Join us on 27 November to learn how you can fight back against fraudulent research and paper mills

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The scientific community is currently facing a massive integrity problem. Paper mills – companies that produce fraudulent or low-quality research papers for a fee – are on the rise, and with them come increasing instances of falsified datasets and AI-generated figures. A recent study found the number of these problem papers is doubling every 18 months, and that the issue has seeped into academic institutions worldwide, with some journal editors allegedly complicit in knowingly publishing these papers.

While the situation feels daunting, some researchers have taken matters into their own hands, learning ways to identify and report fraudulent research. This webinar features two experts who have made it their mission to empower the world to fight back against this fakery. During this hour-long, interactive webinar we will:

  • Explore the problem of fabricated and falsified research, using the health field as an example
  • Introduce participants to the practice of post-publication peer review (PPPR) and to the Collection of Open Science Integrity Guides (Cosig), an open-source handbook for performing PPPR
  • Empower participants to detect these problematic studies and spot problems in peer-reviewed scientific articles in chemistry and related fields

To aid accessibility, automatically generated closed captions – which can be turned on and off at your leisure – will be available to all those attending live. Please note, a certificate of attendance will be provided soon after the event. You do not need to request this – only those who attend the webinar live will be eligible.

Jack Wilkinson

Portriat of Jack Wilkinson, a senior lecturer in the centre for biostatistics at the University of Manchester

Jack Wilkinson is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Biostatistics at the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests cover both the application, development, and criticism of methods for the evaluation of health interventions, with a particular interest in interventions for the treatment of subfertility, including assisted reproductive technologies (ART). He is a statistical editor for Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility. He additionally has a background in undertaking integrity investigations for scientific journals and publishers, and leads the NIHR-funded INSPECT-SR project, which has developed a tool for identifying ‘problematic’ randomised controlled trials, including those subject to data fabrication or falsification.

 

Reese Richardson

Portait of Reese Richardson, postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern University.

Reese Richardson is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Science of Science and Innovation (CSSI) at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, US. Broadly, his research interests concern the formation of collective knowledge, maintaining the integrity of the scientific literature, and systematic studies of industrialised academic and scientific fraud. He earned his PhD in interdisciplinary biological sciences at Northwestern University in 2024 in the laboratory of Luís A Nunes Amaral. He is one of the maintainers of the Collection of Open Science Integrity Guides (Cosig, cosig.net), an open-source resource for performing post-publication peer review.

Event details and registration

Register now