Frontiers’ journals had large scale retractions. Where does that leave its reputation?
Authorship for sale, in which authors, during the review process, sell coauthorship to people who have not contributed to the research, is an unethical practice. After acceptance of a paper, requests for changes in authorship can only be accepted under exceptional circumstances and after an in-depth assessment by the research integrity unit. Clear and transparent editorial processes are essential. The editors and reviewers are named on each paper to improve accountability. The number of times authors can re-submit needs to be limited to reduce the frustration of the reviewers. The elephant in the room is the impossible scale. There are not enough people to do all the peer review needed. The industry is setting itself up to fail.
CMEPEDIA builds a directory for authors and peer reviewers, allowing the same person to act in both capacities. ACCRECENT monitors that the author and reviewers have no former affiliations. Authors are expected to register with ACCRECENT before their topic is approved. Changes to authorship after the educational module is taken into production are scrutinized. The profiles and DOIs of authors and peer reviewers are published in the webshop and can be verified before purchase.
