As a borderline scientist turned applied engineer, I have also wondered how many papers a skilled and devoted scientist could get published when taking that endeavor at heart. Of course, I’m talking neither small team superstars nor big labs and consortia. And then, here he came: one guy asked me for advice while preparing to submit a paper in my primary field to a well-respected journal. Nothing transcendental, still… this guy has being putting out one hundred and twenty accepted contributions in the last five years, in a number of diverse fields, and some with a seemingly legit number of citations. My question to you HNers comes as follows: is this a new scam? Is this a new job, sort of paper factories? Are these results legit or artificial? I know counterfeiting is all over the publishing industry, these days. I am going to decline his advice request, yet could we discuss what’s happening there, if anything? Thanks and happy 2022 all!