Journal publisher Emerald warns editors to watch out for paper mills

Paper mills produce articles for paying customers which the fraudsters place with unsuspecting editors of legitimate journals.  People keen to boost citations can also pay for references in such articles. “Paper mills operate globally, and we have seen academics from across the world involved,” Emerald publishing director Sally Wilson states.

Mills also seek to have their own agents included as reviewers, to make easier infiltrating the editorial process.

So Ms Wilson urges editors to watch for dubious reviews, doubtful author information and unlikely spikes in submissions.

And foremost, “be vigilant – look out for papers with research that doesn’t make sense, or could be questionable. We appreciate this may sound obvious, but unfortunately we are seeing papers like this slip through the review process.”