In an analysis carried out jointly by the Publications Ethics Committee and the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers, over half of the 3,440 articles submitted over a two-year period were found to be fake. Open science practices, such as pre-registration of study plans and registered reports could promote transparency and accountability. Recognizing the importance of peer review and rewarding reviewers can also strengthen academic integrity and reduce the proliferation of suspect articles.

Unethical practices leading to ‘pay and publish trash’ culture is a growing problem in India. One of the research papers authored by two of the university’s professors and a research scholar was retracted due to concerns about the validity of results. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the percentage of research articles published in predatory journals is high. So, in order to “identify, continuously monitor and maintain UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals across disciplines” a Consortium of Academic and Research Ethics was launched.