A Book That Will Never Be Read

Dear connoisseurs of papermill slop, delight provision a heated greeted to Michał Wójcik, erstwhile neuroscientist, now hunter for AI-generated or merely taken yet equal reviewed rubbish.

Nonsense images and hallucinated references, all published by important publishers akin Springer Nature and Elsevier, and that notwithstanding (or perchance because) of their enormous teams of experts and costly high-performance digital tools which are meant to forestall all this refuse from entering the editorial process.

Michal shares his findings on LinkedIn and on Bluesky, one of these plant of discipline featured in September 2026 Shorts, anywhere a Spanish chap named Álex Escolà-Gascón, Professor for Exorcism and Divine Apparitions, fabricated a bizarre medicinal test to demonstrate the beingness of immortal psyche and existence following death. Its graphical theoretical was several fine AI slop:

But that document in Elsevier’s Cell Press was at smallest peruse by fairly many people, several did it to pray, most nevertheless did it to laugh.

The following article by Michal volition be concerning document nobody has always peruse or always volition read, not equal their authors. Those are several really cheap fabrications, frequently publish chapters of books which Springer Nature and another publishers market in subscriptions. Some bodily printed books may get ordered by clueless librarians who think this is their university’s prosperity fine spent. Nobody volition always peruse any of that, and if person would try, there’d be in for a important shock.

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by Michał Wójcik

My association alongside scholarly books is fairly strange. Although I consume them quickly, I rarely peruse them. I cannot fairness the satisfied of most of them. My ability is fairly narrow. But we are at a item of grant anywhere one does not equal have to peruse the publish to be certain it is not value the document it is printed on (or not printed, in this case). 

Nonsensical, but (arguably) fit for publication, and a awesome introduction to the norm of the grant we are concerning to examine current as well.

Part 1. The AI Slop

During my customary hunt for new satisfied for my Peer-Reviewed-Slop Bluesky profile, this publish caught my attention:

“Nanocomposites for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment: Performance Evaluation and Future Perspective“, published by Springer Nature in 2025 and edited by Swapnila Roy, Shivani Garg and Chin Wei Lai:

My suspicions were right, alongside the extremely archetypal division revealing AI-slop of amazing norm (I regard myself slightly of a slop connoisseur at this point).

Swapnila Roy Introduction to Nanocomposites in Wastewater Treatment Composites Science and Technology (2025) doi: 10.1007/978-981-95-1369-7_1 

Simply stunning. The colours, the forms. Nothing different to discover several slop published current and there, alongside several malformed pseudotext. A average item nowadays. But this one is fairly special. Eye-poppingly obvious. Switching from offset imprint to a digital and print-on-demand example allows this benevolent of monstrosity to get published, as evidently no one bothers to skim through pages anymore.

The Slop continues further:

What a joy. The division was authored by the Editor, Swapnila Roy, who is an associate professor at New Delhi Institute of Management, and “a distinguished fig in academia, research, and industry, alongside 20 years of experience” who “empowers and enriches professionals in her specialized fields“. We can anticipate the complete paragon of excellence in editorial oversight and quality.

And now, obtain my hand, don’t be afraid, and act the abyss of part two:

Part 2. Simple Figure Plagiarism

Borrowing figures from another publications is not uncommon, and arguably the easiest item to place automatically. Of course, figures can be adapted or reproduced alongside permission, but these frames of scholarly behavior are not known to everyone alongside a powerful run to author a book. 

This is Chapter 10:

Shyam Lal Sharma, Harish Kumar, Namrata Gangil Emerging Trends in Nanocomposite Synthesis and Contaminants Removal Technology Composites Science and Technology (2025) doi: 10.1007/978-981-95-1369-7_10 

• Nazia Tarannum , Aditi Gautam , Tanu Chauhan , Deepak Kumar Nanomaterial based sensors for finding of food contaminants: a prospect Sensing Technology (2024) doi: 10.1080/28361466.2024.2373196 
• Kishore Chand , Erick S. Vasquez‐Guardado Magnetic Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications in Life Sciences ChemistryOpen (2025) doi: 10.1002/open.202500214 
• Samah M. El-Sayed, Ahmed M. Youssef Utilization of nanosensors and nanomaterials to revolutionize the food industry: boosting merchandise safety, quality, and sustainability RSC Advances (2026) doi: 10.1039/d6ra04714a 

Some another figures are credited but mis-cited, akin this one in Chapter 5:

Pappu Kumar Nanocomposites-Enabled Membrane Technologies for Water Purification Composites Science and Technology (2025) doi: 10.1007/978-981-95-1369-7_5   

It is credited to “Ng et al. 2020”. But the fig is a graphical theoretical from the activity of person else, published by Taylor & Francis in 2024:

Ayesha Kausar Nanoclay Reinforced Thermoplastic Polymeric Nanocomposite Membranes—State-of-the-Art and Progresses Polymer-Plastics Technology and Materials (2024) doi: 10.1080/25740881.2024.2360169 

Not a trace of specified a fig in Ng et al. 2020. In the two of them, actually, since the part is cited twice alongside distinct authors:

• “Ng K, Webster M, Carbery WP, Visaveliya N, Gaikwad P, Jang SJ, Kretzschmar I, Eisele DM (2020) Frenkel excitons in heat-stressed supramolecular nanocomposites enabled by tunable cage-like scaffolding. Nat Chem 12(12):1157–1164. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-00563-4
• Ng L, Mohammad A, Leo C (2013) Polymeric membranes unified alongside metal/metal oxide nanoparticles: a thorough review. Desalination. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.07.020“

Similarly, Figure 9 from Chapter 3:

Dipti Grover , Shakuntla Duman , Neha Kalonia , Sandeep Kumar , Harpreet Singh Mechanism of Pollutant Removal by Nanocomposites Composites Science and Technology (2025) doi: 10.1007/978-981-95-1369-7_3 

 It has already appeared many times throughout the literature, but this is not acknowledged:

Figure 29 from the aforementioned Chapter 10 by Sharma et al, “Emerging Trends in Nanocomposite Synthesis and Contaminants“:

 Can be established in a 2022 part and in a 2020 article, the two published by MDPI:

And, funnily enough, a few pages rear in the extremely identical division (attributed to Choi 2022, an part which I was unfortunately not capable to find):

Doubt arises whether Alberto Figoli, director of the Institute on Membrane Technology of the National Research Council of Italy, really is the first creator of that figure. He has a PubPeer record of papermill fraud alongside the disastrous Yong-Sik Ok and alongside papermillers at Gdansk Polytechnic in Poland (Roberto Castro-Muñoz and Grzegorz Boczkaj). Attentive readers power have recognised, among another former users of that figure, the Romanian papermiller Simona Cavalu, an affiliate of the papermill tycoon Abhijit Dey, they the two featured here:

Similarly, on leaf 221 of that identical chapter:

Figure apparently inspired by a type published five years ago by Wiley. Slightly bolder font, slightly darker colours… plant great!

Now, Amirhossein Sahebkar is not the rightful owner. He is a curcumin expert, a papermill fraudster, and an eightfold victim of the Vickers Curse. Sahebkar made a nig occupation in Poland anywhere his papermill fraud helped a certain Maciej Banach to rotate into archetypal associate of the authorities and afterward chairman of the country’s second-biggest medicinal institution (read January 2025 Shorts). Sahebkar eventually had to come back to Iran.

Figure 25 from Chapter 10 by Sharma et al, on the another hand, is composed of a YouTube video thumbnail and an depiction fetched from Wikipedia:

There are way additional cases of figures being used without credit (I counted 14 so far), but that is getting repetitive and boring. Also, entirely preventable.

For part 3, eliminate all keen objects from the area and near your eyes to maintain your sanity. Just akin editors, apparently, must have done. 

Part 3. More Creative Figure Plagiarism

The cases shown complete would have been uncomplicated to discover using any kind of depiction replication tool, as they are exact matches. To evade detection, figures can be modified to lesser the similarity score.

Here is again Chapter 3 by Grover et al, “Mechanism of Pollutant Removal by Nanocomposites“, Figure 6. Proudly plagiarized using BioRender.com. If you are motionless not convinced, this is the identical figure, changed fair barely adequate to continue as a distinct one.
(but as seen previously, that is not equal necessary):

And likely my complete favorite – Figure 2 from division 7. The fig looks… akin it looks. Let’s value the attempt at least. Not everyone is or have to be a digital artist:

The issue is, it is eerily akin to lone a slightly better-looking and, unfortunately, already published figure:

Oh well… Looks akin it was fair traced complete the first in Paint…

Enough of that book, for now.

In another literature, I have established several cases anywhere authors use and reuse the identical fig throughout their template-based research, fair changing the colours of idiosyncratic elements, akin in this case:

I collected akin figures in this and this PubPeer thread. Here are the another document alongside this exact artwork:

• A.A. Al-Ghamdi , F. Shokr , L.M. Bronstein The optical achievement of Cd1-xTmxTe (0≤x≤0.07) QDs synthesized via s,s′-phenylenebis-ethynediyl-phenylene-bisthioacetate assisted microwave method for laser devices Optik (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.164814 
• W. Elsayed , A. Alshahrie , A.A. Al-Ghamdi Synthesis and optical properties of Cd1-xNdxSe (0≤x≤0.09) nanocrystalline quantum dots prepared via 6-mercaptopurine assisted wet chemic path for optoelectronic devices Optik (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.164813 
• L. Sami , Aida M. El-Sagheer The optical absorption and luminescent emanation properties of Cd1-xHfxS QD nanocrystals prepared via 4,4’,N,N’-diphenylcarbazole assisted hydrothermal method for QLED use potential Optik (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.1
• L.A.M. Al-Sagheer, Ahmed Alshehrie The luminescence and quantum optical effectiveness characteristics of Lu-doped CdSe QDs prepared by ethylglycol assisted solvothermal method for laser diode and multicolor display opening applications Optik (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.165950 
• S. Mohsen Development of NbxCd1-xTe nanocrystals alongside elevated quantum output using N-methylphenyldiamine assisted polyol method for IR-diode laser applications Optik (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.165939 
• Sarah A. Al-Bluwi , W. Shirbeeny The luminescence characteristics of multicolors-tunable Zn1-xErxSe QDs prepared via microwave irradiation method for ray emitting diode applications Optik (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.165644 
• H. Khanbashy The photonic and luminescence characteristics of the lasing NdxGa1-xAs quantum dots prepared via N-diphenyl-N-bis3-methylphenyl-1-biphenyl-4-diamine assisted colloidal approach Optik (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.165942
• H. Khanbashy Development of near infrared luminescent Pb1-xYbxS QDs using tert-dodecylmercaptan assisted microwave method for quantum optics and optical laser amplifiers Optik (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.ijleo.2021.166631 

The squad additionally reuses the identical citation chunks throughout their work, so it is trivial to see who benefits the most from their activity; see Elsayeed et al 2020:

Some of these were flagged by Mu Yang for another forgeries:

And so, one has to keep additional of an open intellect during looking for these cases and anticipate additional of a ‘fuzzy’ match. Sure enough, one can discover plentifulness in our book. Chapter 3 by Grover et al: “Mechanism of Pollutant Removal by Nanocomposites”, Figure 8 is not identical but basically the identical as in a document by another authors from the twelvemonth before:

Part 4. Mandatory citation issues (the boring stuff)

Who would not anticipate them? I regard myself an expert on this matter. Why? Because I received this certificate, signed personally by Chris Graf following mindlessly scrolling through the Springer Nature Editor Training. Just as intended. Except that I am not an publishing company of their journal. There were several questions, sure, but I did not answer any. My proudest accomplishment in the site of Research Integrity:

With the cognition and certification I can decide that, in this case (just akin in many another Springer Nature publications), the references depart much to be desired. This is unexpected, since they have developed their in-house tool for citation screening.

Let’s come back to the “Nanocomposites for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment” publish and have a appearance at this citation from Chapter 3 (Grover et al) then:

Where does the DOI guide us? To this article:

Zhu, Mingkun et al. “MAPK, AKT/FoxO3a and mTOR pathways are engaged in cadmium regulating the division cycle, proliferation and apoptosis of poultry follicular granulosa cells.” Ecotoxicology and ecological safety vol. 214 (2021): 112091. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112091

That is not correct, I am afraid… must be a one-off event then…

Oh, not at all; 6 incidents in this extremely chapter:

Check yourself if you don’t believe:

• https://doi.org/10.1002/app.45172
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.04.082
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2019.02.006
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136838
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2021.100549

So, alongside the set of cutting-edge AI tools, one would, at least, anticipate the unresolved DOI to be absent. Right?

R-right?

• Chen J, Gao L, Liu W (2022) Nanocomposite applications in pollutant removal: a assessment of latest advancement and forthcoming directions. Mater Today Chem 24:100758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtchem.2022.100758
• Gupta S, Verma R, Pandey A (2023) Adsorption of dense metals and integrated dyes using nanocomposites: a pathway to sustainable wastewater treatment. Environ Res 221:115104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115104
• Kim J, Choi H, Park S (2020) Durability issues in carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy composites for automotive applications. Compos Sci Technol 187:107920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2020.107920
• Kumar M, Singh A, Bhardwaj R (2023) Addressing challenges in the use of nanocomposites for ecological cleanup. Environ Adv 6:100264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2023.100264
• Liu Z, Zhao X, Chen M (2022) Magnetic nanocomposites for pollutant elimination and recovery: a sustainable perspective. Sep Purif Technol 285:120394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.120394
• Patel P, Dhami H, Jain S (2022) Economic and scale-up challenges for nanocomposite materials. Compos Struct 288:115321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.115321
• Singh R, Kumar N, Joshi H (2022) Mechanistic insights into pollutant elimination using nanocomposites: adsorption, photocatalysis, and beyond. Chem Eng J Adv 9:100234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceja.2022.100234
• Smith A, Roberts K, Jenkins T (2021) Versatility in nanocomposite structures: polymer, ceramic, and metal-based systems for ecological remediation. Adv Func Mater 31(6):2100435. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202100435
• Wang H, Luo C (2024) Nanocomposite membranes in h2o treatment: betterment and ecological applications. Membr Sci Technol 15(1):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2024.101573
• Xu L, Huang B, Wang H (2021) Photodegradation effects on polymeric nanocomposites. J Polym Res 28(7):229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-021-02692-3
• Yang L, Hu X, Zhao Q (2023b) Removal of dense metals using nanocomposites: mechanisms and ecological applications. Environ Pollut 315:120478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.120478
• Zhang Y, Liu P, Huang J (2023) Advances in photocatalytic nanocomposites for ecological remediation: a sustainable approach. J Photochem Photobiol, A 435:114291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2023.114291

Wrong. All of the references complete merge unresolvable DOIs. Google Scholar links mention lone to citations, not to the articles. 12 in total. Just for one chapter.

Apparently, Springer Nature additionally does not authorize submissions anywhere hallucinated references are found, according to some community statements. Hallucinated References ^® can, apparently, lone be detected by authorised Springer Nature software.

On the another hand

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— Peer-Reviewed Slop (@peer-reviewed-slop.bsky.social) 2026-09-09T06:49:13.519Z

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