Scientific publications must go through a peer review process, this not only ensures that it has been scrutinized well but also shows an acceptance of the scientific peer community which partly validates the work. However during this current pandemic it is the race for publication that is leading to publication manuscripts coming out in print which have bypassed peer review and get printed with fallacies and later need to be retracted.
What may be suggestions to prevent these scientific mishaps from happening?
Dear Mahima Lall, in our field of research (chemistry) does not seem to be much influenced by the pandemic. I see no sign of manuscripts bypassing peer-review.
There are two types of publications: general (news, etc.) and scientific. In most cases, these do not overlap. But then, when a topic that has an essential scientific aspect (for example, Covid, green energy, global warming, etc., etc.) becomes interesting to the public, an avalanche of publications related to it arises. Of course, such publications are unscientific. Moreover, even when interviews with scientists are included in these, journalists change the logic and text in such a way that many researchers simply refuse to deal with journalists in the future. It’s not for nothing that journalism is called “the second oldest profession” ... The problem is extremely simple - selling information in the modern world is a business, and therefore market participants are ready for any tricks to ensure profits. Unfortunately, scientific literature is becoming similar to the media.
There is no fast-tracking or bypassing of peer review for the best journals because of the virus
I'm absolutely convinced that reputed journals continue to work professionally even in corona times. With our last submission we experienced no difference compared to pre-pandemic times. Just beware of predatory journals!
For a quality journal, "fast-tracking" is more the result of accelerating the timetable, as opposed to short-circuiting it."
For example, some peer reviews in the past have taken WEEKS to be completed, whereas today maybe the reviewer is asked to make it a higher priority, completing it in a few days.
Dear Mahima Lall
The race of publishing any paper regarding the current pandemic led to many waves of wrong ideas that rocked people's social and economic thinking and conditions. This is wrong. Every scientific paper must be reviewed efficiently before going on to publishing.
Regards
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