During a lifetime in academia I coped with the journal peer review process that decides whose articles get published. Twenty-six papers I authored or co-authored were eventually published via this process, a decent accomplishment for faculty at a university with no doctoral programs.
See a Washington Post article about how a ring of academic confidence tricksters rigged the peer review process at a SAGE journal called Journal of Vibration and Control. Perhaps only fellow academics will find it interesting.
Clearly the journal editor dropped the ball when he put in place a semi-automated system that reduced his workload. SAGE apparently thought so too, as he is no longer editor, and has retired. One of the major malefactors was fired by his university in Taiwan, I hope they can track down and sanction the others.
If honest Ph.D. students have taken the fake research at face value and based their dissertation research upon it, that's truly serious. They could have to start afresh, perhaps losing years of work, or be discredited. More than sad ... it's criminal.
