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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Science
Jackson Ryan

Science or fiction? Shadowy ‘paper mills’ let you pay to be a published author – of fraudulent research

A magnifying glass focuses a light beam on papers on a shadowy blue background
Scientists are under constant pressure to publish new research papers. Paper mills offer a fraudulent shortcut. Composite: Getty Images/Guardian Design

Dr Reese Richardson’s phone constantly buzzes with notifications. The scientific research integrity specialist has been tracking shadowy organisations known as “paper mills”, which turn a profit by offering fraudulent academic authorship of scientific papers, IP registrations and other scholarly outputs.

For a fee, paper mills offer to list people as authors of scientific journal articles, often of falsified research that bypasses the peer review process.

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