Research integrity, a cornerstone of scholarly publishing, faces challenges from the surge of ‘fake’ articles—fully or partially fabricated works that undermine genuine academic efforts. The emergence of paper mills has escalated this issue, introducing a level of scale and sophistication to academic misconduct that is both recent and concerning.
STM is deeply involved with initiatives like the STM Integrity Hub and UNITED2ACT to safeguard research integrity, tackling paper mills and integrity breaches through knowledge sharing, manuscript screening capabilities, and collaborations with stakeholders such as funders and research institutes. These efforts aim to address misaligned incentives at the root of the problem.
Moreover, improving verification of researchers’ identities in publication systems is expected to enhance research integrity and effectively mitigate some of the current challenges facing the system.