Original: https://predatoryjournals.org/news/f/misconduct-in-a-journal-from-the-amazon-region?blogcategory=Predatory+Publishing 

It was recently published in the “Revista Arquivos Científicos (IMMES)” (backup here) from the Macapaense Institute for Better Higher Education (Macapá, Brazil), a “very” special issue (v. 6, n. e., 2023) with themes related to biological sciences and chemistry. This edition has 57 articles and 45 authors.

An analysis with only two variables (name of authors and number of articles) reveals an indecent case of academic misconduct within the institution.

The “researchers” make up a group of renowned teaching/research institutions in the Brazilian state of Amapá, such as the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of the State of Amapá (IEPA), Federal University of Amapá (UNIFAP), University of the State of Amapá (UEAP) and Federal Institute of Amapá (IFAP). Some of these researchers hold important governance positions within the state government. For example, one of them is deputy secretary of the Amapá State Secretariat for the Environment (SEMA). Another was deputy secretary of the municipal environment department. Others are permanent professors at the universities mentioned above. This information can be easily confirmed by conducting simple searches on the internet, but here are some links to make it easier:

https://sema.portal.ap.gov.br/

https://www.ueap.edu.br/

http://www.unifap.br/

https://www.ifap.edu.br/

http://www.iepa.ap.gov.br/

Of the 45 authors who make up the special edition of the journal, 14 of them attract attention. Patrick de Castro Cantuária (member of the Editorial Board of the journal - backup here) is co-author on all 57 published articles. Ana Luzia Ferreira Farias is co-author on 55 published articles. Antonio Carlos Freitas Souza (Editor-in-Chief of the journal) with 53 published articles. And so on, according to the table below with the authors' names and the respective number of papers in the special issue. Furthermore, when looking closely at each of the publications, it is clear the order of authors is redundant in several of them.

Patrick de Castro Cantuária (57)

Ana Luzia Ferreira Farias (55)

Antonio Carlos Freitas Souza (53)

Alana Carine Sobrinho Soares (52)

Bruna Bárbara Maciel Amoras Orellana (45)

Jorge Breno Palheta Orellana (44)

Breno Marques da Silva Silva (38)

André Luiz Pereira Silva (22)

Robson Carmo Lima (21)

Sheylla Susan Moreira da Silva Almeida (21)

Fabricia Kelly Cabral Moraes (15)

Maricélia Moreira Santos (10)

Maryele Ferreira Cantuária (7)

Maria Santana Bezerra Lima (4)

Ana Karina Lima Alves Cerdeira (3)

Janete Silva Ramos (3)

Jaqueline Freitas Souza (3)

Ketlen de Sena Silva (3)

Abrahão Victor Tavares de Lima Teixeira (2)

Anna Elisa Maciel Castelo Tourinho (2)

Beatriz Gladys Vergara Rivas Pereira (2)

Adriana dos Santos Valente (1)

Adriany Barreto Souza (1)

Ana Clara Barreto Ramalho (1)

Ana Karolina Pereira Gonçalves (1)

Cassia Vitoria Lopes Brito (1)

Ingride Katrinny Carvalho Lima (1)

Izabel Gomes Silva (1)

Laysa Kamilly Pires Barbosa (1)

Lisa Quelle Barbosa dos Santos (1)

Luís Gustavo Souza Pinto (1)

Maria Eduarda Campos Brito (1)

Matheus da Silva Sardinha (1)

Maurício Duarte Sant’Ana (1)

Mikaela Amaral Ferreira (1)

Paula Stefany Ferreira Sá (1)

Raimundo Fernandes Bento Filho (1)

Rebeca Oliveira Sousa (1)

Sandro Silva (1)

Simone Santos Franco (1)

Taian Sarraf -Santana (1)

Thays Rodrigues Peres (1)

Tiago Vilhena Oliveira (1)

Wesdensbergton Weslley Monteiro Queiroz (1)

Ágata Eduarda Pinto Rodrigues (1)

Finally, eleven of the most prolific authors in the edition are candidates for a significant public competition for higher education professors that will take place soon in Amapá. As of the writing of this post, the first stage of the competition, which consists of an essay on a randomly selected topic, has already taken place. Three of these authors have not progressed in the competition and the rest have progressed to the next stage, where the number of publications will also be evaluated.

These facts demonstrate a scandalous case of academic misconduct well known among us researchers: salami science. This practice consists of publishing the results of a single study in two or more articles. Furthermore, and perhaps the most severe misconduct, is the publication of the same authors in all articles in the same issue. Finally, the journals's lack of impartiality in the blind review process is highlighted, given that the journal's editor-in-chief published more than 90% of the articles. In addition, there is no information in any of the articles regarding the date of receipt, date of acceptance, and date of publication of the articles.

Therefore, it is concluded that the Revista Arquivos Científicos, from the Macapaense Institute for Better Higher Education, is behaving predatorily. This journal, with ISSN 2595-4407, enjoys a Qualis B2 status (a Brazilian journal evaluation system), according to CAPES (the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), which is not compatible with its unethical practices.

In addition to everything described above, the special issue initially had 24 papers until its original closing date (November, 2023). However, in January, 2024, the number of articles more than doubled, from 24 to 57. This constitutes a lack of transparency, as editors added new papers to an already published issue without any criteria.