Research paper mill

In research, a paper mill is a "profit oriented, unofficial and potentially illegal organisation that produce and sell fraudulent manuscripts that seem to resemble genuine research.[1][2] According to a report from Nature, thousands of papers in academic journals have been traced to paper mills from China, Iran and Russia, and some journals are revamping their review processes."[2]

It is a problem of research ethics and research integrity affecting academic publishing (academic writing, scientific writing and medical writing). It is an instance of academic dishonesty involving contract cheating and authorship, more specifically academic ghostwriting or medical ghostwriter. It may include data fabrication, leading to junk science, and sometimes to retractions in the scientific literature (scientific journals, academic journals, or medical journals).