A new analysis – which included scanning Retraction Watch posts – has identified some trends in papers pulled for fake peer review, a subject we’ve covered at length.
For those who aren’t familiar, fake reviews arise when researchers associated with the paper in question (most often authors) create email addresses for reviewers, enabling them to write their own positive reviews.
The article – released September 23 by the Postgraduate Medical Journal – found the vast majority of papers were retracted from journals with impact factors below 5, and most included co-authors based in China.