Fraudulent science papers produced by criminal gangs for money are starting to outpace legitimate studies, experts have warned.

Academics at Northwestern University, in Illinois, US, warned that scientific journals could soon become “completely poisoned” by fake reports that damage public trust and are potentially medically harmful.

The problem is driven by illegal “paper mills”, largely based in Russia, China and India, which produce sham research and invite new and struggling academics to pay thousands of pounds to have their name listed as an author.

In many countries, the number of published papers and citations is critical for scientists to achieve promotion and win funding grants.

For the new study, researchers carried out a large-scale analysis of scientific journal data and discovered “sophisticated global networks of individuals and entities, which systematically work together to undermine the integrity of academic publishing”.

They estimated that the number of fraudulent articles was doubling every 18 months, compared to legitimate articles, which were doubling every 15 years.

The problem is so widespread that the publication of fraudulent science is “outpacing the growth rate of legitimate scientific publications”, academics found.

‘Distressing to see others engage in fraud’

“This study is probably the most depressing project I’ve been involved with in my entire life,” said Luís Amaral, Professor of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics.

“Since I was a kid, I was excited about science. It’s distressing to see others engage in fraud and in misleading others.

“If we do not create awareness around this problem, worse and worse behaviour will become normalised. At some point, it will be too late, and scientific literature will become completely poisoned.”

The problem has become so widespread that more than 10,000 scientific papers needed to be retracted by academic journals last year alone, with experts warning that many more go undetected.