Predatory and clone research journals that offer online publishing of substandard research papers have made it very easy for some Pakistani varsity teachers to commit academic fraud after online payment of a few hundred dollars.
Despite teachers getting promotions and other perks on the basis of their substandard research articles published in predatory and clone journals, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), and relevant educational institutions and authorities seem to have failed to take any action against such journals on the internet, fraudulent research practices and so-called academics involved in damaging Pakistan’s scientific reputation for the sake of acquiring higher positions through malpractices.
This story highlights the degree to which the scientific reputations of researchers, institutions and even entire countries can be undermined by having the reputation of repeated publication with questionable publishers. National bodies, funding bodies and institutions need to urge researchers away from such publishers. Including recognising some researchers are gaming performance, recruitment, promotion and grant processes, with publications that are bought, rather than peer reviewed. We have included links to 15 related items.
Due to the apparent apathy of the HEC and other authorities towards predatory and clone journals, many honest academics are also being deceived as they cite articles published in clone journals, which are sub-standard journals using the name of reputed journals for deception. A significant number of faculty members at prestigious educational institutes of Pakistan have also published their papers in clone journals after being misled by their name.
