Sir, as an internationally connected researcher, I have seen a rather alarming increase in malpractice, which has intensified since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.1 I am concerned by the attribution of co-authorship in scientific articles to researchers from low-income countries in exchange for a full waiver of article processing charges (APCs).
Seeking to circumvent the payment of APCs, a significant number of researchers affiliated with universities in high- and medium-income countries have sought partnerships that must be substantially negatively impacting the concept of good scientific practices. I clearly understand that in this context there must be malpractice on both sides, that is both from researchers who do not wish to pay what is due from them, as well as from pseudo authors who have not contributed anything to the work performed and accept to be listed as 'true authors'. Such a somewhat dishonest and harmful practice for science is becoming more and more routine in the scientific universe of the field of health.
As we all know, there are editorial commissioning programmes that invite respected researchers to publish for free, different journals that still offer the traditional subscription publishing model, opportunities for waivers in publication fee as well as open access journals without APCs. Therefore, the issue of paying APCs should not be an acceptable justification for this type of malpractice. If, on the one hand, scientific collaboration has been of great importance and contributed to the achievement of valuable exchanges of knowledge and the conception of higher quality manuscripts, on the other hand, this cannot be a way to deceive publishers and unfairly compete with researchers who value the reputation of their universities and the suitability of science. Considering this, it is expected that publishers, editors and scientific rankings take urgent and timely measures in order to eradicate the advance of this misleading and fateful manoeuvre, and thus continue to promote and strengthen the appreciation of good practices in the scientific field.
References
Shamsoddin E, Sofi-Mahmudi A, Natoli V, Franchi T, Tovani-Palone M R. Halting 'research waste'. Br Dent J 2021; 231: 317-318.
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Tovani-Palone, M. Possible malpractice by researchers. Br Dent J 234, 135 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5514-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5514-5