From news to science: Why rise of faking is real and perilous
After fake news, it appears we have entered the age of fake science.
Unlike fake news, which is visible, shared and consumed by people routinely, fake science news is not apparent to people despite being in the public domain.
This may give an impression that fake science is a problem only of the academic and scientific world and does not affect the general public.
But, that’s not so. Fake science is just as dangerous.
Let’s understand the problem first.
Science is all about creating new knowledge and sharing it with peers. All scientific discoveries and innovations have to be announced first in scientific journals in the form of research papers. The logic is that those working in specific areas of science come to know of new developments so that they can use the new knowledge and build upon it. That’s how we have had great discoveries and their dissemination in the past one hundred years or so.
Most reputed scientific journals are published by academies, professional associations, universities and research institutions. Research articles published in such journals are peer-reviewed — reviewed by experts in the same field — and approved by them. Most of these journals are subscription-based. Over the years, they have also needed professional help in production and distribution. And so, came professional scientific publishers, who also started their own journals over time.
When publishing became digital, scientific journals evolved into online versions but all new knowledge remained locked behind paywalls because the journals were all subscription-based.
About two decades ago, the scientific community felt that scientific knowledge needs to be openly accessible to all, resulting in “open access” journals like the Public Library of Science (PLoS).
In this model, all content is freely accessible, but scientists have to pay processing fee for getting their articles published while other standards like peer review, accuracy and quality remain intact.
However, the same model is now being abused by unscrupulous publishers who charge a hefty processing fee, but follow no editorial or ethical standards.
Academics and researchers, often doing substandard or mediocre science, fall for such journals.
This has developed into an ecosystem of fake science.
It so happens that a number of such fake or predatory journals are published from India, China, Turkey and also the US. The number of such journals runs into several hundred thousand.
One can get anything published in such journals.
A few years ago, undercover reporters of journal Science created fictitious research data and a fictitious university and got their papers published.
An Australian professor sent his son’s school essay to a predatory journal and it was accepted for publication.
Many researchers fall for predatory journals knowingly.
In India, appointments, promotions and academic recognitions depend on the number of papers one has published.
It is time to revisit this system. Fake papers result in fake science and creation of fake knowledge. Fake journals must be countered at all levels — institutions, funding agencies, academies and professional bodies. Legal and criminal proceedings must be initiated against fake science, wherever feasible.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)
Also read: TRAI recommends that the public has the right to be forgotten, but what does it mean?