Fraudsters created a clone of BSU journal and profited from publications in it
The Belarusian State University reported the first recorded case of fraud in the scientific sphere in Belarus, related to the creation of a fake website for a scientific publication.
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According to Uladzimir Kulazhanka, director of the BSU Fundamental Library, the issue concerns a clone of the website for the journal "Journal of the Belarusian State University. History." The fraudsters created an online resource that visually almost entirely replicates the original website, making it very difficult to distinguish the fake from the genuine publication.
According to a university representative, the fake website operated for several months. It hosted genuine archives of scientific articles for the period from 2017 to mid-2025, which boosted user trust. However, all materials published after this period are no longer authentic and are considered compromised.
The fraud scheme was designed to target both authors and the scientific community as a whole. The swindlers could receive money for publishing materials and also offer authors "services" to boost their citation rates. In theory, this could even lead to such articles entering authoritative international databases, which poses risks to the entire system of scientific publications.
BSU emphasizes that they are already taking measures to eliminate the fake resource. Scientists and authors are advised to carefully check website addresses and use only official sources located on the portals of the institutions that founded the publications.
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Фальшыўка з Літвы :)
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