Field Experiment | Editorial Governance
Predatory journals recruit fake editor (Dr. Fraud experiment)
The Anna O. Szust experiment tested editorial recruitment quality and found that many suspect journals offered editorial roles with minimal scrutiny.
Setup
Researchers applied to journals using a fake candidate whose profile intentionally lacked qualification for editorial service.
Response patterns were interpreted as a proxy for editorial diligence.
Result
A substantial subset of predatory journals responded positively, including offers for senior roles.
The experiment highlighted severe governance gaps in opportunistic publishing networks.
Context
The Anna O. Szust experiment tested editorial recruitment quality and found that many suspect journals offered editorial roles with minimal scrutiny.
Predatory journals recruit fake editor (Dr. Fraud experiment) is published here in a full-article route so readers can inspect framing, metadata, and references together.
Editorial interpretation
Within the Editorial Governance section, this piece is used to analyze how evidence claims and publication context influence reader trust.
Route-level discoverability is intentionally preserved so each claim can be traced back to its source record.
Limitations and replication note
This journal shell is a structured publication demonstrator, not a substitute for external primary archives.
For formal citation use, verify details against source publications and archival records.