A significant highlight of the Free Ac Summer School was Dr. Inna Makarenko’s revealing lecture on “Potemkin Village of Russian Science: The Case of Editorial Boards”.

Dr. Makarenko presented findings from a comprehensive investigation into the editorial boards of 140 Russian journals indexed in major databases like Scopus and Web of Science following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The study revealed that 70.9% of international editorial board members were either unaware of their membership (“fake members”), not fulfilling their editorial duties (“silent members”), or were retired or deceased (“dead souls”) – yet still listed as active contributors.

The research involved surveying 709 international scientists across multiple countries, uncovering how Russian journals manufacture an appearance of international legitimacy through their editorial board compositions. Key findings include:

• 45 scientists were unaware they were listed as editorial board members, having never agreed to serve
• 100 members were essentially inactive, never having been contacted to review articles or perform editorial duties
• 17 were retired or deceased but still listed as active members
• Some journals published content presenting occupied Ukrainian territories as part of Russia

When contacted, major publishers and indexing services largely declined to intervene, citing editorial autonomy principles. This response highlights questions about current oversight mechanisms in academic publishing.

Dr. Makarenko’s research demonstrates how editorial boards can be used to project false international credibility and raises important questions about transparency in scholarly publishing.

We thank Dr. Makarenko for sharing this important research and for her ongoing work examining integrity in academic publishing.

Dr. Inna Makarenko is Professor and Chair of Accounting and Taxation at Sumy State University, Ukraine, and a researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

More info & lecture recording: https://www.freeac.eu/ukrainian-voices-guest-lecture-series/