News Release
26-Aug-2026

(Toronto, August 26, 2026) JMIR Publications invites submissions to a new section titled “Misinformation in Scientific Publishing” in its open access journal JMIR Metascience and Research Integrity. This new journal focuses on publishing metascience (also known as metaresearch or “research on “research”), which aims to increase the quality and efficiency of research and advance the quality, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly publishing ecosystem. The journal addresses ethical challenges, best practices, and scientific integrity issues through metascience and evidence-based research standards.

The integrity of the scientific record depends on rigorous research practices and the trustworthiness of the channels through which knowledge is communicated and disseminated. Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation in scholarly publishing represent a growing threat to the credibility of science. Unlike general public health misinformation, these phenomena arise from within the scholarly ecosystem itself through compromised peer review, manipulated data, misleading abstracts, predatory publishing, citation manipulation, paper mills, and irresponsible or frank misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the scientific research life cycle. Downstream consequences erode public trust in science or could lead to harmful real-world decisions in clinical practice or health policy.

The speed and scale at which scholarly content is now produced and shared amplify these issues. Evolving publishing models (eg, preprints, open peer review) and dissemination tools or culture (eg, social media, journalistic media) may be used as new avenues for an influx of unvalidated AI-generated material. This increases the risk for accelerating the spread of information that has not been adequately vetted, even when harmless, or that may be intentionally misleading, which leans toward disinformation and malinformation. At the same time, the scholarly publishing community is developing governance models, detection tools, educational frameworks, and policy interventions to counter these threats.

JMIR Metascience and Research Integrity invites submissions to a new e-collection exploring misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation as generated or perpetuated through scholarly and scientific publishing. We are particularly interested in work that proposes, evaluates, or critically examines solutions and mitigation strategies developed by shareholders across the publishing ecosystem. Original research, systematic reviews, scoping reviews, policy analyses, balanced viewpoints, research letters, and tutorials are welcome.

Topics of Interest

Example submission topics for this call for papers include the following:

• Mechanisms by which inaccurate or misleading content enters and persists in the scientific literature
• Accurate detection, investigation, correction, and retraction of misinformation in published literature through postpublication review and other existing or novel policies or approaches
• Misinformation in non–peer-reviewed scholarly content, such as preprints, for public understanding of science
• Examination of publishing practices, including predatory publishing, research assessment incentives, or other system and industry influences as vectors for misinformation 
• Governance, policy, and infrastructure-based solutions to mitigate misinformation in scholarly publishing, including the roles of publishers, editors, funders, and institutions
• Well-argued and evidence-based thought pieces that look to a future scholarly publishing ecosystem that could mitigate misinformation in published literature
• Measuring and understanding the impacts of social media, science communication, and the amplification of misleading scientific claims beyond the scholarly record; this could include the impact of zero-click search on access to scientific material

For more information view the full call for papers on the website.

About JMIR Publications

JMIR Publications is a leading open access publisher of digital health research and a champion of open science. With a focus on author advocacy and research amplification, JMIR Publications partners with researchers to advance their careers and maximize the impact of their work. As a technology organization with publishing at its core, we provide innovative tools and resources that go beyond traditional publishing, supporting researchers at every step of the dissemination process. Our portfolio features a range of peer-reviewed journals, including the renowned Journal of Medical Internet Research.

To learn more about JMIR Publications, please visit jmirpublications.com or connect with us via X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.

Head office: 130 Queens Quay East, Unit 1100, Toronto, ON, M5A 0P6 Canada

Media contact: communications@jmir.org

The content of this communication is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, published by JMIR Publications, is properly cited.

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