Paper mills research | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics

"Recommended actions

• A major education exercise is needed to ensure that Editors are aware of the problem of paper mills, and Editors/editorial staff are trained in identifying the fake papers.
• Continued investment in tools and systems to pick up suspect papers as they are submitted.
• Engagement with institutions and funders to review incentives for researchers to publish valid papers and not use services that will give quick but fake publication.
• Investigation of protocols that can be put in place to impede paper mills from succeeding in their goals.
• Review the retraction process to take account of the unique features of paper mill papers.
• Investigate how to ensure retraction notices are applied to all copies of a paper such as preprint servers and article repositories...."