Anna Abalkina
@abalkina.bsky.social
Researcher at FU Berlin •Nature's 10 2024 •Creator of RW #Hijackedjournals checker •Scientific misconduct •Plagiarism • #papermills •Corruption in higher education
www.abalkina.com
www.abalkina.com
My new post on the Tanu.pro paper mill in Italy. The paper mill has launched an aggressive marketing campaign in Italy to increase the H-index. It makes an impression that they are just expanding in Italy, but they have been present there for a long time.
www.roars.it/fabbriche-di...
#papermills
www.roars.it/fabbriche-di...
#papermills
May 11, 2026 at 3:31 PM
My new post on the Tanu.pro paper mill in Italy. The paper mill has launched an aggressive marketing campaign in Italy to increase the H-index. It makes an impression that they are just expanding in Italy, but they have been present there for a long time.
www.roars.it/fabbriche-di...
#papermills
www.roars.it/fabbriche-di...
#papermills
#WCRI2026 is over. I would like to share the summary of several presentations on paper mills.
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
Part 3 will be released soon.
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
Part 3 will be released soon.
WCRI 2026 (Part 1) - Anna Abalkina
World Congress on Research Integrity 2026, for the first time, included dozens of presentations on paper mills, organizations that sell papers, co-authorship
abalkina.com
May 11, 2026 at 3:27 PM
#WCRI2026 is over. I would like to share the summary of several presentations on paper mills.
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
Part 3 will be released soon.
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
abalkina.com/wcri-2026-pa...
Part 3 will be released soon.
I'm excited to share our new preprint on paper mills in conferences. We explored 200+ social media channels that promoted offers for sale and identified 1,720 papers published in 286 IEEE conferences. We found some 🚩: six-author co-authorship and affiliation diversity arxiv.org/abs/2604.22458
April 27, 2026 at 9:35 AM
I'm excited to share our new preprint on paper mills in conferences. We explored 200+ social media channels that promoted offers for sale and identified 1,720 papers published in 286 IEEE conferences. We found some 🚩: six-author co-authorship and affiliation diversity arxiv.org/abs/2604.22458
I'm excited to make a presentation at WCRI in May 2026. With my co-authors ( @solalpirelli.bsky.social , Yagmur Ozturk
and Marie Kunešová), we explore paper mills in conferences, a topic which is not well studied in the literature. I will be happy to meet my friends there and make new ones!
and Marie Kunešová), we explore paper mills in conferences, a topic which is not well studied in the literature. I will be happy to meet my friends there and make new ones!
March 18, 2026 at 10:36 AM
I'm excited to make a presentation at WCRI in May 2026. With my co-authors ( @solalpirelli.bsky.social , Yagmur Ozturk
and Marie Kunešová), we explore paper mills in conferences, a topic which is not well studied in the literature. I will be happy to meet my friends there and make new ones!
and Marie Kunešová), we explore paper mills in conferences, a topic which is not well studied in the literature. I will be happy to meet my friends there and make new ones!
I was delighted to learn that Elisabeth Bik (@elisabethbik.bsky.social) finds inspiration in my work. Thank you, Elisabeth, for the nomination. I truly appreciate your support!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
March 3, 2026 at 5:38 PM
I was delighted to learn that Elisabeth Bik (@elisabethbik.bsky.social) finds inspiration in my work. Thank you, Elisabeth, for the nomination. I truly appreciate your support!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Anna Abalkina
@sjmelchor.bsky.social writes for @nature.com about how to spot dubious papers, interviewing @elisabethbik.bsky.social, @abalkina.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, myself and and my fellow @cosig.net maintainers @solalpirelli.bsky.social and Yagmur Ozturk!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Five ways to spot when a paper is a fraud
Science sleuths share their common-sense tips for sniffing out fishy articles.
www.nature.com
February 25, 2026 at 8:43 PM
@sjmelchor.bsky.social writes for @nature.com about how to spot dubious papers, interviewing @elisabethbik.bsky.social, @abalkina.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, myself and and my fellow @cosig.net maintainers @solalpirelli.bsky.social and Yagmur Ozturk!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I was delighted to speak at the Symposium der Ombudspersonen für Gute Wissenschaftliche Praxis in Deutschland about the challenges posed by #papermills.
Commercialization of fraud threatens research integrity, undermines the reliability of data,& leads to significant losses of time & resources 1/3
Commercialization of fraud threatens research integrity, undermines the reliability of data,& leads to significant losses of time & resources 1/3
February 23, 2026 at 1:53 PM
I was delighted to speak at the Symposium der Ombudspersonen für Gute Wissenschaftliche Praxis in Deutschland about the challenges posed by #papermills.
Commercialization of fraud threatens research integrity, undermines the reliability of data,& leads to significant losses of time & resources 1/3
Commercialization of fraud threatens research integrity, undermines the reliability of data,& leads to significant losses of time & resources 1/3
Hi, I'll have a look. My spreadsheets cover mainly paper mill papers. The one with fake authors is quite small now.
February 21, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Hi, I'll have a look. My spreadsheets cover mainly paper mill papers. The one with fake authors is quite small now.
This is a new phenomenon and business model exploiting gaps in publishing. The cartel uses fake names to produce AI-written or plagiarised papers. Reference lists contain 100s of paid entries.If papers are retracted, no real authors are punished, and citations still count, even from retracted papers
Citation cartels are now using journal waivers and fake author names to target reputed chemistry journals — my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social:
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@abalkina.bsky.social, @smutclyde.bsky.social, @mumumouse2.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@abalkina.bsky.social, @smutclyde.bsky.social, @mumumouse2.bsky.social
Citation cartels use fake author names to target chemistry journals
Dubious entities masquerade as researchers in war zones or low-income countries to obtain journal fee waivers
cen.acs.org
February 10, 2026 at 8:47 AM
This is a new phenomenon and business model exploiting gaps in publishing. The cartel uses fake names to produce AI-written or plagiarised papers. Reference lists contain 100s of paid entries.If papers are retracted, no real authors are punished, and citations still count, even from retracted papers
Reposted by Anna Abalkina
Excited to be participating in the virtual Research Integrity Week events, by the Researchers Society/Pakistan Economics Frontier, organized by Abbas Aziz, hosted by Dr. Saba Saeed, with @sholtodavid.bsky.social , @abalkina.bsky.social, Najma Memon, and @reeserichardson.bsky.social
Starting in 2h
Starting in 2h
January 28, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Excited to be participating in the virtual Research Integrity Week events, by the Researchers Society/Pakistan Economics Frontier, organized by Abbas Aziz, hosted by Dr. Saba Saeed, with @sholtodavid.bsky.social , @abalkina.bsky.social, Najma Memon, and @reeserichardson.bsky.social
Starting in 2h
Starting in 2h
Reposted by Anna Abalkina
@Abalkina.bsky.social on eerie new papermill strategy #APE2026: invented papers with fake authors & paid for references for H-index padding. Even on retraction, citations persist. Remedy: 1) prepublication integrity screening; 2) remove H-index from Research assemment @Dorassessment.bsky.social
January 14, 2026 at 8:32 AM
@Abalkina.bsky.social on eerie new papermill strategy #APE2026: invented papers with fake authors & paid for references for H-index padding. Even on retraction, citations persist. Remedy: 1) prepublication integrity screening; 2) remove H-index from Research assemment @Dorassessment.bsky.social
Happy Advent!🎄
Day 24
Ready for a new puzzle? A case from a paper that was published some days ago
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent24
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
This is the last case of 2025. I hope you enjoyed the calendar as much as I enjoyed preparing it, and I wish you warm seasonal greetings!
Day 24
Ready for a new puzzle? A case from a paper that was published some days ago
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent24
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
This is the last case of 2025. I hope you enjoyed the calendar as much as I enjoyed preparing it, and I wish you warm seasonal greetings!
December 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Happy Advent!🎄
Day 24
Ready for a new puzzle? A case from a paper that was published some days ago
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent24
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
This is the last case of 2025. I hope you enjoyed the calendar as much as I enjoyed preparing it, and I wish you warm seasonal greetings!
Day 24
Ready for a new puzzle? A case from a paper that was published some days ago
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent24
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
This is the last case of 2025. I hope you enjoyed the calendar as much as I enjoyed preparing it, and I wish you warm seasonal greetings!
Theatre performances in Berlin are very particular - many of them have political vibes, even when it’s classical repertoire. I was at the opera Don Giovanni, and halfway through there was a notice: Don Ottavio’s aria “Il mio tesoro” would be skipped due to cuts in Berlin’s cultural funding.
December 23, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Theatre performances in Berlin are very particular - many of them have political vibes, even when it’s classical repertoire. I was at the opera Don Giovanni, and halfway through there was a notice: Don Ottavio’s aria “Il mio tesoro” would be skipped due to cuts in Berlin’s cultural funding.
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 23.
Ready for a new puzzle? Today's puzzle is related to journal's inconsistencies.
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent23
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 23.
Ready for a new puzzle? Today's puzzle is related to journal's inconsistencies.
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent23
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 23.
Ready for a new puzzle? Today's puzzle is related to journal's inconsistencies.
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent23
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 23.
Ready for a new puzzle? Today's puzzle is related to journal's inconsistencies.
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent23
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 19.
Ready for a new puzzle? Do you see inconsistencies between two tables?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent19
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 19.
Ready for a new puzzle? Do you see inconsistencies between two tables?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent19
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 19, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 19.
Ready for a new puzzle? Do you see inconsistencies between two tables?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent19
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 19.
Ready for a new puzzle? Do you see inconsistencies between two tables?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent19
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 17.
Ready for a new puzzle? Another paper-mill paper. Do you see inconsistencies?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent17
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 17.
Ready for a new puzzle? Another paper-mill paper. Do you see inconsistencies?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent17
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 17, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 17.
Ready for a new puzzle? Another paper-mill paper. Do you see inconsistencies?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent17
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 17.
Ready for a new puzzle? Another paper-mill paper. Do you see inconsistencies?
papermills.tilda.ws/2025advent17
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
The last session of the year. We had a funny Mentimeter: what if Santa had a development agency (the course is related to development and development aid).
It was fun!
It was fun!
December 16, 2025 at 9:05 PM
The last session of the year. We had a funny Mentimeter: what if Santa had a development agency (the course is related to development and development aid).
It was fun!
It was fun!
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 16.
Ready for a new puzzle? Inconsistency case in a paper-mill paper.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 16.
Ready for a new puzzle? Inconsistency case in a paper-mill paper.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 16, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 16.
Ready for a new puzzle? Inconsistency case in a paper-mill paper.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 16.
Ready for a new puzzle? Inconsistency case in a paper-mill paper.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Preparing for the last teaching sessions of the year. I do a funny quiz for my students: If Santa ran a development agency, how would he decide who gets support?
December 16, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Preparing for the last teaching sessions of the year. I do a funny quiz for my students: If Santa ran a development agency, how would he decide who gets support?
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 15.
Ready for a new puzzle? This is one of my favorite cases of 2025.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 15.
Ready for a new puzzle? This is one of my favorite cases of 2025.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 15, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 15.
Ready for a new puzzle? This is one of my favorite cases of 2025.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 15.
Ready for a new puzzle? This is one of my favorite cases of 2025.
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
December 9, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 8.
Today's puzzle is about figure inconsistencies! Do you spot the problem?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 8.
Today's puzzle is about figure inconsistencies! Do you spot the problem?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 8, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 8.
Today's puzzle is about figure inconsistencies! Do you spot the problem?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 8.
Today's puzzle is about figure inconsistencies! Do you spot the problem?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 7.
Could you identify any issues in the demographic data?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 7.
Could you identify any issues in the demographic data?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 7, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Day 7.
Could you identify any issues in the demographic data?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Day 7.
Could you identify any issues in the demographic data?
papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025