Medical Student in Nepal Behind International Research Factory Exposed, Preprints Withdrawn
Key Insights
A second-year medical student in Nepal, Raghabendra Kumar Mahato (search), operates an international research network of nearly 1,000 members via WhatsApp that produces fast-churn conference abstracts and journal papers.
Retraction Watch's investigation revealed authorship is bartered for conference presentation and publication fees, with a known paper miller serving as an administrator in the network.
Research Square (search) has withdrawn three preprints by Mahato citing concerns about paper mill involvement, and the Global Association of Indian Medical Students (search) terminated his editorial board position.
A second-year medical student in Nepal is at the center of an international research network that has been churning out systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, and database studies at breakneck speed, according to an investigation by Retraction Watch. The student, Raghabendra Kumar Mahato (search), leverages a WhatsApp-based community of nearly 1,000 members called the "Global Clinical Research Consortium (search)" to produce large volumes of conference abstracts and journal papers, with work accepted at conferences organized by the American Heart Association (AHA), the European Society for Medical Oncology (search) (ESMO), and other major medical societies.
The investigation, based on dozens of WhatsApp messages and an interview with a disillusioned network member, suggests the network produces fast-churn science, includes a known paper miller, and treats authorship as a tradable commodity.
Authorship as Currency
In WhatsApp messages reviewed by Retraction Watch, Mahato offered authorship to individuals willing to present the network's research at conferences and cover associated travel and registration costs. "We can offer you authorship from ourside [sic]," Mahato wrote to one network member who confirmed they could present physically in the United States.
Other messages included "urgent" calls for conference presenters and collaborators for submission-ready abstracts, and in one case for an "already accepted paper." Mahato also promised "guaranteed authorship" to collaborators who had publication-fee waivers from publishers MDPI or Frontiers.
Mahato denied that "authorship is exchanged solely in return for conference presentation," stating that presenters were "expected to make meaningful scholarly contributions" such as reviewing submission guidelines, critically reviewing scientific content, and participating in data curation. He rejected the characterization of his organization as a paper mill, adding, "Our objective is to facilitate collaborative academic research involving contributors with different areas of expertise."
Known Paper Miller in Leadership Role
Screenshots obtained by Retraction Watch show that Shreya Singh Beniwal (search), an entrepreneurial physician and known paper miller in India, served as an administrator of a subgroup called "New Cardio topic" alongside Mahato. Beniwal was first author on a questionable paper advertised for sale by the erstwhile iTrilon, as previously reported in Science, and ran an organization on WhatsApp that sold author slots on research papers.
In the subgroup, Beniwal managed work on various sections of a manuscript on heart disease and used an authoritative tone with other members, including Mahato. "Get it done by evening," she told Mahato at one point. "Sure, give me few time [sic]," he replied.
Beniwal told Retraction Watch she was "not aware of [Mahato's] WhatsApp group or any of its subgroups" and did "not know any of the administrators or active members of this community." After being contacted, her WhatsApp handle changed from "S. B." to an asterisk, but she remained in Mahato's group.
Inside the Network
Anit Sinha, a recent graduate of Gandaki Medical College in Pokhara, Nepal — the same school Mahato now attends — provided details about the network's inner workings. Sinha joined to boost his CV but became "suspicious" after working on a review paper in one of the subgroups.
After seeing a bulleted outline of the manuscript that appeared AI-generated, Sinha and seven other network members each picked one section to write "under the direction of an associate admin." Sinha told Retraction Watch: "Neither admin (including Raghabendra Kumar Mahato (search)) wrote any section. Their feedback consisted entirely of formatting instructions. When I asked for substantive content feedback, none was given."
Sinha said unethical behavior is "quite common" among students and researchers in Nepal, "but not at the scale Raghabendra Mahato is operating at."
Consequences and Investigations
Following the Retraction Watch investigation, Research Square (search), a preprint server owned by Springer Nature (search), withdrew three manuscripts by Mahato on July 24 due to concerns "regarding integrity arising from the submitting author's involvement in a paper mill network." The three papers examined mortality trends based on the CDC WONDER database; of 10 institutions listed across the withdrawn preprints, eight were in Pakistan.
The Global Association of Indian Medical Students (search) (GAIMS) also terminated Mahato's editorship and association with the GAIMS Axis Editorial Board with "immediate effect," following an internal review.
Representatives from AHA and ESMO confirmed several abstracts coauthored by Mahato have been accepted for their upcoming conferences and are now under closer scrutiny. Vanessa Pavinato, head of communications for ESMO, said the society was not previously aware of any questionable practices and has "immediately started an internal investigation." An AHA spokesperson confirmed five abstracts were accepted and said the organization "will work with our volunteer leaders to identify the best action for each case."
A Meteoric Rise
Mahato began publishing last year, shortly after enrolling in medical school in December 2024. According to his Google Scholar profile, he has already amassed nearly 120 publications. On several papers, Mahato appears with an "MBBS" appended to his name, suggesting he already earned his medical degree; some articles also state he provided "senior academic oversight." Mahato told Retraction Watch the suffix was intended to indicate his "academic program of study" and "was never intended to misrepresent my academic status."
Martina Linnenluecke, director of the Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience at the University of Technology Sydney and coauthor of the 2025 paper "The junkification of research," told Retraction Watch: "The primary objective of research should not be to simply to secure an acceptance at a conference or journal for career purposes but to answer a meaningful research question through rigorous analysis."
Sinha noted that Mahato's network "conveniently" rebranded itself as "Research Helpers'" immediately following the publication of the investigation. "Beyond polluting the research sphere, operators like Mahato are directly stealing opportunities from honest, hardworking students," Sinha said. "They are taking hospital placements and scholarships from people who actually do the grueling work."