The Russian and International Practices of Identification of Irresponsible Journals and Authors

In 2016, a new project aimed at identification of irresponsible publishing practices in Russian scientific journals was launched in Russia. Research papers published in Russian journals included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission were checked in a semi- automated format using a software program developed specifically for the Russian project Dissernet. The 4-year realization of the Dissernet project allowed 6,000 false dissertations, which contained multi-page incorrect borrowings from other research works (plagiarism cases), to be identified. Thus far, over 50,000 research papers published in the Russian language have been checked. It has been found that in more than 2,000 cases the authors violated the basic principles of publication ethics. The statistics obtained has allowed three categories of ‘problem’ journals to be distinguished. The first category includes predatory journals that are characterized by a suspiciously large number of publications covering a wide range of topics; a rapid growth in the number of publications with time; the absence or fictional participation of esteemed scientists in the editorial board work; as well as the factual absence of the peer-review procedure. The second category includes well-estab-lished scientific journals with ‘a low immunity level’ that practice the peer-review procedure only formally, thus permitting the principles of scientific ethics to be violated. The third category includes journals whose editorial boards collaborate with those dissertation councils that ‘produce’ false dissertations on ‘an industrial scale’. The statistics of the retraction rate of research papers in Russia and worldwide is presented. A conclusion is drawn that the appalling state of scientific publishing in Russia is the result, on the one hand, of the seriously impaired system of scientific expertise in the society, and, on the other, of unreasonably high requirements that the Ministry of Education and Sciences in Russia apply to access the publication activity of Russian scientists and university lecturers.