In the wake of the bogus petition against teaching evolution, we might as well throw in “A Peek Inside the Strange World of Fake Academia” by Kevin Carey at New York Times:
OMICS International is a leader in the growing business of academic publication fraud. It has created scores of “journals” that mimic the look and feel of traditional scholarly publications, but without the integrity. This year the Federal Trade Commission formally charged OMICS with “deceiving academics and researchers about the nature of its publications and hiding publication fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.”
OMICS is also in the less well-known business of what might be called conference fraud, which is what led to the call from John. Both schemes exploit a fundamental weakness of modern higher education: Academics need to publish in order to advance professionally, get better jobs or secure tenure. Even within the halls of respectable academia, the difference between legitimate and fake publications and conferences is far blurrier than scholars would like to admit.
OMICS is on the far end of the “definitely fake” spectrum. Real academic conferences evaluate potential participants by subjecting proposed papers and presentations to a rigorous peer-review process…More.
Hmmm. Why does Carey think, given massive peer review scandals, that having peer review would solve much? It’s characteristic of dinosaur media like the Times to not see what everyone else sees: Things are far worse than that. If they weren’t, this would have been a way bigger scandal way sooner.
See also: Sokal hoax 20 years old. Is the peer review system unreformable? What has changed? Does it really come down to: As long as they’ve got the cred and the gear, they’re doing science?
and
Remember that bogus petition against teaching evolution in US schools? Sponsored by Global Citizen of the Year…
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Hat tip: Pos-Darwinista