Inside India’s fake research paper shops: pay, publish, profit

Despite UGC blacklist, hundreds of ‘predatory journals’ thrive, cast shadow on quality of faculty and research nationwide.

In the world of academia, getting published in an international research journal is almost the holy grail, it helps bump up the CV for hiring and helps in the competition for tenure or promotion. It takes rigorous research, an original contribution, exhaustive peer or expert reviews, and dogged persistence.

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But then, there’s also an easy way — pay and publish.

An investigation by The Indian Express shows that India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for a business in which over 300 publishers manage what are called “predatory journals” that claim to be international and publish papers for a listed “charge” or “fee” that ranges from $30-$1,800 per piece.

From a plush office in the heart of Hyderabad, home to one of the world’s largest such publishers, to a one-room, one-man, one-laptop office at Richha in Bareilly, The Indian Express found that most of these publications exist online, claim to have a list of experts as editors, and employ minimal or no editorial checks before publication.

Hyderabad-based OMICS is, in fact, facing legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US for fraudulent claims — a charge the company denies.

“These so-called predatory journals have brought a bad name for the country and also for many of its sincere researchers,” S C Lakhotia, professor emeritus at Banaras Hindu University, told The Indian Express.

Ten months ago, Lakhotia resigned from a committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to assess publications recommended by universities for inclusion in an approved list of around 32,000 journals maintained by the regulatory body. “The list had many bogus or dubious journals,” Lakhotia said.

On May 2, the UGC removed 4,305 journals from the list, saying they were of “questionable” nature or lacked mandatory information on their websites.

To read the full article, please visit:

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/inside-indias-fake-research-paper-shops-pay-publish-profit-5265402/ (Accessed on July 23, 2019)

Russian website offering ‘paid’ research authorship under probe

73 of the 344 papers offered for sale are from journals based in India

An “online marketplace” claiming to facilitate sale and purchase of authorships for research papers that have been accepted for publication in scientific journals has been brought to light by the Web of Science, part of London-based Clarivate Analytics, which provides analytical services to journals and innovation companies.

An investigation by the company showed that a Russian website (http://123mi.ru) claims to facilitate the fraudulent publication. Retraction Watch blog was the first to report the scam.

A Google translation of the claims on the Russian website says, “We sell publications of finished articles in Scopus and Web of Science journals (articles written and accepted in journals; sold in parts or in whole).”

It asks researchers to part with hundreds of dollars to become authors of papers that they never worked on, promising definite publication and indexing.

The website lists 344 articles for which first, second, third or more authorships are for sale.

Of the 344 papers where authorships are for sale, 73 are from journals based in India. Venezuela has the second highest number of papers at 54, followed by the U.S. (38), Russia (33) and Pakistan (28).

Although there are a few dozen papers listed from these countries, it is not clear how many journals are allegedly open to such a practice.

There is also no confirmation of the site’s claim that the journals are indexed in Scopus or Web of Science or whether they are predatory or standard journals.

Although the website claims that certain authorships had been sold, it is not clear if individuals parted with money.

It is also unclear if any papers have actually been published, or if the Russian website is just an online scam operation.

First-author fee

The cost of first authorship is highest and reduces for the successive authors. The cost of first authorship varies from $285 to $1,222.

Papers with five potential authors have been listed, although the norm is to have three or four.

“The articles have been accepted for publication in journals that are allegedly indexed. We do not know the identity of the authors or journals… We are investigating and trying to identify the journals. We will take appropriate action,” Amy Bourke-Waite, external communications director, Web of Science Group, Clarivate Analytics, said in an email to The Hindu.

The website does not mention the name of the journals or the title of the 344 papers. It says that the names of the journals and titles will be “available only to customers who have paid”. But it does provide information about journal disciplines, country of publication, the number of authors per paper, short description of the article and if the journal is indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science.

“The primary transaction appears to be author-to-author (with the owners of the service presumably taking a cut) but beyond allowing post-acceptance changes in the author lists, it’s not clear to what extent journal editors or publishers are aware of, or involved in this enterprise,” Nandita Quaderi, editor-in-chief of Web of Science said in a July 17, 2019, letter to Natalie Ridgeway, executive officer of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a non-profit that promotes integrity in research and publication.

“I wanted to bring this to your attention early as you may want to warn COPE members of this activity as soon as possible and perhaps take this opportunity to share best practice guidelines regarding post-acceptance changes to author lists,” she said.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/russian-website-offering-paid-research-authorship-under-probe/article28621576.ece (Accessed on July 23, 2019)

BOOK BANK SE TO BE JULY 2019

Research published in pay-and-publish journals won’t count: UGC panel

The four-member panel was formed by the UGC late last year after The Indian Express published a series of investigative reports on how India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for “predatory” publishers of substandard research journals.

Suggesting sweeping reforms to promote the quality of research in India, a UGC panel has recommended that publication of research material in “predatory” journals or presentations in conferences organised by their publishers should not be considered for academic credit in any form.

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They include selection, confirmation, promotion, appraisal, and award of scholarships and degrees, the panel has suggested. The committee, which submitted its 14-page report to the UGC recently, has also recommended changes in PhD and MPhil programmes, including a new board for social sciences research.

The four-member committee — headed by P Balram, former director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru — was formed by the UGC late last year after The Indian Express published a series of investigative reports on how India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for “predatory” publishers of substandard research journals.

The reports showed how over 300 “predatory” publishers bring out journals that claim to be international and publish papers for a “charge” ranging from $30-$1,800 per piece. Some of the prominent publishers featured in the investigation were OMICS, Austin, Science Domain, IAEME and IOSR Journals, which together bring out over 1,200 journals on subjects ranging from medicine to management.

Last week, the UGC launched the Consortium of Academic and Research Ethics (CARE) to approve a new official list of academic publications.

In its report, the Balram committee has recommended the creation of a board under the UGC for research in social sciences and humanities with separate allocation of funds. It has also suggested the appointment of a Dean for research and development in every university linked to externally funded grants and projects.

Explained: How the pay-and-publish business works

On predatory journals and conferences organised by their publishers, the committee’s report said: “The mandatory requirement of publication in journals/conference proceedings for award of doctoral degrees and as a metric in evaluating faculty under the API (Academic Performance Index) score has resulted in a proliferation of predatory journals and conferences, which have abandoned classical peer review as a method of quality control.”

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When contacted by The Indian Express, Balram said: “We submitted the report recently. It is a very brief report on the improvement of quality of research. It is up to the UGC, HRD Ministry and state governments to implement it.”

Bhushan Patwardhan, UGC Vice Chairperson, confirmed that the Commission has received the report. “It will be considered by the UGC in its next meeting scheduled in July,” he said.

Apart from Balram, the committee includes Sharad Deshpande, former professor and head, Department of Philosophy, Savitribai Phule University, Pune; Shridhar R Gadre, Distinguished Professor, Savitribai Phule University, Pune; and, Anitha Kurup, Dean, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc campus.

For the effective implementation of its recommendations, the committee has suggested that an empowered panel of eminent academicians be set up to work with UGC nodal officers for new schemes. It has also asked the UGC to revamp its regional centres and initiate capacity building programmes for its staff to build in-house expertise.

NEW BOARD, R&D DEAN

Key recommendations of UGC panel:

-Papers in predatory journals won’t count

-New board for social sciences research

-R&D Dean in every university

-Short-term internship in policy organisations

-100 post-doctoral fellowships per year in social sciences, humanities

-Translation programme for regional research

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/research-published-pay-and-publish-fake-journals-wont-count-ugc-panel-5791656/ (Accessed on July 22, 2019)

Alan Turing, a computing pioneer, will feature on Britain’s £50 notes

At the moment, Bank of England £50 notes feature James Watt, whose steam engines powered the Industrial Revolution, and his business partner Matthew Boulton. On July 15th, however, the bank announced that from 2021 fifties will instead depict Alan Turing, the man who built Colossus, the world’s first programmable, electronic, digital computer and who also developed much of the theory of computer science, especially the idea of algorithms. Colossus was used to break German codes during the second world war, shortening hostilities considerably. That won Turing scant recognition though, partly because of the project’s secrecy and partly because he was gay, and homosexual activity was then illegal in Britain. Which changed the world more, steam engines or computers, is debatable. But Watt died in his 80s, rich and lauded by his fellows. Turing died of cyanide poisoning, possibly self-inflicted, at the age of 41. 

Source: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/07/18/alan-turing-a-computing-pioneer-will-feature-on-britains-ps50-notes (Accessed on July 22, 2019)

Govt floats idea for Aadhaar-like database for mapping citizen health

The NDHM has proposed to provide the technology platform for collection of core health data from the providers and patients

The government has proposed mapping health data of citizens and building a National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) on the lines of the Aadhaar database, and set up ‘digital health’ as public infrastructure.

In a detailed National Digital Health Blueprint, which is open for comments until August 4, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has laid out standards, framework, and data analytics principles for a technology-based infrastructure.

Authored under the chairmanship of the ex-Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman J Satyanarayana, the blueprint proposes that the NDHM be a hybrid of the goods and services tax network, UIDAI (the agency that administers Aadhaar), and the National Payments Corporation of India, given that health is a state subject, and to incorporate private sector, including service providers and insurance.

The NDHM has proposed to provide the technology platform for collection of core health data from the providers and patients and interoperability of health care data through a unique identifier called the Unique Health Identifier.

Other components include The Health Cloud, on the lines of the government community cloud of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, a Health Locker that will serve as a personal health record repository with consent, and health analytics.

Another component is the geographic information system or visualisation services that could be used to map the nearest hospital with a particular specialty, or map the occurrence of a disease in a geographic area and so on to help in regional planning and monitoring of health services.

“For the NDHM to be successful, it will be important to undertake outreach activities with public and private sector players. The NDHM will have to co-opt market players like medtech companies, non-governmental organisations, foundations working in health space as they build the public utilities in the form of registries, personal health record, health ID, and health information exchange, etc,” the blueprint proposes.

The blueprint has proposed a ‘consent manager’ mechanism, so that individuals can control the data they would like to be collated or used for other purposes.

The idea of explicit consent is part of several other government proposals, including the soon-to-be tabled in Parliament Data Protection Bill and Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines for account aggregators.

The blueprint has said that this digital framework will be designed keeping in mind smartphones as the end device being used by citizens.

It also has detailed proposals for setting up state and national-level repositories of health data and methods of collecting data and so on.

Other members of the committee set up in November last year to propose the blueprint include Dr Manoj Singh, professor, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Neeta Verma, director general of National Informatics Centre, Alok Kumar, advisor (health), NITI Aayog and other members of the MoHFW

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article_id=119071701590_1 (Accessed on July 22, 2019)

Today in News: July 19, 2019

Explained: What is Ramanujan Machine, and why is it named after the Indian mathematician? 

Throughout his life, Ramanujan came up with novel equations and identities —including equations leading to the value of pi — and it was usually left to formally trained mathematicians to prove these.