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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 9h

Again papers citing already retracted papers: here in ACS Applied ....Materials & Interfaces doi.org/10.1021/acsa... Ref. 22 ...Bio Materials doi.org/10.1021/acsa... Ref. 5 ACS: not able/willing to run a simple search for "retracted" before publishing? #ResearchIntegrity #ChemSky @pubs.acs.org

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 11h

Here we are: "The AI tools introduced fundamental errors, including incorrect content in all figures and 47 references" The authors "are retracting the paper to maintain the validity of the scientific record" ...how many papers like this are out there? #ResearchIntegrity doi.org/10.1039/d6se...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#CompChemSky community: What do you do with a DFT functional? Yes, of course: "density functionalizing" 🤦‍♂️ ...oh, Elsevier #ResearchIntegrity doi.org/10.1016/j.pd...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

...here, same subject👇more work for Elsevier: doi.org/10.1016/j.jp... doi.org/10.1016/j.he... doi.org/10.1016/j.in... doi.org/10.1016/j.co... doi.org/10.1016/j.ph... doi.org/10.1016/j.he... MDPI: doi.org/10.3390/app1... AIP: doi.org/10.1063/5.02... doi.org/10.1063/5.02... #ResearchIntegrity

doi.org

Redirecting

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Hundreds of ‘free’ academic journals have started charging fees👇 “It seems like these journals and their reputation had become commercially worth converting to a different model” ...time for fundamental change #ResearchIntegrity www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Hundreds of ‘free’ academic journals have started charging fees

A study tracking diamond open-access journals has found an increase in titles switching to other publishing models — especially over the past few years.

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If you liked the Th-based radioactive Perovskite for future Photovoltaics, 👇 you will love this one: RaThX3 - for "optimized photon harvesting" doi.org/10.1016/j.co... Maybe the radioactivity of Thorium and Radium are compensating each other? 😂 #CompChemSky #ChemSky #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This 👇DFT study "highlights the potential" of BaThX3, X = O, Se, Te "as promising candidates for ... photovoltaic absorber materials" doi.org/10.1016/j.in... 👉 ¿How to get rid of poisoning Lead in Perovskite Solar Cells? Take radioactive Thorium! 😅🤦‍♂️ #CompChemSky #ChemSky #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

☝️ this just published review article, in RSC Pharmaceutics, doi.org/10.1039/d5pm... cites a paper which is retracted since already 4 years: doi.org/10.1049/nbt2... 🤦‍♂️ ...and nobody noticed this: authors, reviewers, editors, and all their fancy AI tools...? #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

...maybe, because in the "Author Statement" the authors asked: "Please take the necessary steps to consider this article for publication in your reputed journal" ...this happens when Elsevier's greed even economize any kind of basic editing #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

..."Photovoltaic Genome" 🤦‍♂️ the cheap AI software which invented this title was apparently on drugs... doi.org/10.1016/j.ch... ...and this in "Chemical Physics", once a respected journal in the field... oh Elsevier #ResearchIntegrity #CompChemSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

new paper with Min Sang Kwon's group: Positional Effects of Amine-Induced Chiral Perturbation on Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Cyanoarene-Based TADF Emitters www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejo...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Great day with Sang Kyu Park's group at KIST Jeonbuk!

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

"61% of German PhD students considered discontinuing their PhD, citing mental health issues, poor supervision, and high workloads. Satisfaction with supervision correlated strongly with feedback quality, leadership, and communication skills." #ResearchIntegrity #Chemsky #CompChemSky #PiSky

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Reposted by Johannes Gierschner

Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 01/08/2026

A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Informa of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges.

retractionwatch.com

Federal lawsuit accuses four major publishers of extorting article processing charges

iStock A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges…

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Talking about #ResearchIntegrity at the Department of Chemistry, Kyung Hee University, Seoul Thank you again, Youngmi Kim, for the kind invitation, and the audience for the thoughtful discussion.

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Spanish Ray of Hope for #ResearchIntegrity: The Science Ministry's new guidelines for publicly funded projects will specifically evaluate whether researchers & institutions obey all standards for research ethics & integrity, as set by the ALLEA European Code of Conduct www.boe.es/boe/dias/202...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The Symposium on "Frontiers in Organic Materials and Molecular Photophysics" was organized by Min Sang Kwon at Seoul National University, kwonlab.snu.ac.kr Thank you again, Min Sang and all friends, colleagues and students for this great day!

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Dr. Liangxuan Wang, our former PhD student, co-supervised with A. J. Meixner, has won the Friedrich-Förster Prize for Junior Scientists in the field of Physics or Physical Chemistry at the Univ. Tübingen @unituebingen.bsky.social uni-tuebingen.de/en/faculties... Congratulations, Lexie! 🥂🍾

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Reposted by Johannes Gierschner

Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Just as publishers are waking up to the threats from paper mills, they are adopting a new approach to keep one step ahead, as explained in this guest blogpost by Matt Spick. deevybee.blogspot.com/2026/07/how-... #researchintegrity #publishing #papermills

deevybee.blogspot.com

How paper mills go straight (without going clean): a shift to dual-use services

Guest post by Matt Spick Photo: Parsadanov/Shutterstock.com From relative obscurity, paper mills have recently mo...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Citation Cartels & Brokers at work: "Paper mill cancer studies get double the number of citations as genuine papers" 👇 ... & generating thousands of absurd "Rising Star" profiles in the "Stanford" list of "Top 2% scientists" #ResearchIntegrity

nature.com

Paper mill cancer studies get double the number of citations as genuine papers

Potentially fraudulent papers often cite each other and could be inflating the impact factor of journals in which they are published.

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Research Integrity Seminar at "UNA Europa Summer School 2026 Exploring Soft Materials" @ Univ. Bologna. Thank you again, Fabrizia Negri & Luca Muccioli for the kind invitation, and the YRs for the good discussion! #ResearchIntegrity #ChemSky #CompChemSky site.unibo.it/una-europa/e...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Research Integrity Seminar @ Institute for Physical & Theoretical Chemistry, Univ. Tübingen, already 40th edition! Thank you again, Alfred Meixner & IPTC for the kind invitation, and the audience for the interest & discussion! #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I agree on the value of HQ peer review, BUT as we know, "Highly Cited" does not necessarily mean "High Impact" anymore in times of Citation Cartels & Brokers ...just look at Springer-Nature's Scientific Reports, which makes much money with that 🫤 #ResearchIntegrity

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Thank you, Carlos Granell @ UJI, for the summary of my seminar, and that of Magnus, in Castellón: geotec.uji.es/2026/05/29/e... #ResearchIntegrity

geotec.uji.es

Emerging Ethical Challenges in Research: Notes from the EDUC Retreat Plenary Talks – GEOTEC

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

it was a great pleasure to attend the 👉Symposium in honor of Nazario Martín’s scientific career on the occasion of his 70th birthday! #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

👇 "Why AI can’t be trusted to write scientific reviews: The production of the highest-quality literature reviews requires the judgement and expertise of people" 👍 #ResearchIntegrity www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

👇EDUC Retreat: "New Ethical Challenges in Research" great to connect to Spanish colleagues Ramón Feenstra @rfeenstra.bsky.social Alberto Martín @albertomartin.bsky.social and José Félix Lozano on #ResearchIntegrity www.fue.uji.es/educretreat

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Discussing #ResearchIntegrity at "EDUC Retreat: New Ethical Challenges in Research" www.fue.uji.es/educretreat of of educalliance.eu @ Univ. Jaume I, Castellón Thank you again, Ramón Feenstra @rfeenstra.bsky.social for the kind invitation, and the YRs for the thoughtful discussion!

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Discussing #ResearchIntegrity at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) ectn.eu, at Univ. Valencia. Thank you again, Rafael Ballesteros & Daniel Tordera for the kind invitation, and the audience for the thoughtful discussion. #ChemSky #CompChemSky #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Speaking about #ResearchIntegrity at IQTC - Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional, Universitat de Barcelona, www.iqtc.ub.edu/events/iqtc-... Thanks again, Francesc Viñes & IQTC for the kind invitation, and the audience for the thoughtful discussion! #CompChemSky #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

arXiv announces a 2 years ban for researchers who put their names to papers which included errors clearly generated by AI👇 #ResearchIntegrity #ChemSky #CompChemSky #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Thank you again to all colleagues for the great discussions at ICEL! #PiSky #CompChemSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Enjoying the 15th International Conference on Electroluminescence and Optoelectronic Devices (ICEL 2026) in Namur, Belgium! Thanks, Yoann & Benoit and their Team for the great organization, and the kind invitation!

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Panče Naumov gave a great talk at IMDEA Nanoscience. Thanks, again, Panče, for the discussion & leisure, and Juan Cabanillas, for inviting him to Madrid! #ChemSky #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

IMDEA Nanoscience, Madrid, wins the Accreditation as Spanish Center of Excellence "Severo Ochoa" the third time in a row! #ChemSky #CompChemSky #PiSky

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

👇"When I next hire scientists, I will rely less on publication output. " ...exactly 👍 👉Even more, I do a background check for applicants, to detect possible suspicious publication & citation patterns, which may indicate 'Paper Mill' or 'Citation Cartel' activity... #ResearchIntegrity #ChemSky

nature.com

To hire good scientists, look at their peer-reviewing records

Letter to the Editor

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Johannes Gierschner @gierschner.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

"Exploratory Study of Students’ Virus and Vaccine Concepts and Sources of Information" doi.org/10.1080/0021... ...which investigates "Spread of Misinformation" is itself struck by Vickers' curse [...for further reading on that, see doi.org/10.1007/s111... ] ...crazy times for #ResearchIntegrity

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