From Trust to Threat: A Case Study of Fraudulent Research Networks
Leslie D. McIntosh explores how fraudulent research networks exploit trust in science and why stronger research integrity is vital to protect open science.
Abstract:
Trust underpins the research ecosystem, yet it is increasingly exploited by fraudulent actors. The Pharmakon Neuroscience Research Network, first uncovered in 2022, shows how science can be weaponised through fraudulent funding claims, authorship-for-sale schemes, and citation manipulation. Spanning 120 publications, more than 320 authors, and across 40 countries, Pharmakon exploited academic incentives to launder misinformation and manufacture credibility. Using forensic scientometrics this talk exposes how such networks evolve, why traditional vetting fails to stop them, and how strengthening research integrity is essential to defend trustworthy open science from exploitation.
Speaker Bio:
Leslie D. McIntosh, PhD is the VP of Research Integrity and Security at Digital Science and dedicates her work to improving research, reducing disinformation, and increasing trust in science.
As an academic turned entrepreneur, she founded Ripeta in 2017 to improve research quality and integrity. Now part of Digital Science, the Ripeta algorithms lead in detecting Trust Markers of research manuscripts and nefarious networks in science. She works globally to improve research quality, integrity, and security through developing the forensic scientometrics discipline. She has given hundreds of talks, including to the US-NIH, NASA, and World Congress on Research Integrity, and consulted with governments and institutions across the globe. Dr. McIntosh’s work was the most-read RetractionWatch post of 2022. In 2023, her influential ideas on achieving equity in research were highlighted in the Guardian and Science.
External participants are welcome to join online via Teams:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_NmMxNWFhNmItNzZkMi00M2MxLWJhZDktNjZlNjdhMTFmZTZm@thread.v2/0?context=%7B%22Tid%22:%22c152cb07-614e-4abb-818a-f035cfa91a77%22,%22Oid%22:%224a04acaa-efd0-4184-9c04-28eae7f6196b%22%7D
Meeting ID: 314 982 423 083 9
Passcode: Vq3ko96z
