Universal ethics in scientific publishing

Abstract

In October 2013, John Bohannon, contributing correspondent of Science Magazine, published an intriguing work regarding the peer-review process of scientific open access journals, which attracted much attention around the globe. In brief, with the help of a professional team mainly based in Harvard University, he concocted analogous fake articles reporting anticancer effects of a chemical extracted from a lichen species. The articles contain major flaws in the study design and methodology, along with glaring mistakes in the presentation of results, and they end with irrelevant conclusions that should have led to their rejection after a quick editorial check. And yet, more than half of the 304 open access journals...