A disturbing trend in academia has been revealed by a new pioneering study: a significant increase in the number of ‘ very productive’ academics, notably in nations such as Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Concerns about the dependability and quality of scientific research have grown as scholars produce more than 60 publications every year. Â
According to research led by renowned physician and metascience specialist John Ioannidis of Stanford University, the number of these prolific authors has surged fourfold since 2016. The number of papers published by non-physician writers will have increased from 387 in 2016 to 1,266 by 2022. This works out to about one article every five days.
Although this tendency is most visible in clinical care, it is pervasive and impacts a wide range of other professions. Agriculture, fishing, forestry, biology, and mathematics will follow this subject in 2022, which has seen substantial progress, including the discovery of over 700 hyper-productive researchers. This rise has complicated and far-reaching consequences.
This unparalleled amount of output, according to Ioannidis and his team, cannot be credited only to actual scientific activities. Indeed, it raises the likelihood that some of these publications are based on dubious research procedures, if not blatant fraud. A study of all Scopus-indexed articles, reviews, and conference papers (excluding physics, which has its own authorship rules) was used to substantiate these claims. Â
A number of complicated variables are driving this trend. Thailand’s research funding framework, for example, has unwittingly made it easier for academics to have their names on more papers by promoting large multidisciplinary teams over smaller ones. Financial incentives exist to publish in high-impact journals, and university rankings are becoming increasingly reliant on publication numbers and analytics, both of which have intensified this tendency.
In other circumstances, researchers receive up to 1 million Baht (about $28,000) each year simply by reporting their findings. The pervasive “publish or perish” mindset has allowed unethical behaviors to flourish in academia. Throughout the pandemic, paper mills in Thailand mushroomed, providing students with fraudulent research papers. These advances are not limited to Thailand; they have an impact on academic communities worldwide.
In reaction to these troubling findings, the Thai Ministry of Science, Research, and Innovation has examined scholars with an unusually high number of publications. Their investigation discovered numerous troubling cases of academic dishonesty, including paid authoring. The Ioannidis study shows that there has to be a paradigm shift in how research is judged.
He believes that funding agencies and research organizations should reward researchers for the quality of their work rather than the quantity, with more weight given to researchers who produce more significant and impactful discoveries. This method, he believes, is vital to preserving the integrity of scientific research and ensuring that the quest for knowledge is founded on rigorous and ethical values. Â
Academics should take heed of the study’s results. The importance of research should be measured by the value it adds to society and knowledge rather than the quantity of papers published. As a result, a more equitable and ethical method of communicating scientific findings is necessary. The academic community can only hope to address these issues if it first cultivates an environment of integrity, honesty, and high standards.Â
Journal Reference Â
Conroy, G. (2023). Surge in number of “extremely productive” authors concerns scientists. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03865-y
