Research manipulation mapped in new Forensic Scientometrics report
The Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) movement has published its first report, bringing together leading experts from across the research investigative community to document, scrutinise and address a critical issue: the manipulation of global research.
The FoSci Report 2026: Understanding, Detecting, and Documenting Manipulation in the Research Ecosystem, has been launched at this week’s 9th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI), in Vancouver, Canada.
The report is an account of the threats facing scientific publishing – from individual paper-level fraud to coordinated criminal networks, to systemic structural failures, and risks to government research and research security.
Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) is a data-driven discipline that applies investigative and analytical methods to detect, analyse and expose research integrity issues, with the aim of improving trust in research.
Report co-editor and FoSci movement co-founder Dr Leslie McIntosh (VP of Research Integrity & Security, Digital Science) launched the FoSci Report as part of her presentation at WCRI. The report’s editors also include Professor Dorothy Bishop (Emeritus Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Oxford), and Professor Guillaume Cabanac (Professor of Computer Science, University of Toulouse and Institut universitaire de France (IUF)).
Bringing together contributions from 17 experts spanning academia, publishing, and independent research integrity investigation (or “sleuthing”), the report marks a significant milestone for a movement that was established just two years ago.
Structured across three levels of analysis – micro (individual papers and anomalies), meso (coordinated and organized misconduct), and macro (systemic and structural issues) – the report charts both the maturity and gaps in current research integrity practice.
Topics covered in the report include: tortured phrases, data and image manipulation, authorship fraud, paper mills, review mills, citation cartels, hijacked journals, the exploitation of open science, interference by companies and governments, legal threats against science sleuths, content authenticity and provenance, and the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence in enabling misconduct.
The report argues that what can appear to be isolated infractions are often signals of something far more systemic – and that the self-correcting nature of science cannot compete with the speed at which trust is being eroded.
Leslie McIntosh said: “Since the FoSci Paris Declaration was signed in 2024, this report is the first time we have brought our collective knowledge together in one place. It is a map of where we are, what we know, and what still needs to be built. The integrity of science depends on our willingness to act on that knowledge, not merely document it. This is a call to everyone who cares about trust in science to take the threats we describe seriously.
“The detailed insights we’ve compiled here expose not just individual bad actors but entire systems that have evolved to game scientific publishing for profit or power. Paper mills adapt. Citation cartels coordinate. Journals are hijacked. AI is accelerating all of it. Our ambition with this report is to give everyone working on these problems – publishers, institutions, funders, policymakers – a shared foundation from which to respond.”
Professor Dorothy Bishop said: “What this report shows is that the problems are real, and they are measurable. In many cases the tools to address them already exist. However, the problem is bigger, more coordinated, and more consequential than most people realise. To combat this, we need coordination, shared frameworks, and the institutional will to act. The FoSci movement exists to provide the first two – we hope this report will help build the third.”
Professor Guillaume Cabanac said: “Anomalies affecting the scientific literature are multifaceted and growing in number, as are innovative ways of breaching research integrity. Each FoSci meeting has uncovered new flavours ranging from questionable to fraudulent practices. This variety of anomalies to discover, investigate, document, and report benefits from the diversity of expertise of the FoSci community, as a unique gathering of committed individuals from research and publishing. This report and the COSIG guidelines are tangible expressions of the shared knowledge of our community.”
Read the FoSci Report 2026: Understanding, Detecting, and Documenting Manipulation in the Research Ecosystem: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.