From: Miho Funamori <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2018 19:38:57 +0900

As far as I understand it, the issue here is NOT that there have been
many academic researchers, even prominent researchers, publishing in
predatory journals. The point is, that any fake research by even
non-academics can be published on such journals as “scientific
article,” which could mislead the society and policy-makers in
decision-making and ultimately could destroy the trust in science.

Pharmaceutical companies, even big ones such as Bayer, are using the
predatory journals to have some academic evidence for their drugs to
be approved. Tobacco concern and power plants are publishing articles
to prove their safeness. Climate-skeptics publish articles in favor of
their claim. Since the predatory journals publish without peer-review,
these dubious articles gets published. As these articles based on fake
research mix up with articles based on evidence-based scientific
research, there is no way to distinguish between real science and fake
research.

The 30 min TV special (below link) the German media has made reports
these facts and argues that predatory journals allows people to
manipulate the “truth.”

The program is in German. But it may be worth just watching the first
scene. It starts with a story of a woman who was suffering cancer. She
was hanging her hope on GcMAF, some new drug to cure cancer, which she
found on an article—apparently published on a predatory journal. GcMAF
could not give the cure she desperately longed for and she died.

[ARD Mediathek] (2019.7.23)
Exclusiv im Ersten: Fake Science - Die Lügenmacher

https://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Reportage-Dokumentation/Exclusiv-im-Ersten-Fake-Science-Die-L/Das-Erste/Video?bcastId=799280&documentId=54409800

I have written a report on this. Unfortunately, it is in Japanese. So,
not many would be able to read.

https://rcos.nii.ac.jp/miho/2018/08/20180802/

Miho
---------------------------------------------------------------

FUNAMORI, Miho
Associate Professor, Information and Society Research Division
Strategy Manager, Research Center for Open Science and Data Platform
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATICS

2-1-2 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, 101-8430, Japan
Tel: +81-3-4212-2550
URL: http://www.nii.ac.jp/en/faculty/society/funamori_miho/
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

 *******

From: "Ginther, Clara ([log in to unmask])" <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2018 10:24:04 +0000

To avoid plagiarism, the list I provided has been compiled mostly by a
colleague of mine, which I updated. There is something akin to an
Office for Scholarly Communications at the University Library Graz,
called Publishing Services. My colleague and I have been working on
the matter of predatory publishing and providing services to our
academic staff for more than a year.

The journalists analysed about 175.00 articles in predatory journals
and submitted 10 papers with dubious findings, e.g. bees wax as a
potential cure for cancer for publication, I think all of which were
accepted. In German media the results of the investigation was
presented as a scandal. The focus in Germany was on the system of
academia and its publishing practices. The German media provided
information about predatory publishing, but also went far beyond that,
addressing issues such as the reputation of universities, research
institutions and scholars, naming institutions and the number of
scholars that have published in predatory journals, scholarly
publishing and its pitfalls, publish or perish and the pressure on
scholars today... Ideas such as a German nation-wide "quality badge"
for academic journals were proposed.

The matter has a different urgency in many European countries as the
universities are funded by tax payers money. Also many research
institutions are at least in part funded by tax payers money. Research
output is therefore regarded by many as a public good. Bad practices
are a public matter.

I have never seen a media campaign on such a scale on core practices
of scholarship. There has been the occasional plagiarism scandal,
forcing one or the other politician to resign, but nothing like this.
In regard to the German angle, it is a call to scholars, academic
institutions and political institutions alike to rethink and
critically discuss practices that are on the verge of becoming
pervasive. It is also about safeguarding the reputation of academia.

Clara Ginther
________________________________

From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:35:31 -0700

With great thanks to Clara Ginther for collecting this excellent list
of the appearances in German media.  The original article in the
Indian Express indicated that The New Yorker in the U.S. is also
participating in the journalistic project, but I've seen nothing there
yet.  So far as I can tell, as well, the Indian Express original
article did much the best job of cataloging specific publishers,
describing their scale and practices, and giving the publishers an
opportunity to voice their own view of their work.  Am I missing
something in the German articles?  I'd welcome a pointer if so.

Jim O'Donnell
ASU

On Thu, Jul 26, 2018 at 7:10 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: "Ginther, Clara ([log in to unmask])"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2018 08:22:16 +0000
>
> German and Austrian media already broadcasted and published most of their
> findings last week. Even if one is not fluent in German, it is worth finding
> someone to translate. The University Library Graz has been active in
> educating scholars for more than a year. Staff of this library were chosen
> by one German broadcaster and one Austrian weekly magazine as experts. It
> was a great opportunity to show the public that there is expertise on this
> matter at academic libraries.
>
> Clara Ginther
>
> Here is a selection:
>
> - Deutschlandfunk
>
> o   „Katastrophe für die Wissenschaft“:
>
> o https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/informatiker-klaus-tochtermann-ueber-fake-science.1008.de.html?dram:article_id=423280
>
> o   „Die Anziehungskraft der Fake Journals“:
> https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/fake-science-die-anziehungskraft-der-wissenschaftlichen.1773.de.html?dram:article_id=423281
>
> o   „Wissenschaftler in den Fängen von Raubverlegern“:
> https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/scheinkonferenz-wissenschaftler-in-den-faengen-von.1773.de.html?dram:article_id=423268
>
> o  „ Problem Pseudojournale "nicht wirklich lösbar“  :
> https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/fake-science-problem-pseudojournale-nicht-wirklich-loesbar.676.de.html?dram:article_id=423465
>
> - ORF, „Hunderttausende unseriöse Studien“:
> https://science.orf.at/stories/2925360
>
> -  Standard, „Tausende Forscher publizieren in Pseudo-Journalen“:
> https://derstandard.at/2000083778590/Tausende-Wissenschaftler-veroeffentlichen-in-Pseudo-Fachzeitschriften
>
> -  Süddeutsche, „Forscher müssen ständig publizieren – das schadet der
> Wissenschaft“:
> https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/forschungspolitik-wir-brauchen-ein-guetesiegel-fuer-wissenschaftsjournale-1.4061246
>
> - NDR: Dossier „Fake Science – die Lügenmacher“:
> https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/investigation/Dossier-Fake-Science-Die-Luegenmacher,fakesciencedossier100.html,
> Inhalte:
>
> -  „Forscher täuschen bei Veröffentlichungen“:
> https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/Forscher-taeuschen-ueber-Jahre-bei-Veroeffentlichungen,wissenschaftsskandal100.html
>
> - Fake Science – Fälle auch in Hamburg“:
> https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Fake-Science-Faelle-auch-in-Hamburg,fakescience184.html
>
> - „Warum Forscher auf unseriösen Wegen publizieren“:
> https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/Der-grosse-Wissenschafts-Schwindel,wissenschaftsskandal102.html
>
> -  „So einfach wurden wir Wissenschaftler“:
> https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/Experiment-NDR-Autoren-publizieren-Fake-Science,unihimmelpforten100.html
>
> - 6-part podcast of the NDR: https://www.ndr.de/info/podcast4406.html
>
> - Tagesschau, „Wissenschaft auf Abwegen“:
> https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/fakescience-101.html
>
> - Bayrischer Rundfunk, „Pseudo-Verlage“:
> https://www.br.de/nachrichten/pseudo-verlage-eine-bedrohung-fuer-die-wissenschaft-100.html
>
> -        MDR, „Fake-Journale werden für Wissenschaft zum Problem“:
> https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/fake-science-wissenschaftler-zweifelhafte-verlage-100.html
>
> -        ARD, „Fake Science – Die Lügenmacher“:
> https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/exclusiv-im-ersten-fake-science-die-luegenmacher-102.html
>
> -        Radio Bremen, „Bremer Wissenschaftler im Netz von Scheinverlegern“:
> https://www.butenunbinnen.de/nachrichten/wissen/fake-science-uni-bremen-100.html