Fake Peer Reviews, the Latest Form of Scientific Fraud, Fool Journals

This article reports on how some scientists impersonate outside reviewers for journals and give high marks to their own manuscripts. Scientists appear to have figured out a new way to avoid any bad prepublication reviews that dissuade journals from publishing their articles: Write positive reviews themselves, under other people's names. In incidents involving four scientists--the latest case coming to light two weeks ago--journal editors say authors got to critique their own papers by suggesting reviewers with contact e-mails that actually went to themselves. According to Irene Hames, a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics, Blame lies with those journals that allow authors to nominate their own reviewers and do not check credentials and contacts.