Thousands of German scientists — many using public funds — have published their results in quasi-scientific journals without being peer reviewed, according to a report. An expert described it as "a disaster for science."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. May
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Over 5,000 scientists at German universities and other higher education institutes have published the results of their research in journals run by quasi-scientific publishers, according to a media report on Thursday.
When researchers publish their results in a scientific journal, the expectation is that their research questions, methods and data have undergone a rigorous review by other scientists in the field in a process known as peer review. The process acts as a form of quality control, ensuring that studies are scientifically sound before being released to the public.
However, quasi-scientific publishers carry out little to no review of the articles submitted to them and often publish the articles just days after receiving them, according to research carried out by German public broadcasters NDR and WDR as well as German news magazine Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin.
The publishers approach scientists and companies around the world, encouraging them to publish their work in one of their journals. The researchers then pay to have their article or study published in one of these journals where it appears within a few days.
The report found that some 400,000 researchers worldwide have used these scientifically dubious journals — knowingly or inadvertently — to publish their work.
Sharp rise in Germany
Although the quasi-scientific publishers are not a new phenomenon, the recent rise in scientists and researchers using these journals to publish their work is new.
The number of publications by reputable scientists in quasi-scientific journals around the world has tripled since 2013, the report found.
In Germany, the publications increased five-fold, the report found. Furthermore, many of the researchers in Germany were carrying out research that was publicly funded.
According to the report, many scientists are not aware that they've sent their work off to a dubious publisher, while others may use the pay-to-publish services to more quickly get their work out.
The quasi-scientific journals are used frequently by other authors seeking to publish work that would likely be rejected by reputable scientific journals. Climate change skeptics as well as companies selling controversial treatments for cancer, autism and Parkinson's disease have published articles with these journals.
The report also found that German pharmaceutical giants like Bayer have also published studies about their products that have been written by employees. Similarly, tobacco companies use the journals to publish studies about the effects of smoking.
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'Disaster for science'
Leading German scientists who were found to have published their work using these journals expressed shock when asked about their publications.
Bernd Scholz-Reiter, the rector of the University of Bremen reportedly published 13 articles in the dubious journals. He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin that he hadn't had any doubts about the seriousness of the publications, but emphasized the "scientific quality and integrity" of his texts were still intact.
A Nobel Prize recipient was also among those who published in one of the journals in question, although Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin declined to name the person.
Joachim Funke, a psychology professor and ombudsman for the University of Heidelberg, harshly criticized the fraudulent practices of the publishers.
The quasi-scientific journals are a "disaster for science, because unevaluated claims are sent into the world and give the impression that they are science," he said in the report.
The nine-month-long research by NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin was carried out in partnership with other international media, including French newspaper Le Monde.
50 years of Germany's 'numerus clausus' and the geniuses who failed to make the grade
In 1968, German universities introduced a numerus clausus – you needed the best grades to study popular subjects like medicine and law. If it had been any earlier, though, these renowned scientists wouldn't have made it.
Image: Fotolia/contrastwerkstatt
School careers are seldom straightforward
The story of physics genius Albert Einstein proves that even "bad students" can be motivated – when the situation is right. He was bored at elementary school, suffered under his authoritarian teachers and was considered unwilling to learn. After a move to Switzerland he graduated from high school – with average grades but top marks in math and physics.
Image: picture-alliance / akg-images
Inventor of a new way of seeing
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was kicked out of high school when his teacher suspected Röntgen of drawing a cartoon of him, but Röntgen got into university. He passed the admission test for physics and machine engineering. In 1911, Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of x-rays. The principles of Röntgen's discovery are still used in medicine and elsewhere today.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Quotas to handle crowded lecture halls
In February 1968, students in Münster protested against the conditions at their university. They complained about rotten furniture and bad hygiene. The worst hardships of the post-war years were over and the students thought they were due improvements. The most crowded subjects were medicine and pharmacy. Laboratories and auditoriums were overcrowded. And it was the baby boomer years.
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1968: Lively debates - are quotas fair?
The students also wanted to overthrow a generation of professors, whom they saw as being tainted by the Nazis. It was an era of student rebellion. The university deans decide to introduce the numerus clausus on March 27, 1968. Here, about 2,000 students can be seen holding a "teach-in" in Cologne to discuss what the new rules will mean for studying in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Better conditions for studying - but not for all
Medicine students in Germany today are likely to sit in lecture halls like this. There's enough space for everyone, and teaching methods are advanced. But only those with the best high school grades are admitted to study medicine and other popular subjects like law, business, math and the natural sciences. You can still apply with low grades, but you'll have to wait, sometimes for years.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Grubitzsch
A top researcher with bad grades
Louis Pasteur had to wait. He grew up in a family of tanners – not the most respected beginnings at the time. He was diligent and got a place in higher education in Paris, but quit after becoming homesick. When he realized he would leave high school with bad grades, he decided to repeat a year and do better. Pasteur went on to become an infectious diseases expert and pioneered early vaccines.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/WHA
He just doesn't want to listen!
Thomas Edison didn't have fun at school. His teacher thought he was an airhead. The truth was Edison was deaf. He spent a few months at school before his mother, a part-time teacher, took on his education. He never studied at university, started his career as a telegrapher and became one of the world's most famous inventors, who developed the phonograph, motion picture camera and much, much more.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/TopFoto
Even dropouts can become great inventors
Here's Edison (right) and his inventor friend, George Eastman, who founded the Kodak Company. Eastman invented, among other things, photo paper and the film roll. In this photo, he's presenting a movie projector. But the pioneer had quit school just like Edison, and got an early start in business when his father died and he had to earn money to feed the family from the age of 14.
Image: AP
Becoming professor despite bad grades
Wilhelm Wien grew up in Ketrzyn in Masuria, Poland. He had to leave the local high school due to his bad grades, but he got private lessons and finished high school in the next big city - Königsberg in Eastern Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He studied and received a PhD in Berlin and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1911 for his analysis of the laws of heat radiation.
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A Nobel Prize in one the "worst of subjects"
Physicist Rudolf Mößbauer got his high school diploma in 1955, long before the introduction of Germany's numerus clausus. He said he'd had problems with his school teachers and called physics "one of the worst subjects to study" – largely due to the bad quality of teaching. But he pursued the subject all the same, researched the laws of atomic nuclei, and received a Nobel Prize in 1961.