Benchmarking in research

The proliferation of research articles published in journals that claim to be international has indeed raised several questions regarding the quality and integrity of academic research.

- CANDY D' CUNHA

These largely online journals refer to themselves as peer-reviewed give a call for submission of articles. In actuality, the editorial boards of these magazines are comprised of prominent academics from reputable universities who are there merely as namesakes. The method of operation is puzzling and interesting. At first, they ask scholars who want to publish to send in their articles, giving the misleading impression that acceptance is conditional upon peer review. After a month or two months, they notify the scholars that their articles have been accepted for publication and demand payment as a processing fee.

Peer review journals are expected to return the articles with comments and recommendations for enhancement. However, these things do not occur. The scholars feel excited about receiving the communication regarding the acceptance and publication of their articles. In many instances, the articles published in such online journals carry poor editing and the accessibility of publication of such low-quality articles may not necessarily contribute to important advancements in knowledge in the educational scene.

The increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, which are helpful but can occasionally be abused to get around rigorous research procedures, exacerbates this problem.