Includes agricultural sciences/natural resources, biological/biomedical sciences, health sciences including dentistry, nursing, allied health, veterinary science
A publisher has identified a ring of three individuals who acted as guest editors for three special issues. These individuals used nine fake accounts to peer review manuscripts. For some manuscripts, the fake identities were used alongside legitimate reviewers, while in other cases they were used exclusively. The publisher has also identified several submissions to those special issues where the fake identities were included in the authors’ list, presumably to lend them credibility.