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Structural pressures\u2014publish-or-perish culture, mandatory OA policies, and author publication charges-driven business models\u2014fuel the proliferation of low-quality or fraudulent research, now exacerbated by artificial intelligence-generated content. This opinion, which aligns with a growing clamour from the research community\u2014calls for an international journal accreditation system, guided by a transparent code of conduct and enforced by funding agencies, to restore integrity, prioritize quality over quantity for professional progression, and safeguard trust in scientific communication.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/femsml\/uqaf029","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T13:23:08Z","timestamp":1760188988000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Storm over science: predatory practices and the fight for research reliability"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6041-2731","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"V\u00edctor","family":"de\u00a0Lorenzo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Center of Biotechnology, CSIC Systems Biology Department, , Madrid 28049 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Medicine Department of Medical Microbiology and Ibn-i Sina Hospital Central Microbiology Laboratory, , Ankara, 06230 ,","place":["Turkey"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Puri","family":"L\u00f3pez-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ecologie Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Evolution, CNRS, Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech , Gif-sur-Yvette, 91190 ,","place":["France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stipan","family":"Jonji\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka , Rijeka, 51000 ,","place":["Croatia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kenneth N","family":"Timmis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig , 38106 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