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Reposted by Predatory Journals

Nature @nature.com · 23d

Scientific societies, journals, editors and researchers are pushing back against mean-spirited peer reviews

go.nature.com/4mXJjn6

‘Lipstick on a pig’: how to fight back against a peer-review bully

Scientific societies, journals, editors and researchers are pushing back against mean-spirited peer reviews.

go.nature.com

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · 23d

🕵️‍♂️ Design isn’t just cosmetic. Visual cues can help flag low-quality or predatory journals—especially when screening large volumes. Content still matters, but the look tells a story too. #OpenScience #ResearchIntegrity

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · 23d

🧐 Predatory articles are statistically:

~half the length (fewer pages & characters)
Using “default” fonts (Arial, Calibri)
Standard A4 pages, little typographic variety
Simpler metadata, less polished

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · 23d

📄 Study compared ~443 “legit” vs ~555 suspected predatory articles. Predatory ones tend to be shorter, use common office fonts, stick to A4 page size, and show simpler metadata. Visual fingerprints can help spot low-quality journals. 👀

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Evaluating the visual design of science publications—a quantitative approach comparing legitimate and predatory journal papers - Scientometrics

The rise of predatory publishing poses a significant challenge to the integrity of scientific research, potentially undermining the credibility of scholarly communications. As parts of the academic co...

link.springer.com

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 21

🧵1: Peer Review Is Cracking. Researchers are churning out papers to survive. Peer reviewers are overwhelmed. Editors chase quantity, not quality. It's not science—it’s a paper factory. Reform is urgent, or public trust will collapse.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Scientific publishing needs urgent reform to retain trust in research process | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to an article on how too many low-quality papers and journals are being churned out

www.theguardian.com

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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · Aug 31

"If Trump wants to eliminate fraud at universities, why gut research integrity agencies?"

If Trump wants to eliminate fraud at universities, why gut research integrity agencies? - The Boston Globe

Universities, journals, regulators all have a role in identifying scientific misconduct.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🔥
#ResearchIntegrity
#TrustInScience
#AcademicTwitter
#AIforScience
#OpenScience
#FakeJournals
#PredatoryPublishing
#AIethics
#ResponsibleAI
#FutureOfScience
#AIforGood

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🧵5. This is the future: humans + AI, safeguarding the credibility of research. Because science without trust is just noise. 🌍✨ #AIforGood #AcademicIntegrity #FutureOfScience

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🧵4. About 24% false positives. Meaning: the AI isn’t a judge—it’s a first line of defense. Humans still need to verify. Think ‘radar’ not ‘verdict.’ 🛰️ #ResponsibleAI #AcademicTwitter

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🧵3. From ~15,200 journals, the AI flagged 1,400+ as questionable. Over 1,000 raised serious concerns. That’s a LOT of shaky ground for researchers to step on. 😬 #TrustInScience #AIethics

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🧵2. Instead of reading papers, the AI checks websites: design quality, missing editors, dodgy language, weird citations. It’s not judging content—it’s spotting red flags in the ecosystem. 🚨 #OpenScience #FakeJournals

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Aug 31

🧵1. Predatory journals aren’t just a nuisance—they erode trust in science. A new #AI tool just scanned ~15k journals & flagged over 1k suspicious outlets. Could this be the watchdog science needs? 🧠🔎 #ResearchIntegrity #Science

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Estimating the predictability of questionable open-access journals

AI screening of journals identifies over a thousand questionable journals, helping experts review where it is needed most.

www.science.org

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 21

🧵4: It's time to stop counting publications and start measuring trust, transparency, and societal value.
#OpenScience #ReformScience

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 21

🧵3: Alternatives exist. Global South Is Leading the Way.
Latin America’s @scielo.org and the Diamond OA Alliance prove publishing can be free to read & free to publish. Science doesn’t need billion-dollar intermediaries. It needs public infrastructure and values over volume.

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 21

🧵2: Open Access? More Like Open Wallet.
OA was supposed to democratize science.
Instead, universities now pay up to $10K per article in APCs—feeding publishers with profit margins over 35%.
The result? Pay-to-play research and rising global inequality in who gets to publish.

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 21

🧵1: Peer Review Is Cracking. Researchers are churning out papers to survive. Peer reviewers are overwhelmed. Editors chase quantity, not quality. It's not science—it’s a paper factory. Reform is urgent, or public trust will collapse.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Scientific publishing needs urgent reform to retain trust in research process | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to an article on how too many low-quality papers and journals are being churned out

www.theguardian.com

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Mikel Maria Delgado, PhD @mikeldelgado.bsky.social · Jul 16

How science should NOT be done: testing the effects of CBD on cat fear...by scaring the cats so much they urinated...and no IACUC (institutional animal use committee) approval? Why? oh, because it's a predatory MDPI/Animals journal...calling @amcell.bsky.social

www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15...

image of journal article in the MDPI journal Animals: Possible Anxiolytic Effects of Cannabidiol (CBD) Administration on Feline Responses to a Fear Response Test
by Nobuo Masataka

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

6/6
🧵 Bottom line:
📉 Springer Nature’s latest retraction is a symptom of a bigger crisis in academic publishing.
📚 Just because it’s a book doesn’t mean it’s science.
Retractions like this? More are coming.

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

5/6
🤖 In the age of AI-generated content, Springer must tighten up or become a publishing landfill.
The bar for book publishing should not be lower than journals.
But here we are.

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

4/6
💸 Why does Springer churn out junk?
Because book chapters = easy academic points for authors.
It’s a publish-or-perish goldmine — for them, not for science.
Scientific rigor? Optional.

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

3/6
🔍 Let’s be honest:
Many Springer books are glorified PowerPoint decks in hardcover.
Poor peer review, low editorial standards, and inflated prices.
Academic lipstick on a commercial pig. 🐷📚

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

2/6
👀 What triggered the retraction?
A Retraction Watch exposé showed the book was riddled with garbage science — from AI "consciousness" ramblings to fabricated equations.
Yes, Springer published it anyway. 🤯

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Jul 17

1/6
🚨 Springer Nature is retracting an entire book on machine learning.
Why? It was full of plagiarized content, nonsensical claims, and had no proper peer review. 🤮
Retraction Watch: 1
Springer’s credibility: 0

Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · Jul 16

Springer Nature to retract machine learning book following Retraction Watch coverage

The move comes two weeks after we reported on the book’s fake references.

Springer Nature to retract machine learning book following Retraction Watch coverage

A screenshot from June 26 shows the book had been accessed 3,782 times. Springer Nature is retracting a book on machine learning that had multiple references to works that do not exist, Retraction …

retractionwatch.com

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Apr 18

Parallels between Trump’s government and Orwell’s 1984 are striking: language manipulation, “alternative facts,” and efforts to control public discourse echo Newspeak and reality control from the novel. When leaders rewrite words and history, democracy faces real Orwellian risks. #Trump #Orwell

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Predatory Journals @predatoryjournals.org · Apr 18

These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration

Federal agencies have issued guidance to employees on hundreds of terms to limit or avoid using. An analysis of government websites shows many of the same words being removed.

www.nytimes.com

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