Buying a first author slot can cost you anywhere from $56 to $5,600

The BuyTheBy dataset offers the first systematic look at the economics of fake authorship — a shadow market where AI-generated papers increasingly serve as the product being sold.

Weekend reads: LLMs 'are not the problem'; Cash for peer review 'doesn't work,' project finds; 'Many Flaws, Few Retractions' in vaping literature

A Retraction Watch roundup anchored by emerging debate on whether LLMs are intrinsically problematic for scholarly integrity or merely a symptom of deeper system failures.

Taylor & Francis Summit calls for stronger Research Integrity practices in India

Relevant to the research integrity beat.

Weekend reads: Half of social science 'doesn't replicate'; 'Scientific ghosts: Life after retraction'; multisensory learning paper retracted

The mention of AI-generated fake article networks elevates this beyond a standard retraction roundup.

BMJ retracts most of a special issue for 'compromised' peer review and 'improbable device use'

A significant case study in AI-assisted research integrity enforcement.

'Weekend reads: LLMs ''are not the problem''; Cash for peer review ''doesn''t

Retraction Watch's latest weekly roundup features coverage arguing

McGraw Hill to showcase AI and academic integrity insights at 2026 ASU+GSV

McGraw Hill is participating in the ASU+GSV Summit (April 12–15,

'Weekend reads: How to buy a scientific paper; creating responsible authorship

'Retraction Watch''s roundup covers: calls to sanction researchers

Springer Nature flags paper with fabricated reference to article (not) written

Springer Nature flagged a paper containing a fabricated AI-hallucinated

Weekend reads: LLMs 'are not the problem'; Cash for peer review 'doesn't work,' project finds

The headline 'LLMs are not the problem' represents a notable shift in discourse — a reframing of research integrity concerns away from LLMs as sole culprit.

Aries Systems Partners with Integra to Bring AI-Driven Quality and Integrity Checks to the Editorial Workflow

Aries Systems (makers of Editorial Manager, widely used by major publishers) embedding AI integrity checks in collaboration with Integra represents AI moving from bolt-on to built-in at the submission-system level.

Why Don't Journalists Circle Back to Cover Retractions?

This piece sits at the intersection of research integrity and AI risk: if journalists don't correct coverage of retracted papers, AI systems trained on or summarizing that coverage will propagate false findings even further.