Catenaa, Tuesday, December 30, 2025-Scientific fraud is spreading at an alarming rate, driven by coordinated global networks, according to a new study by Northwestern University.

Researchers warn that organized groups of paper mills, brokers, and compromised journals are producing and distributing fraudulent research faster than legitimate science grows.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed large datasets from retracted publications, editorial records, and journal metadata.

It found that networks systematically manipulate the publishing system, selling authorship, citations, and fabricated papers to boost academic reputations.

Some groups hijack defunct journals to publish thousands of low-quality or impossible studies, giving the appearance of legitimacy.

Paper mills function like factories, churning out manuscripts with fabricated data, stolen images, or plagiarized content. Brokers connect authors willing to pay with journals that can be manipulated, often bypassing peer review.

These operations are concentrated in vulnerable subfields and evade standard quality controls, including journal de-indexing.

Researchers caution that the proliferation of fraudulent publications threatens public trust in science. The study also highlights risks posed by AI-generated content entering scientific literature, potentially compounding the problem.

The authors call for stronger editorial scrutiny, better detection methods, and systemic reforms in scientific incentives.

They emphasize urgent action to prevent fraudulent networks from normalizing misconduct and undermining the credibility of scientific research.