In 2023, 10,000 scientific papers were retracted after they were found to be fraudulent. For the integrity of our academic institutions and science itself, something must be done to discourage these shady practices. These practices are problematic because citation is the currency by which academic journal articles — and the authors who write them — demonstrate their standing. Some authors have suggested that as many as one in seven scientific papers are fake although estimates vary . Hiring and promotion committees often use these benchmarks as shorthand for academic quality, meaning that an academic's job prospects and career progression can depend very strongly on these numbers.