Page 9 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XV-2023

A Potential Use of Ego-centric Co-authorship Network Analysis for
Inspecting Research Misconduct: A Case Study of Thai Researchers

Phrutsamon Wongnak , Tanaphum Wichaita ,
1
1
Anuwat Wiratsudakul , Wirichada Pan-ngum 1,4
2,3

Abstract

Paper mills, for-profit organizations facilitating mass production of academic
publications and selling authorships to researchers, have increasingly posed
negative impacts on academia worldwide in recent years. In early 2023, some

researchers affiliated with institutions in Thailand were exposed and identified as
participants in authorship-for-sale services offered by paper mills, leading to
heightened public awareness of this issue. This objective of this study was to

describe authorship profiles of researchers formally identified as paper mill clients
(referred to as Index Researchers) using an ego-centric network analysis approach
and evaluate any distinctions from their academic circles. This study started
by describing authorship profiles of Index Researchers, including characteristics
of the researcher, their co-authors, and co-authorship networks, using their

publication records retrieved from online publication. Additional researchers
affiliated with Thailand were added using snowball sampling. Authorship profiles
of these researchers were subsequently explored by principal component analysis

(PCA). The results revealed that the Index Researchers were relatively early in
their career with significant annual publication counts (3.1 years since the first
publication with 90 articles and 5.4 years since the first publication with 65 articles).
The majority of their co-authors hailed from foreign organizations (85.6% and
90.9%). A total of 120 researchers underwent PCA, revealing that most exhibited

1 Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol
University, Bangkok, Thailand
2 Department of Clinical Sciences and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University,
Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
3 The Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals,
Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
4 Department of Tropical Hygiene, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Correspondence to Wirichada Pan-ngum (PhD), Department of Tropical Hygiene, Faculty of Tropical
Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. E-mail: Pan@tropmedres.ac

Phrutsamon Wongnak et al. 1