News: Academic Publishing Weekly

Fraudulent research continues to rise, a new platinum OA publisher, and Bloomsbury's AI licensing plans

Posted on August 8, 2025 in News

Coordinated Scientific Fraud Is on the Rise

An analysis from researchers at Northwestern University uncovered a widespread global “network of ‘paper mills’, brokers and infiltrated journals.” Looking at papers from several databases, the study revealed collusion among researchers, “sham peer-review process[es],” and brokers who take over “compromised journals.” The Independent reported that the “publication of fraudulent research is outpacing the growth of legitimate scientific works.” Science also had coverage, pointing out the role of editors. Specifically, Science highlighted the study’s finding that “Flagged editors [at PLOS ONE] handled 1.3% of papers published in the journal by 2024, but nearly one-third of all retracted papers.” Science further underscored that it can be difficult to identify fraudulent activity as journal output continues to rise.

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New Platinum OA Publisher, Royal Society Adopts Subscribe to Open, and the Latest Big Ten Open Books Project Collection

A new press is deeming itself “the first U.S.-based book publisher to operate exclusively under a platinum open access publishing model.” Also allowing authors to retain copyright, eContent Pro International Press explained that the “open access processing charges that offset the publication costs are funded by individuals, sponsoring institutions, grants, and so on.” The publisher is currently open for proposals. Next up, the Royal Society will be implementing the Subscribe to Open model in 2026. Those who pay for the Royal Society’s eight hybrid subscription journals will have the option to support the publications via Subscribe to Open in an effort to convert the journals to fully OA. Lastly, the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Center for Library Programs unveiled the Big Ten Open Books project’s latest collection. The collection features 100 free, digitized versions of university press titles on Indigenous North Americans. Big Ten Open Books shared that three additional collections will be published in 2025 and 2026.

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Scientific Integrity Sleuths are Gaining Recognition, Plus India’s Approach to High Retraction Numbers

Scientific integrity sleuths are slowing being recognized for their investigative work. One publisher giving sleuths credit is Frontiers, which provides optional statements when a paper is flagged by a third party. Other publishers like Wiley and Springer are considering similar policies, and sleuths believe the notices could improve their dealings with publishers. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) also plans to release new retraction guidelines that acknowledge sleuths. Next, India’s national institutional ranking is cracking down on universities whose researchers receive large numbers of retractions. The National Board of Accreditation will begin issuing “mild and symbolic” penalizations to institutions in an effort to “name and shame” them. The decision has drawn some positive feedback, although researchers advise that penalties should only apply to “retractions that are attributable to plagiarism, fraud or other research-integrity issues.”

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Bloomsbury Considers AI Licensing and Springer Nature Reports on OA Progress

Springer Nature has issued its annual open access progress report. The report celebrates 10 years of transformative agreements, with 22 signed in 2024. Springer Nature also experienced a boost in OA downloads in lower-middle and lower-income countries and published 68 additional open journals. Nonetheless, Springer witnessed “a steady decline in full open-access acceptance rate” last year and “2,923 retractions took place.” Covering the report, Porter Anderson of Publishing Perspectives drew attention to the lack of concrete actions the publisher has planned to increase collaboration among industry professionals to advance OA. Next up, Bloomsbury is considering licensing its content to train generative AI tools. According to Bloomsbury, authors would have the option to opt-in. The Bookseller shared that authors “are being offered a 20% royalty payment.” The Society of Authors raised numerous concerns over the proposed licensing agreements, chief among them that the “the proposed 20% share to the author [does not represent] fair remuneration.”

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ASSAf Publishes Scholarly Publishing Standards and PLOS on the Impact of AI

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has revised its guidelines for scholarly publishing. The Code of Best Practice in Scholarly Journal Publishing, Editing, and Peer Review covers areas including AI, OA, and editorial diversity. For instance, the code recommends double-anonymous peer review and notes that “Data availability, ethical clearance, and the archiving of rejected manuscripts are now expected practices.” The code also includes potential penalties for non-compliance. On the topic of scholarly publishing, Authors Alliance’s Dave Hansen interviewed Alison Mudditt, CEO of the Public Library of Science (PLOS), on AI and research ethics. Mudditt underlined a dramatic uptick in submissions due to AI, along with the benefits AI tools lend to workflow optimization. Mudditt also commented on PLOS’s Publication Ethics Team and the need to move “as much of this research integrity work as we can to earlier in the workflow.” Other topics discussed include data-sharing, federal grant funding, and the barriers posed by article processing charges (APCs).

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