Investigation | Research Integrity
iOS autocomplete generated a nuclear-physics paper accepted by a conference
A conference acceptance test built by repeatedly tapping phone autocomplete.
Section
News & Views
Satirical commentary, publishing stings, and academic-culture analysis curated in a Nature-style perspective section.
Sting Report | Research Integrity
Predatory journal sting with Star Wars midi-chlorians terminology
A parody biomedical manuscript with film lore and broken citations still reached acceptance.
Large-Scale Sting | Research Integrity
Who's Afraid of Peer Review?
A flawed fake paper was submitted widely to test open-access review quality.
Field Experiment | Editorial Governance
Predatory journals recruit fake editor (Dr. Fraud experiment)
A fabricated and unqualified scholar profile received editorial invitations.
Community Archive | Peer Review Culture
Shit My Reviewers Say
A crowdsourced wall of extreme and often hostile reviewer comments.
Opinion | Academic Culture
How Not to Be a Graduate Student Mentor
A satirical checklist of mentoring failures that graduate students recognize instantly.
Opinion | Academic Culture
How to Ensure You'll Never Be a Chair Again
Administrative satire on how to burn trust, morale, and legitimacy in a department.
Opinion | Academic Culture
A Satirical Toolbox for Deans
A black-humor management playbook for metric obsession and bureaucratic overload.
Sting Report | Research Integrity
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? The Surgical and Neoplastic Role of Cacao Extract in Breakfast Cereals
A fabricated biomedical manuscript reportedly accepted by multiple low-quality journals.
Retraction Case | Research Integrity
Hydroxychloroquine, push-scooters, and COVID-19: predatory-journal sting and rapid retraction
A deliberately absurd pandemic-era submission accepted then quickly retracted.
Conference Study | Research Integrity
Predatory publication of AI-generated research papers
A GPT-4 era stress test of suspected predatory journals using generated manuscripts.
Media-Sting Analysis | Research Integrity
Chocolate with high cocoa content as a weight loss accelerator: hoax analysis
A demonstration of how weak study design and hype channels can manufacture credibility.