piss hundreds of millions of research funds down the drain.
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
17/17
To help with this effort, the brilliant @paolocrosetto.bsky.social has made an app to explore our data. Sort by publisher or journal. You can even click the bubbles in the plots & it links to the special issue in question 👏
bit.ly/PISSpaper
We also have reams of appendix tables. Have at 'em!
15/n
bit.ly/PISSpaper
We also have reams of appendix tables. Have at 'em!
15/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
To help with this effort, the brilliant @paolocrosetto.bsky.social has made an app to explore our data. Sort by publisher or journal. You can even click the bubbles in the plots & it links to the special issue in question 👏
bit.ly/PISSpaper
We also have reams of appendix tables. Have at 'em!
15/n
bit.ly/PISSpaper
We also have reams of appendix tables. Have at 'em!
15/n
Most journals practice special issues fairly responsibly. But it's the worst offenders that contribute most of the PISS. ~90% of PISS in our data come from just 150/904 journals.
And it's exactly who you think it is. #MDPI #Frontiers
13/n
And it's exactly who you think it is. #MDPI #Frontiers
13/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Most journals practice special issues fairly responsibly. But it's the worst offenders that contribute most of the PISS. ~90% of PISS in our data come from just 150/904 journals.
And it's exactly who you think it is. #MDPI #Frontiers
13/n
And it's exactly who you think it is. #MDPI #Frontiers
13/n
Far from enforcing their policies, publishers *hide* PISS.
We learned most publisher policies ACTIVELY hide PISS by altering article metadata post-hoc.
At a *minimum* #Frontiers, #Elsevier, #MDPI all do it publicly! Yikes. 🤯
Thanks to @deevybee.bsky.social et al. for noting this (see pics).
11/n
We learned most publisher policies ACTIVELY hide PISS by altering article metadata post-hoc.
At a *minimum* #Frontiers, #Elsevier, #MDPI all do it publicly! Yikes. 🤯
Thanks to @deevybee.bsky.social et al. for noting this (see pics).
11/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Far from enforcing their policies, publishers *hide* PISS.
We learned most publisher policies ACTIVELY hide PISS by altering article metadata post-hoc.
At a *minimum* #Frontiers, #Elsevier, #MDPI all do it publicly! Yikes. 🤯
Thanks to @deevybee.bsky.social et al. for noting this (see pics).
11/n
We learned most publisher policies ACTIVELY hide PISS by altering article metadata post-hoc.
At a *minimum* #Frontiers, #Elsevier, #MDPI all do it publicly! Yikes. 🤯
Thanks to @deevybee.bsky.social et al. for noting this (see pics).
11/n
And let's be clear: that's a fair comparison. Indexers treat excess endogeny as misconduct. That's why they're putting hard limits on it.
The processing fees we spend on PISS could be funding hundreds to thousands of multi-year research grants.
This problem sounds niche. It's really not.
9/n
The processing fees we spend on PISS could be funding hundreds to thousands of multi-year research grants.
This problem sounds niche. It's really not.
9/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
And let's be clear: that's a fair comparison. Indexers treat excess endogeny as misconduct. That's why they're putting hard limits on it.
The processing fees we spend on PISS could be funding hundreds to thousands of multi-year research grants.
This problem sounds niche. It's really not.
9/n
The processing fees we spend on PISS could be funding hundreds to thousands of multi-year research grants.
This problem sounds niche. It's really not.
9/n
Most PISS comes from journals where only 20-30% of issues are PISS. But when you publish 100s-1000s of special issues per year... oof.
Analysing just 904 journals, we find ~16-43k excess endogenous articles in PISS issues.
PISS in just these 904 journals rivals #ResearchIntegrity and fraud.
8/n
Analysing just 904 journals, we find ~16-43k excess endogenous articles in PISS issues.
PISS in just these 904 journals rivals #ResearchIntegrity and fraud.
8/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Most PISS comes from journals where only 20-30% of issues are PISS. But when you publish 100s-1000s of special issues per year... oof.
Analysing just 904 journals, we find ~16-43k excess endogenous articles in PISS issues.
PISS in just these 904 journals rivals #ResearchIntegrity and fraud.
8/n
Analysing just 904 journals, we find ~16-43k excess endogenous articles in PISS issues.
PISS in just these 904 journals rivals #ResearchIntegrity and fraud.
8/n
It's not just the extremes. Sure, we found >1300 special issues with >75% of the articles authored by guest editors themselves. But the bulk of PISS, endogeny beyond any existing threshold, comes from systematic mild abuse.
The real danger is how we've normalised mild abuse, not the extremes.
7/n
The real danger is how we've normalised mild abuse, not the extremes.
7/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
It's not just the extremes. Sure, we found >1300 special issues with >75% of the articles authored by guest editors themselves. But the bulk of PISS, endogeny beyond any existing threshold, comes from systematic mild abuse.
The real danger is how we've normalised mild abuse, not the extremes.
7/n
The real danger is how we've normalised mild abuse, not the extremes.
7/n
In fact we actually saw pretty similar rates of PISS across all publishers tested: #MDPI, #Frontiers, #BMC, #Discover, but also the non-profit RSoc. Give authors a chance to guest edit and they'll PISS.
Relative rate: 1 in 7 editors PISS 😬
Still, the real problem is about ABSOLUTE quantity...
6/n
Relative rate: 1 in 7 editors PISS 😬
Still, the real problem is about ABSOLUTE quantity...
6/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
In fact we actually saw pretty similar rates of PISS across all publishers tested: #MDPI, #Frontiers, #BMC, #Discover, but also the non-profit RSoc. Give authors a chance to guest edit and they'll PISS.
Relative rate: 1 in 7 editors PISS 😬
Still, the real problem is about ABSOLUTE quantity...
6/n
Relative rate: 1 in 7 editors PISS 😬
Still, the real problem is about ABSOLUTE quantity...
6/n
First, let's talk journals. Of 904 journals, ~60% hosted at least some PISS. Mean endogeny across all issues has hovered between 12-16% since 2017, peaking in 2021 alongside the explosive growth of special issues we showed in the Strain paper.
But that's just the mean. 🙃
5/n
But that's just the mean. 🙃
5/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
First, let's talk journals. Of 904 journals, ~60% hosted at least some PISS. Mean endogeny across all issues has hovered between 12-16% since 2017, peaking in 2021 alongside the explosive growth of special issues we showed in the Strain paper.
But that's just the mean. 🙃
5/n
But that's just the mean. 🙃
5/n
With data from >100k special issues, we set out to tackle this problem.
Guest editors publishing in their own issues is a form of "endogeny". In this study, we define special issues with extreme endogeny as Published In Support of Self (PISS).
So, how much of this literature is PISS?
4/n
Guest editors publishing in their own issues is a form of "endogeny". In this study, we define special issues with extreme endogeny as Published In Support of Self (PISS).
So, how much of this literature is PISS?
4/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
With data from >100k special issues, we set out to tackle this problem.
Guest editors publishing in their own issues is a form of "endogeny". In this study, we define special issues with extreme endogeny as Published In Support of Self (PISS).
So, how much of this literature is PISS?
4/n
Guest editors publishing in their own issues is a form of "endogeny". In this study, we define special issues with extreme endogeny as Published In Support of Self (PISS).
So, how much of this literature is PISS?
4/n
Systematic self- and ring-citation is established scientific misconduct. Why don't we treat editors publishing in their own special issues the same?
Groups like COPE and DOAJ have now issued guidelines to limit this, but a lack of data has prevented enforcement.
You know what that means...
3/n
Groups like COPE and DOAJ have now issued guidelines to limit this, but a lack of data has prevented enforcement.
You know what that means...
3/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Systematic self- and ring-citation is established scientific misconduct. Why don't we treat editors publishing in their own special issues the same?
Groups like COPE and DOAJ have now issued guidelines to limit this, but a lack of data has prevented enforcement.
You know what that means...
3/n
Groups like COPE and DOAJ have now issued guidelines to limit this, but a lack of data has prevented enforcement.
You know what that means...
3/n
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
Houndukiah, 1st night.
Turns out baking clay is slightly flammable.
Turns out baking clay is slightly flammable.
December 15, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Houndukiah, 1st night.
Turns out baking clay is slightly flammable.
Turns out baking clay is slightly flammable.
TLDR: we found elevated clean injury mortality if we flipped infected flies on this food. But we could rescue it by just flipping them on "fly McDonalds" instead - high sugar, low microbiota Corn.
This confounded our phylogenetic infection experiment, but at least we learned something from it!
3/4
This confounded our phylogenetic infection experiment, but at least we learned something from it!
3/4
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 AM
TLDR: we found elevated clean injury mortality if we flipped infected flies on this food. But we could rescue it by just flipping them on "fly McDonalds" instead - high sugar, low microbiota Corn.
This confounded our phylogenetic infection experiment, but at least we learned something from it!
3/4
This confounded our phylogenetic infection experiment, but at least we learned something from it!
3/4
The recipe rears specialists and generalists alike. Notes:
1. It works for almost every species we've tried.
2. It performs about as well or better for rearing success as other diets across species.
3. It supports a rich microbiota.
4. That rich microbiota might affect infection experiments.
2/4
1. It works for almost every species we've tried.
2. It performs about as well or better for rearing success as other diets across species.
3. It supports a rich microbiota.
4. That rich microbiota might affect infection experiments.
2/4
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 AM
The recipe rears specialists and generalists alike. Notes:
1. It works for almost every species we've tried.
2. It performs about as well or better for rearing success as other diets across species.
3. It supports a rich microbiota.
4. That rich microbiota might affect infection experiments.
2/4
1. It works for almost every species we've tried.
2. It performs about as well or better for rearing success as other diets across species.
3. It supports a rich microbiota.
4. That rich microbiota might affect infection experiments.
2/4
Paper for the #Drosophila community on a food recipe that rears dozens of species. This was a full team effort, with key contributions from UG, MSc, and PhD students! 👩🎓🎉
Plus an #infection observation re: Diet x #Microbiota 🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#EvolBiol #AcademicSky #SymbioSky
1/4
Plus an #infection observation re: Diet x #Microbiota 🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#EvolBiol #AcademicSky #SymbioSky
1/4
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Paper for the #Drosophila community on a food recipe that rears dozens of species. This was a full team effort, with key contributions from UG, MSc, and PhD students! 👩🎓🎉
Plus an #infection observation re: Diet x #Microbiota 🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#EvolBiol #AcademicSky #SymbioSky
1/4
Plus an #infection observation re: Diet x #Microbiota 🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#EvolBiol #AcademicSky #SymbioSky
1/4
Now published as version of record at @elife.bsky.social !
Layers of Immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response. The tools are now deposited in the VDRC (link ⬇️)
elifesciences.org/articles/107...
shop.vbc.ac.at/vdrc_store/d...
#Drosophila #IDsky #SymbioSky #Infection #Immunology
Layers of Immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response. The tools are now deposited in the VDRC (link ⬇️)
elifesciences.org/articles/107...
shop.vbc.ac.at/vdrc_store/d...
#Drosophila #IDsky #SymbioSky #Infection #Immunology
November 28, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Now published as version of record at @elife.bsky.social !
Layers of Immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response. The tools are now deposited in the VDRC (link ⬇️)
elifesciences.org/articles/107...
shop.vbc.ac.at/vdrc_store/d...
#Drosophila #IDsky #SymbioSky #Infection #Immunology
Layers of Immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response. The tools are now deposited in the VDRC (link ⬇️)
elifesciences.org/articles/107...
shop.vbc.ac.at/vdrc_store/d...
#Drosophila #IDsky #SymbioSky #Infection #Immunology
In general, let's just stop paying companies that host this BS.
Fight the drain of scientific publishing.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Fight the drain of scientific publishing.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
November 28, 2025 at 7:32 AM
In general, let's just stop paying companies that host this BS.
Fight the drain of scientific publishing.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Fight the drain of scientific publishing.
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Scientific Reports has a ⬆️ Impact Inflation: a very high IF given their citation network (self-citing, citation cartels, etc).
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Scientific Reports has a ⬆️ Impact Inflation: a very high IF given their citation network (self-citing, citation cartels, etc).
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
WE ARE RECRUITING PHD STUDENTS!!!
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
November 15, 2025 at 3:35 PM
WE ARE RECRUITING PHD STUDENTS!!!
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
We have a funded NERC PhD studentship!
Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology.
Please share!
#PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social
Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology.
Please share!
#PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
We have a funded NERC PhD studentship!
Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology.
Please share!
#PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social
Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology.
Please share!
#PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social