While reviewing her Google Scholar profile to prepare a list of her publications, psychologist Maryam Farhang came across a paper she didn’t recognize.
The article, in the Journal of Research in Allied Life Sciences, included her name and affiliation, but Farhang hadn’t written or contributed to the paper in any way, she told Retraction Watch.
“I was honestly shocked and very concerned to see my name and affiliation used without my permission,” said Farhang, an associate research professor at Universidad de Las Américas in Chile. “This is not only unethical, but a serious breach of research integrity. As a researcher, authorship comes with responsibility, seeing my name attached to work that I neither wrote nor approved was professionally alarming and personally upsetting.”
The case is among plenty of others we’ve seen on impersonation in scientific articles. We’ve reported extensively on the identity theft of researchers, people impersonating reviewers or former colleagues, and journals being hijacked. Farhang’s case appears similar to that of Canadian exercise physiologist Jamie Burr, who discovered an imposter’s article in the Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion in 2021. Some journals have considered conducting identity checks to expose fake authors and mitigate ongoing impersonation.
Farhang posted about the misappropriation on LinkedIn, informed her institution of the discovery, and contacted the journal for answers, she said.
The Journal of Research in Allied Life Sciences (JRALS), published by Swami Vivekananda University in India, describes itself as a “peer-reviewed, open-access e-journal” that encompasses life sciences, food sciences and behavioural sciences, according to its website. Started in 2025, the journal is not indexed in Scopus or Clarivate’s Web of Science.
After Farhang reached out, an associate editor at the journal contacted her and requested a meeting, Farhang told us. During the conversation, the associate editor apologized and explained her name and affiliation were added to the paper “by mistake,” Farhang said. She later received an email from the journal saying the article had been removed. The paper, while not formally retracted, no longer appears on the journal’s website.
An editor with JRALS apologized for the incident.
In an email dated Jan. 2 and shared with Retraction Watch, the journal’s Editor-in-chief wrote there was “a misunderstanding and the name was mistakenly used.” The editor offered “sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.” The email is signed “Editor-in-chief, JRALS,” but does not specify a name.
Priyajit Banerjee of Swami Vivekananda University in India is listed as editor-in-chief on the journal’s website. He and associate editor Nilanjana Mitra did not return messages seeking comment.
“Publishers are committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and as a publisher we take every possible measure against publication malpractice,” the journal’s ethics statement reads. “Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.”
The JRALS paper, published in May 2025, analyzes technologies applied to the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of autism. Farhang’s research has focused on adults with mild cognitive impairment, intellectual disabilities and depression. She has written several papers on self-determination in autistic adults, including a 2025 article that studied how everyday technologies shape choice, self-regulation and beliefs about the capacity to act in autistic adults.
At least two references listed in the JRALS paper appear to be placeholders left in the text with the words “insert pages” and “conference or journal name” in parenthesis.
Although the article was removed from the journal’s website and no longer appears on Farhang’s Google Scholar profile, it is still visible on ResearchGate and on the university website associated with the journal, Farhang said. She has submitted a formal removal request to ResearchGate and is waiting for a response, she said.
In addition to being “very distressing,” Farhang said the experience shows how easily a researcher’s identity can be misused.
“In today’s publishing environment, especially with the growing use of AI tools, stronger safeguards around authorship and editorial practices are clearly needed,” she told us. “Being listed as an author without consent is not just a simple mistake, it directly affects credibility and trust in academic work. I hope that speaking openly about this can help raise awareness and encourage better protections for researchers.”
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this is a bit of an odd case. the journal itself is not well regarded, does not seem like there is much to gain by adding a fake author. assuming the objective was to add credibility to the study… the need was not there as the journal itself has no credibility.