The anxiety of the lone editor: fraud, paper mills and the protection of the scientific record.

The article comments on the anxiety and mental health problem facing editors in preventing the publication of scientific misconduct and fraud and paper mill activities and calls for the protection of the scientific record. It attributes the problem with paper mill-produced manuscripts to pressure on academics, educational workload in universities and funding. It suggests having an authorship policy, investigation of suspected unethical behavior and peer review to combat publishing misconduct.