Fake peer review - too good to be true

Academic fraud and research misconduct can manifest in many ways. In the olden days, we tend to think of research misconduct as falsifying or fabrication of data, or copying from other publications, including the author’s own previous or simultaneous publications. In recent years, academic fraud has taken a more sophisticated turn.

In Postgraduate Medical Journal (PMJ), Qi et al reported on retractions related to faked peer reviews.1 In these incidents, the peer reviews were not genuine. The reviewers in these cases appeared to be real independent academics, but were in reality either the authors and associates using other names and e-mail addresses, or persons named by the authors who were not genuine academic referees.2

Most of us would be appalled by such deceptions. These dishonest behaviours harm science and academia, and the scientists and academics who are devoted to making and reporting truthful observations. While we should condemn and...

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