Predatory journals, paper mills, and AI could destroy academic publishing

George Braine

Asian Journal of English Language Teaching ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4) : 1-8.

PDF(273 KB)
PDF(273 KB)
Asian Journal of English Language Teaching ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4) : 1-8. DOI: 10.65961/AJELT-2026-4-001
Opinion

Predatory journals, paper mills, and AI could destroy academic publishing

  • George Braine
Author information +
History +

Abstract

Predatory journals and paper mills have been an ominous presence in academic publishing for decades. More recently, GenAI (generative artificial intelligence) has made an impact, accelerating the assault on the integrity of academic publishing. This article surveys these phenomena partly from a journalistic angle, tracing their rapid ascent and the destruction they continue to cause. 

Cite this article

Download Citations
George Braine. (2026). Predatory journals, paper mills, and AI could destroy academic publishing.Asian Journal of English Language Teaching , 35(4): 1-8. https://doi.org/10.65961/AJELT-2026-4-001

References

Gorelick, E. (2025, November 7). Vigilante lawyers expose the rising tide of A.I. slop in court filings. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/business/lawyers-ai-vigilantes.html

Hu, G. (2026a). The crushing weight of fake papers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2026.101688

Hu, G. (2026b). GenAI! GenAI? GenAI... Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 80, Article 101650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2026.101650

Kolata, G. (2013, April 7). Scientific articles accepted (personal checks, too). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/health/for-scientists-an-exploding-world-of-pseudo-academia.html

Kolata, G. (2017a, March 22). A scholarly sting operation shines a light on “predatory” journals. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/science/open-access-journals.html

Kolata, G. (2017b, October 30). Many academics are eager to publish in worthless journals. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/science/predatory-journals-academics.html

Kolata, G. (2019, April 3). The price for “predatory” publishing? $50 million. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/science/predatory-journals-ftc-omics.html

Kolata, G. (2025, November 4). The editor got a letter from “Dr. B.S.” So did a lot of other editors. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/science/letters-to-the-editor.html

Nejadghanbar, H., Hu, G., & Jahangiri Babadi, M. (2023). Publishing in predatory language and linguistics journals: Authors’ experiences and motivations. Language Teaching, 56(3), 297–312. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444822000490

Nerkar, S. (2026, April 21). A.I. “hallucinations” created errors in court filing, top law firm says. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/nyregion/sullivan-cromwell-ai-hallucination.html

Non-existent AI-generated references trigger HKU paper investigation. (2025, November 10). The Standard. https://www.thestandard.com.hk/news/article/316407/Non-existent-AI-generated-references-trigger-HKU-PhD-paper-investigation

Richardson, R. A. K., Hong, S. S., Byrne, J. A., Stoeger, T., & Amaral, L. A. N. (2025). The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(32), Article e2420092122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2420092122

Sabel, B. A., & Larhammar, D. (2025, November 5). Fake publishing - the greatest scientific fraud. Royal Society. https://royalsociety.org/blog/2025/11/reformation-of-science-publishing/

Weiser, B. (2023, May 27). Here’s what happens when your lawyer uses ChatGPT. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/nyregion/avianca-airline-lawsuit-chatgpt.html

PDF(273 KB)

Accesses

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/