The rise of bogus healthcare conferences

When a reporter and a researcher from Nature arrived at the 25th Global Nephrology, Urology and Kidney Failure Congress, held at a 4-star hotel in London, they were surprised to find it existed largely in name only. The nephrology conference was described as “shambolic”—and the journal said the number of these lackluster events may be on the rise.

After being unable to find a sign for the event, an organizer allegedly told the outlet that the conference was being held alongside others, offering a variety of incongruous lectures that included topics such as dentistry and antibiotics. Nephrology seemed like an afterthought.

Much like low-value and predatory journals, conferences such as these are on the rise and all they offer is “weak or no peer review for presentations, poor organization, and a focus on making the organizers money,” according to Nature. 

Reporters said posters for the event remained wrapped, and there was little evidence an event was taking place. Further, what was supposed to be an all-day affair ended abruptly shortly after noon.

Experts interviewed by Nature suspect these conferences are popping up more frequently, ranging from low-effort to outright fraudulent. However, they’re happy to charge registration fees from journalists, vendors and researchers lured into attending from across the globe.

Read the feature at the link below for more.