In May, Chengyi Zhang, a masters student at a prestigious medical school in China, published his first article in a Chinese scientific journal. Then, the calls and WeChat messages began. Suddenly, he was inundated with sales pitches from services offering to produce academic papers under his name, on any subject he wanted. 

The messages promised that, for a price of 62,000 yuan ($9,000), the articles could be written and published in low-ranking international medical journals. The callers he spoke to claimed to be employed by peer-reviewed publications, including the Chinese Journal of General Medicine and the Chinese Journal of Hospital Pharmacy. 

But Zhang, whose name has been changed to protect him from professional repercussions, believes that the sales staff were really part of a bigger and murkier system. “They are paper mills,” he said in an email, referring to a growing industry dedicated to the production and sale of junk science. 

China’s highly competitive medical sector and the nation’s rush to become the world leader in scientific research is creating a growing demand for such services. Certainly, they have proved popular with hard-pressed doctors and scientists keen to secure financial rewards and advance their careers. What is more, experts believe that the industry has grave implications for the credibility of all scientific inquiry emerging from the country.