Scientific publishing is facing an alarming proliferation of fraudulent practices that threaten the integrity of research communication. The production and dissemination of fake research have become a profitable business, undermining trust in scientific journals and distorting the evaluation processes that depend on them. This brief piece examines the problem of fake journals through a three-level typology. The first level concerns predatory journals, which prioritise financial gain over scholarly quality by charging authors publication fees while providing superficial or fabricated peer review. The second level analyses hijacked journals, in which counterfeit websites impersonate legitimate titles to deceive authors into submitting and paying for publication. The third level addresses hacked journals, where legitimate platforms are compromised through cyberattacks or internal manipulation, enabling the distortion of review and publication processes. Together, these forms of misconduct expose deep vulnerabilities in the scientific communication ecosystem, exacerbated by the pressure to publish and the marketisation of research outputs. The manuscript concludes that combating these practices requires structural reforms in scientific evaluation and governance. Only by reducing the incentives that sustain the business of fraudulent publishing can the scholarly community restore credibility and ensure that scientific communication fulfils the essential purpose of reliable advancement of knowledge.

翻译：科学出版领域正面临欺诈行为的惊人扩散，这些行为威胁着研究传播的完整性。伪研究的制造与传播已成为一项有利可图的产业，不仅削弱了人们对科学期刊的信任，更扭曲了依赖这些期刊的学术评价体系。本文通过三级分类框架剖析伪期刊问题：第一层级涉及掠夺性期刊，这类期刊以牟利为首要目标，在收取作者出版费的同时仅提供表面化或虚构的同行评审；第二层级分析劫持期刊，即通过伪造网站冒充合法期刊诱骗作者投稿并支付费用；第三层级探讨被入侵期刊，即合法出版平台因网络攻击或内部操纵导致评审与出版流程遭到篡改。这些学术不端行为共同揭示了科学传播生态系统的深层脆弱性，而发表压力与研究产出的市场化趋势进一步加剧了这些问题。本文最终指出，要遏制此类现象必须推进科学评价与治理体系的结构性改革。唯有消除支撑欺诈性出版产业的内在驱动力，学术界才能重建公信力，确保科学传播实现其推动知识可靠进步的根本使命。