Researchers fight against fake science 

At the beginning of this summer, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) organised a workshop with Swedish and international researchers on how the system for scientific publishing works and how it can be reformed. As a result of this workshop, Dan Larhammar, Uppsala University and former chairman of KVA, and Bernhard Sabel, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, have now published an article with proposed measures according to the Stockholm Declaration.

Hundreds of thousands of fraudulent articles, more or less generated by AI, have in recent years begun to erode the scientific system. This risks undermining the fundamental credibility of science. It becomes difficult to build further on research that in its entirety, or in parts, is not accurate. It becomes impossible to replicate studies that may not even have been conducted in the first place, according to the authors of the Stockholm Declaration.

“Our entire societal development is based on having a factual foundation. This is evident when it comes to medical treatments where patients can be harmed or even die. But one can also imagine bridges and buildings collapsing if the calculations they are based on are incorrect. And if macroeconomic models are inaccurate, decision-makers may receive wrong information. Ultimately, our democracies rely on us being able to make informed choices, which is why it is so important that the basic information is correct,” says Dan Larhammar.

Need to prioritise quality

He argues that it is time for the researchers themselves to tackle the problem and find countermeasures. There is something in the structure of the entire scientific system that can tempt people to cheat. To merit themselves, researchers have been required to publish as much as possible. Steering towards quality instead of quantity when researchers apply for positions could be a way to move away from this.

Dan Larhammar also points out that the rapid implementation of open access – which he fundamentally considers good – has created a market for unscrupulous opportunists.

According to the article's authors, so-called article mills produce false articles and offer researchers the opportunity to buy co-authorship. It also happens that editors of scientific journals are bribed to accept articles.

The article's authors are also critical of established large publishers who make large profits from research conducted with the help of grants from the state or foundations. Instead, they would like to see the academy itself take greater responsibility for scientific publishing without a profit motive. Another problem with the large number of false studies is that the peer review system risks collapsing. 

SU professor urges signing the declaration

Ilona Riipinen
Photo: Sören Andersson

Ilona Riipinen, professor at the Department of Environmental Science and director of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University, is one of the researchers who participated in the workshop at KVA where the Stockholm Declaration was developed.

“I love my job as an academic, but during the past decade or so, my frustration for the science publication landscape and the incentives it creates has grown. The Stockholm Declaration puts this frustration in words and provides credible ways forward to fix the aspects that are currently broken. It also gives comfort through the fact that the concerns related to the present scientific publication system, it’s economic ramifications, and the ways it is used to assess researcher merits are shared broadly throughout the research community. Hence, I am one of the signatories of the declaration and encourage other scientists to sign as well!”

Iliona Riipinen continues:
“It feels imperative that the scientific community reclaims scientific publication. This need has also motivated us in the Bolin Centre to relaunch the scientific journal Tellus, founded in 1948 by Carl-Gustaf Rossby to publish the most exciting and important findings about the Earth system. Tellus is strictly scholarly driven, non-profit and open access. We are currently working towards the short-term goal of making Tellus freely accessible for both authors and readers – depending on how the fundraising goes, we hope to be able to announce it as a Diamond Open Access journal in the near future.”

Important to change the publishing system

Since many years Stockholm University is working to increase publishing in open access journals and to regain control over scientific publishing.
 

Wilhelm Widmark
Photo: Cecilia Burman

“Stockholm University has long discussed the shortcomings of the current system for scientific publishing. I warmly welcome that the Stockholm Declaration comes directly from prominent researchers within the scientific community who call for a united effort to change the system and take back control of it to the academy. Stockholm University will actively continue to contribute to a changed publishing system through various initiatives such as Stockholm University Press and the Swedish node for diamond open access,” says Wilhelm Widmark, library director at Stockholm University Library.

Read "Reformation of science publishing: the Stockholm Declaration" – article by Bernhard Sabel and Dan Larhammar in Royal Society Open Science
Read about Svensk nod för diamant öppen tillgång (in Swedish)