Improper legitimization of hijacked journals through citations

TL;DR

This study investigates the extent of citation of hijacked journals in scientific literature, revealing that numerous articles reference unreliable sources, which may undermine research integrity.

Contribution

The paper introduces a Citejacked detector tool and provides the first systematic analysis of citation practices involving hijacked journals.

Findings

828 articles cite hijacked journal articles

Average of 2 citejacked articles published daily in reputable journals

Potential wider prevalence not yet fully studied

Abstract

The goal is to study the prevalence of citajacked papers: papers in authentic scientific journals citing hijacked journals, in academic literature. A Citejacked detector was designed as a part of the Problematic Paper Screener (https://www.irit.fr/~Guillaume.Cabanac/problematic-paper-screener/citejacked) to trace if the references to articles originating from hijacked journals infiltrate scientific communication. A full-text search was performed between November 2021 and January 2022 in the Dimensions database using the name of 1 of the 12 hijacked journals. The analysis of the bibliography in these articles revealed that 828 of them cite unreliable articles from hijacked journals. During 01.Jan.2021-31.Jan.2022, an average of 2 citejacked articles has been published daily in established journals. Given the limited number of titles included in this study, the phenomenon might be wider and is not yet systematically studied.