It took him just a few minutes, using ChatGPT, to generate a delusional six-page text about supposed experiments to alleviate anxiety in 60 pregnant women and their fetuses with mathematical metaphors. In the article’s references, he included non-existent studies, four of them attributed to the fictitious author Me-Lo I Nvent O (“I Make It Up”). The paper was published a few days later.

Diago, an associate professor at the University of Valencia, explained by phone that his intention was somewhere between a joke and a denunciation of so-called predatory journals, fraudulent publications that present themselves as prestigious and publish anything in exchange for money. It’s a growing business. The list of predatory journals exceeded 20,000 this Tuesday, according to a count by the specialized firm Cabells. Five years ago there were 15,000. Seven years ago, 10,000. No serious institution takes them into account, but the figures show that they have carved out a niche in the global scientific system.

The study published by Diago, riddled with square roots, is unintelligible even to himself. “Even I don’t know what it’s about; it makes no sense at all. I’ve tried to understand it a couple of times, and I think it deals with the effect on children’s mathematical learning of teaching prime numbers during pregnancy,” he explains, laughing. The professor, born in Castellón, Spain 43 years ago, included explicit signs that the whole thing was a hoax, such as scientists’ surnames that were puns on English terms associated with cheating: Cheatillo, Sneakydez, Trickón, Sneakarez.