Some faculty members in Pakistan are increasingly resorting to paper mills to publish plagiarized manuscripts

Regulatory bodies need to be vigilant & careful in evaluation of the journals because such unethical practices tarnish the image of Pakistan and also affect their credibility

LAHORE: Unethical publication practices by faculty members and healthcare professionals from Pakistan are reported to have now crossed all limits. Increasingly, individuals are utilizing paper mills to publish plagiarized articles, often copying content from legitimate journals published years earlier. One of the most recent cases brought to our attention by Concerned Academics on April 2, 2025, involves authors from many medial institutions of Pakistan who have published a plagiarized manuscript in a journal with their name though this paper was published in Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences two years ago in 2020.
While the title was slightly altered, the content, from the structured abstract to the entire paper, was copied verbatim—including tables and references. The original paper1 had only two authors, but the copied version has eight, from different medical institutions from Lahore, Faisalabad and Jhang.

Interestingly, none of the authors, including the corresponding author have, provided email addresses. They merely listed their departmental affiliations, and in some cases, only their PM&DC registration numbers. Many healthcare professionals are unaware of how paper mills operate—how they deceive authors and exploit them for money in exchange for publishing plagiarized papers. These authors often use such papers to boost their CVs and gain promotions, but in doing so, they damage Pakistan’s reputation and undermine the integrity of our regulatory bodies, such as the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Concerns with HEC and PM&DC’s Oversight

It is worth noting that the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) oversight of health science journals has been lackluster, and in the past, some editors have raised this issue. However, HEC has failed to take action due to its lack of capacity. In one case, a journal recognized by HEC had distinguished editors from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan listed as editors and they were not aware of it. Hence when they came to know about it, they are reported to have brought it to the notice of HEC administration.

This was not the first time such issues had arisen. HEC had previously recognized a Pakistani journal that was categorized as predatory. This journal published over six hundred manuscripts in one issue, without following proper peer review procedures. In contrast, the PM&DC Journals Committee has maintained a transparent and objective approach. The committee acts as a facilitator but does not compromise on quality.

Fraudulent Practices in Journals

Fraudulent individuals have been collecting large sums of money from faculty members eager to get their substandard papers published quickly, often using names similar to reputable journals such as Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. Some of these Fraudulent individuals even issue fake acceptance letters. When we were contacted by these authors, we requested submission details, when it was discovered that everything was fictitious, including the acceptance letters. We have informed the PM&DC and HEC about these issues and reiterated that we do not deal with third-party agents. We use the Open Journal System for submissions and manuscript processing. We are planning to report this issue to the regulatory bodies shortly for a detailed investigation.

REFERENCE

1. Torun F, Torun SD. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students in Turkey. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(6):1355-1359. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.298