S.H.I.T. Happens: The Parody Journal Boom Taking on China’s Research Pressure

From late-night takeout burger comparisons to the type of insurance for Transformers, young Chinese researchers are submitting their quirky research papers to parody journals. In contrast to top-tier academic journals like Science and Nature, these platforms call themselves “bottom journals,” with names like S.H.I.T (Science Humanity Information Technology), Notrue, and JOKES, aiming to give a home to failed research papers and funny ideas that would normally be rejected in the real academic world while helping researchers relieve academic pressure. According to the Web of Nothing, an index of “bottom journals,” more than 300 parody journals have emerged, publishing over 600 papers since this February.