{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T05:02:56Z","timestamp":1783400576816,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,6]],"date-time":"2024-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714953600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010663","name":"H2020 European Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["951393"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["951393"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Asso for Info Science &amp; Tech"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>We report evidence of an undocumented method to manipulate citation counts involving \u201csneaked\u201d references. Sneaked references are registered as metadata for published scientific articles in which they do not appear. This manipulation exploits trusted relationships between various actors: publishers, the Crossref metadata registration agency, digital libraries, and bibliometric platforms. By collecting metadata from various sources, we show that extra undue references are actually sneaked in at Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration time, resulting in artificially inflated citation counts. As a case study, focusing on three journals from a given publisher, we identified at least 9% sneaked references () mainly benefiting two authors. Despite not being present in the published articles, these sneaked references exist in metadata registries and inappropriately propagate to bibliometric dashboards. Furthermore, we discovered \u201clost\u201d references: the studied bibliometric platform failed to index at least 56% () of the references present in the HTML version of the publications. This research led to an investigation by Crossref (confirming our findings) and to subsequent corrective actions. The extent of the distortion\u2014due to sneaked and lost references\u2014in the global literature remains unknown and requires further investigations. Bibliometric platforms producing citation counts should identify, quantify, and correct these flaws to provide accurate data to their patrons and prevent further citation gaming.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.24896","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,6]],"date-time":"2024-05-06T03:41:26Z","timestamp":1714966886000},"page":"1368-1379","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Sneaked references: Fabricated reference metadata distort citation counts"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"75","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7207-1276","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lonni","family":"Besan\u00e7on","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Media and Information Technology Link\u00f6ping University  Norrk\u00f6ping Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3060-6241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guillaume","family":"Cabanac","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universit\u00e9 Toulouse 3 \u2013 Paul Sabatier, IRIT UMR 5505 CNRS  Toulouse France"},{"name":"Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)  Paris France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4855-7038","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cyril","family":"Labb\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LIG  Grenoble France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9406-013X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexander","family":"Magazinov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yandex.Kazakhstan  Almaty Kazakhstan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","unstructured":"Abalkina A. Cabanac G. Labb\u00e9 C. &Magazinov A.(2022).Improper legitimization of hijacked journals through citations.arXiv. (Oral presentation at PRC'22 the 9th international congress on peer review and scientific publication https:\/\/peerreviewcongress.org\/?p=1871)https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2209.04703"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00019"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0221212"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1810617.1810683"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3001572"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Besan\u00e7on L. Cabanac G. Labb\u00e9 C. &Magazinov A.(2023).Sneaked references: Cooked reference metadata inflate citation counts.arXiv.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2310.02192","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.24896"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"COPE. (2019).Citation manipulation.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.24318\/cope.2019.3.1","DOI":"10.24318\/cope.2019.3.1"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17159\/sajs.2019\/5785"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_10_1","unstructured":"Davis P.(2016).Visualizing citation cartels. Retrieved fromhttps:\/\/wp.me\/peaj1R-cdk(Scholarly Kitchen)"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.23056"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2012.03.018"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.286.5437.53"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13504851.2016.1164812"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_15_1","unstructured":"Heathers J. A. &Grimes D. R.(2022).Impact factor manipulation\u2014the mechanics behind a precipitous rise in Impact Factor: A case study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine (OSF preprint).https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17605\/osf.io\/4c6xa"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00022"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00020"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3233\/isu-220164"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-93572-3"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_9_20_1","first-page":"48","article-title":"Ike Antkare, one of the great stars in the scientific firmament","volume":"6","author":"Labb\u00e9 C.","year":"2010","journal-title":"ISSI Newsletter"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2007.06.014"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_22_1","unstructured":"Oransky I.(2022 November 15).Why misconduct could keep scientists from earning Highly Cited Researcher designations and how our database plays a part. Retrieved fromhttps:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/?p=126033(Retraction Watch)"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5195\/jmla.2020.918"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Puebla I. Polka J. &Rieger O. Y.(2021).Preprints: Their evolving role in science communication. 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